VOD [video on demand] could provide a new life for documentary films, even the dreaded “infomercial.” The hairs of documentary filmmakers will stand on end when they hear this. But it is possible to have TV agents edit movies on the fly, much like a professor assembling an anthology using chapters from different books. If I were contemplating a visit to the southern coast of Turkey, I might not find a documentary on Bodrum, but I could find sections from movies about wooden-ship building, nighttime fishing, underwater antiquities, and Oriental carpets. These all could be woven together to suit my purpose.
Predictor: Negroponte, Nicholas
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 essay for Wired magazine, Nicholas Negroponte, of MIT’s Media Lab, writes:”VOD could provide a new life for documentary films, even the dreaded ‘infomercial.’ The hairs of documentary filmmakers will stand on end when they hear this. But it is possible to have TV agents edit movies on the fly, much like a professor assembling an anthology using chapters from different books. If I were contemplating a visit to the southern coast of Turkey, I might not find a documentary on Bodrum, but I could find sections from movies about wooden-ship building, nighttime fishing, underwater antiquities, and Oriental carpets. These all could be woven together to suit my purpose. The result would not be an ‘A+’ in Introductory Filmmaking. But one doesn’t expect an anthology to be Shakespeare. In fact, one judges production values through the eyes of the beholder. It would help to thread chunks made by great organizations such as National Geographic, PBS, or BBC, but the result would have meaning only to me.”
Biography:Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab and a popular speaker and writer about technologies of the future, wrote one of the 1990s’ best-selling books about the new future of communications, “Being Digital.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: TV/Films/Video
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Prime Time is My Time: The Blockbuster Myth
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.08/negroponte_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney