Media Evolution

My involvement in the development of Jamaica’s first GPS navigation system made me stop and consider how other forms of technology have evolved into mainstream consumer products, that cannot and do not serve any singular niche market, and whose market legitimately and literally is the general public.

Right now, a few people are dismissing the current portable navigation devices as would-be dinosaurs, where smartphones will soon overtake this with free services such as Google Maps etc. Why does it have to be an either/or situation? Why can’t the two co-exist? There is room in the market for both, and there are pros and cons for each. I have and use both platforms, and my own product is the Jamaican database, not hardware or software for that matter.

But this has just been my direct experience, but when you look at the last century of technological improvements, have a look at just the media industry. With the rise of cinema, people thought that radio would be dead. With the rise of television, that’s the demise of cinema. With the rise of basic cable, that’s it for network television. And the internet would be the final media coup de grace. Likewise, the rise of the internet against newspapers and magazines. Yet, there will always be a market for the radio and newspapers and magazines.

It’s simple Darwinian evolution. The rise of new media have forced the so-called old media to adapt and evolve. Those that can’t are flushed out – this is survival of the fittest. When it’s all boiled down, both new and old media are purveyors of information. The market decides what it wants, and how it wants it. It’s up to the technology, new or old, to deliver it faithfully.

I know several people in the diaspora who love to read the Gleaner online etc, but, whenever I’m visiting them from Jamaica and ask what they’d like, they just want a good old-fashioned Sunday Gleaner to run their fingers through. Who says you can’t have both?

Happy Mothers’ Day!