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Technology Thoughts

Steve Ballmer on the future of advertising

There’s been a lot of talk in recent years and months about the death of the film critic, the wider future of journalism and how advertising will work as print declines and publications go even further down the online route.

Steve Ballmer of Microsoft recently spoke to the Washington Post about the future of media and advertsing online and made some key points.

Microsoft is the 10th biggest advertiser in the United States

For a software company (albeit the biggest in history) this isn’t bad.

On the media he predicts a fundamental shift:

In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down – my opinion.

…there will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network.

There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.

This I believe is correct – in fact, it could be even sooner than ten years. But the key point here is that there is no going back.

Check out the video:

He also discusses if TV shows will be free with ads or paid for by fees and subscriptions:

I think there will be some things people subscribe to on the Internet, but I think that’s going be more the exception than the rule.

My favorite TV program, ‘Lost’, I watch on the Internet now. I don’t DVR it, I just watch it on the Internet.

Maybe Windows 7 could be renamed The Dharma Initiative?

[Link via Buzzmachine]