Home The case for Digital Media open standards

The case for Digital Media open standards

Ian Rogers of Yahoo Music
gave an interesting talk at BarcampLA
entitled Media
2.0 Physics
. I encourage you to pore over his presentation and notes. 

I liked the part about Yahoo and original content:

So Should Yahoo! be in the (Original) Content Business?

Like HBO before us, Yahoo! should only create content in two cases:

a) When it’s maximized all the opportunity around distributing the content of others.
Which, in a Media 2.0-leveraging-edge-competencies sort of way, is a LONG ways off.

b) Opportunistically: The way Music pursues original content — sponsors drive original
content, not vice versa), but…

The Real Value Yahoo! Provides

…is in providing great experiences around content (Personalization, Community,
Search) (to steal from Jeff Weiner of Yahoo! Search) helping users Find, Use, Share, and
Expand (on) whatever media is most relevant to them”

Also Lucas Gonze highlighted these great points by Ian about the lack of open standards in the Web media
world: 

What is the Path Out?

Please appreciate: it was not great technology that drove the Internet boom, but great
standards.

Great technology gave us AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy.

Great standards (TCP/IP, HTML, and HTTP) gave us unprecedented opportunity (the
Web).

We’re Still Lacking Standards in Digital Media

Similarly in digital media Great technology has brought us iTunes, iPod, and Windows
Media Player.

Great standards (XSPF, XIPF, Web services loosely coupling together services like
eMusic with applications like Songbird) can give us unprecedented opportunity.

But relatively few standards exist to serve the digital media ecosystem.

GO CREATE AND USE STANDARDS

If we have one collective mission, fellow campers, one place to focus all our energy,
it’s to create standards that decentralize and create platforms of opportunity.

What if Internet Explorer only went to Microsoft’s site?

(Rob
Lord)

This is where we are in Digital Media today. The amount of unlocked opportunity due to
lack of standards is enormous.”

Flickr pic by Kareem, who also has a wrap-up post on
his blog about BarcampLA.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.