If publishers are to stay on top, they can not simply rely on the biggest presses, they must offer the best content in their region. On the Net, the regions are amorphous, pertaining more to subject matter than geography. Specialization is important; if you try to cover everything, somebody is doing it better, and you can’t afford to pay someone to do things poorly.
Predictor: Hall, Justin Allyn
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 online essay, Justin Hall makes the following statement:”Large publishers are in a bind: they have all these presses, and people; large capital investment that today set them head and shoulders above the print-media small fry. The Net is a whole new ball of wax. Anyone with a computer and a passion can work their tail off and cover a story as well, if not better, than large media can. So their capital assets of today become liabilities of tomorrow, having to figure out how to maintain media structure to assure their place on top of the heirarchy – and their resulting financial solvency. It is already obvious that the Net has short-lived brand loyalty; word of quality spreads quickly over channels of unlimited distribution. If publishers are to stay on top, they can not simply rely on the biggest presses, they must offer the best content in their region. On the Net, the regions are amorphous, pertaining more to subject matter than geography. Specialization is important; if you try to cover everything, somebody is doing it better, and you can’t afford to pay someone to do things poorly.”
Biography:Justin Hall worked briefly at Wired in 1994, during a sabbatical from his college days at Swarthmore. He started his own irreverent e-zine, covering diverse topics and providing links all over the Web. He later worked for ZDTV and Games.com and as a freelance journalist. (Advocate/Voice of the People.)
Date of prediction: June 14, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Publishing
Name of publication: Kickin' It Freestyle
Title, headline, chapter name: A Vision for Content Providers in the 21st Century
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.links.net/webpub/kickin.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney