At the start of the information revolution there was plenty of confusion around the income model of digital media. Much of this confusion has dissipated over the past few years and clear distinctions are being seen in the ICT marketplace today already.
Each consumer makes digital choices that defines that consumers digital experience, expense, freedom and even future possibilities.
The concept of ‘vendor lock in’ during the information revolution is expanding vastly and now reaches out to every piece of your very existence. The originator and prime protector, patents, ensures that the premier players remain in tight control of new entrants to any sector of life and business.
Let me quote a basic example: When you make the decision to purchase an Apple iPhone, you are not just buying a phone. You are buying into the way that you consume digital content. You are buying into Apple’s partner services and every day that passes, you are becoming more and more integrated into your vendor.
See, this is the golden prize and where everyone is headed, locking a consumer into your supply channel, removing choice from the equation. For you to move from Apple to something else would involve major challenges, loss of digital content rights that cannot be transferred (and there is much more of that still coming in the future as more proprietary standards are defined by entrants such as Nvidia and many more). Bottom line is that in the future, you will probably not move as moving would involve much pain.
For you to make the best choices right now, you have to consider which of the multinationals offer the most freedom, support for free and open standards and which multinationals offer free access to their data, to everyone and which multinationals will in all probability not do any evil?
Guess what? I do not even have to tell you what the right choices are. You already know that there is really only one such company at the moment and you should support that company as much as possible.
Do not think that your present functionality, look and feel and comfort zone cannot be replicated elsewhere. It can, and in fact has been done, have a look around 🙂
Support freedom, choice and true open standards.
It will enable future generations to have choices.
