Where's the Content?

Content drives technology adoption. That's clear from the Apple iTune success story. And it's probably the lesson in high-tech TV as well. I don't know when the last time Apple had something on it's homepage besides an iPod commercial (watch, as soon as this post goes up, they'll probably announce another laptop). And according to today's BusinessWeek Online, a lot of IPTV investment is stalling out because the studios aren't forthcoming enough with product. When HBO faced the same barrier years ago, the article says, the cable network solved the problem by becoming its own content producer.

That might not be good for me because one of my clients is a major provider of IPTV technology.

People buy HBO for the Sopranos (and other content) just like they buy iPods for the music. I know in my own case, I haven't listened to this much music in years. Even if I never downloaded anything off iTunes, it's like my music collection suddenly became -- well, just a lot easier to listen to.

It's like that line from The Producers: "Everything is show business"

The thing is, every technology that ever took off, probably did because it suddenly made a lot of content people wanted really accessible: the web, ERP, Citrix software, RAID . . . whatever. They didn't have the chicken-and-egg problem of, say, 1950s TV where the reason people didn't buy more TVs was because there wasn't much to watch and the reason there wasn't much to watch was because there weren't many TVs. Good technology marketing finds content -- or makes it if it has to. Without the content, the product really doesn't exist. It's like that line from The Producers: "Everything is show business" -- even high tech.