Apps Are Media http://t.co/8G8sFrcL
About 18 months back I started a blog post “Apps are the future of distribution” but beyond the title, didn’t really have my thinking clear enough to finish the post. Fast forward and now Erick Schonfeld expresses what I could not.
While I’m excerpting a few paragraphs I strongly recommend reading the whole article to get a full feel for it.
Except there already is a global market for digital media. They are called apps, and they represent the future of media in many ways. Apps are media. Not only are they a form of media in the way that consumer software and games have always been considered media (they compete with TV, books, and music for consumers’ time and attention). But increasingly, they are also subsuming other forms of media.
I think this is probably the crucial point he’s making:
 The lines between software and media will become harder to tell apart as apps begin to include more and more traditional media.
And I can’t put this any better:
A song or a TV show will become a hit because it is shared by millions of people on Facebook and Twitter, not because it is getting millions of dollars of promotion on radio or TV. These apps will determine what we watch next through social and algorithmic recommendations—because how else do you find something to watch when traditional programming is dead?
The apps that deliver this media will exert a powerful influence over our consumption habits—what we watch, listen to, and read, as well as how we do it. Apps will help us find media through social and other filters, and throw it onto our TVs, iPads, stereos or whatever device is handy. They will bypass the set-top box, the radio, and the book store. Apps are where media consumption will happen. Media companies can continue to ignore or fight that trend at their own peril.
One reply on “Apps Are Media”
A good friend and former student of mine just edited a unique short film. It is actually an App, that is a short indie film, is interactive. You the viewer get to make decisions along the way while watching the story. The film script changes according to the decisions you make. It’s called “So You’re Dating A Vampire”. It’s a beautiful and fun combination of film making/story telling, gaming, and mobile media. It’s amazing. So yes, indie films have a new format to express themselves in. The future is not traditional broadcast, that’s for sure. Great blog post, Philip!