"The two main meanings of the word content have a strong relationship. That what is contained, and the feeling of satisfaction. The content must make us feel content "
With the rise of digital media the terms content management was introduced. Companies bought expensive so called content management systems. What is the reason behind this and which content is meant. At first simple internet sites where build. They were basically information hierarchical systems were you could zoom in on information by clicking. But there were complicating factors. Multi lingual sites for instance or rapid updates of the site by multiple personnel. Who was responsible for the content. The communications department or marketing / sales or even the ICT department, multiple sources so to speak. It's hard to manage the content production and maintenance and at the same time manage flawless publication or distribution.
Complex content management systems were introduced to manage these complex situations. As internet activity exploded and new media were added even media independency of content became an issue.
Con"tent (? ∨ ?; 277), n.; usually in pl., Contents.
1. That which is contained; the thing or things held by a receptacle or included within specified limits; as, the contents of a cask or bale or of a room; the contents of a book.
I shall prove these writings . . . authentic, and the contents true, and worthy of a divine original. Grew.
Con*tent" (?), v. t. [F. contenter, LL. contentare, fr. L. contentus, p.p. See
1. To satisfy the desires of; to make easy in any situation; to appease or quiet; to gratify; to please.
Websters Dictionary, 1913
Content production
Usually content is produced by professionals. The copywriters, photographers, interviewers, journalists, artists and so on. They earn a living from it so intellectual property rights and content ownership is a big issue.
Digital media have made it possible for every individual to generate his or hers own content. The Digital camera is accessible for every individual. Anyone can make digital videos and show them to the world. This happens more and more. Meanwhile we are used to see events reported by mobile phone, made by accidental bystanders. I personally saw the 9/11 incident on the internet – I was in Amsterdam at the time - only 20 minutes after it happened.
The production of content is no longer the professional’s primate. Consumers are just as good a source. This applies to broadcast media but even more so to modern enterprise customer portals. Where experiences and information are exchanged. The fact remains that content intake and content distribution requires standards on a technical, but also on an editorial level.
Content intake portals will come alive over the next decade the content generated will be matched by smart matching protocols and semantically distributed to the appropriate channels and communities.
I see three types of content being produced and distributed
1. Editorial content generated by professionals (TV, Radio, Newspapers etc)
2. Open Source content generated by the blogging society (rapidly becoming the worlds most important source of information when disclosed properly)
3. Consumer driven content facilitated by companies that value their customer’s opinion and use it to their own advantage.
Content intake
The fact that every individual can generate content and publish it is an entirely new concept. The availability if huge amounts of content requires standardized content intake mechanisms. Portal technology has everything to create content intake portals. Available anytime, anywhere with the appropriate machines. A digital camera with UMTS connection for instance. The portal could even supply templates in which form, colour and shape are prescribed in order to prepare content in advance for media independent distribution.
Mind you content intake applies to all portals where multiple individuals create content. The 200 web masters that manage the content of your intranet, the customers that asks you questions and even the professional content intake in the publishing industry.
Content distribution
The infrastructure for content distribution is complete anyone in the world is able to connect to the infrastructure and is free to choose the preferred device (paper, screen, audio) to receive the required information. I stated earlier that every medium has its own characteristics. It’s very likely that you’ll stop reading an article on your computer screen when it takes you longer than 5 minutes, but you can read a book for hours.
The content generated must therefore be stored in such a form that it can be distributed automatically to the desired device.
Property Rights
New initiatives like web 2.0 give us a different angle. Users create their own content. And with that they are less willing to pay for it. Recent surveys pointed out that consumers are not willing to pay for information like news or entertainment. The discussion about property rights and copyright protection will continue until we find new ways to link creators of information to consumers of information other than through royalty constructions. Only recently Microsoft changed its opinion on copyright protection. Imagine the most powerful copyrights defender gives up the battle. What’s the rationale behind this. Competition? Better use my illegal software than someone else’s?
We have seen some interesting initiatives to change the income model. The first was David Bowie who issued stocks via the Internet. Effectively he sold all his royalty rights on his music and lyrics in one go. He reportedly cashed $ 54 million.
Free bonus download offers that are only accessible through a specific key available on an artists original CD.
There will be a lot of experimenting in this area until a dominant business model arises.
Independent content management
I see independent content engines in the future that hold all functions from intake through storage to distribution. They will act as an information exchange where content and commercial information is
Mixed is the best desirable fashion. I predict a strong future for the news agencies that have the vision to start acting like an information exchange, or can the webvertising agencies form themselves into digital information agencies. Time will tell.
Open source content creation
Many community environments are active in which content is created by contribution of individuals. Entertaining environments like You tube are well known, but when you realize that individuals are in the process of creating the largest knowledge base on the planet by writing blogs on all kinds of topics. Estimates show approximately 75 million blogs exist today. Wikipedia (Wiki = fast) is gathering knowledge with the speed of light ( it started I 1996). This illustrates the force of customer involvement
Meanwhile companies are building and maintaining their enterprise portals and web logs. They try to facilitate their customers by giving them an information platform to communicate on.
Companies should treat their internal process as they treat their external digital relationships. Eat what you sell. Every company a portal and an editorial staff.
Content and knowledge management is every companies biggest challenge
Summary
Means : The global IP network facilitates everything. Companies will see that there is no need to build their own infrastructure and networks anymore, but outsource their entire infrastructure. It is what Sun Microsystems said years ago. “The network is - and will remain – the computer”.
Message : Content has only value in the proper context so the context is in fact the message and content merely a driver to come back frequently. Communities drive the context trend
Media : The web will become ( if it is not already) the most important information source for mankind.
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