Web 3.0

My Sunday Times column last week was on the future fusion of TV and the web. Michael Hirschorn has a longer, nuanced take:

As TV and the Internet converge into something generically known as broadband, the distinctions between the two will soon become nugatory from a consumer point of view. But will this resulting hybrid be more like TV, plus interactivity; or more like the Internet, plus TV? The distinction will be worth billions to whoever gets there first and organizes this mess in a fashion that’s satisfying for consumers. The networks and cable companies, therefore, will need to move quickly to find a way to package the different streamsprofessional and user-made, broadcast and Internetinto a huge, interactive library, all easily and pleasingly accessible on demand and portable to whatever device people are overpaying for at that moment.