We think we can build a big franchise and get into tens of millions of homes as an interactive service company, as opposed to an online service provider. Content is no longer king. Rather, building communities around that content is the key.
Predictor: Leonsis, Ted
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, reporter Mark Nollinger interviews Ted Leonsis of America Online. Nollinger writes: ”‘I find it so ironic that Wired has referred to AOL as a dinosaur,’ says Leonsis … ‘It’s very funny that a petroleum-based product like a magazine can call an online service that has an integrated Web browser irrelevant.’ In fact, he says, America Online is already evolving into a new stage of development. ‘We think we can build a big franchise and get into tens of millions of homes as an interactive service company,’ Leonsis asserts, ‘as opposed to an online service provider.’ What exactly will an interactive service company do? According to Leonsis, it will present users with more ‘personalized’ information, backed up by snazzier sound, graphics, and video as multimedia technology matures and bandwidth broadens. ‘Content is no longer king,’ he declares. Rather, building communities around that content is the key. To more effectively cater to the interests of its members, AOL is shifting away from a publishing model – plastering the screen with random content – toward ‘programming’ for its demographic, a la TV channels. The move is part of a much bigger push to get users to buy things – or at least expose them to companies that want to sell them something. Virtually all of AOL’s revenues currently come from subscriber fees. Leonsis says that by next year, the company expects 20 percent to come from other revenue streams: product launches, transactions, and interactive marketing – don’t call it advertising.”
Date of prediction: September 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: America, Online! America Online Has Been on a Rocket Ride, Now it Would Like to Morph Into an ‘Interactive Service Company’ Before Microsoft and the Web Eat its Lunch
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.09/aol_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stotler, Larry