Program director David Baron launches DW 1993

When we started the Digital World conference four years ago, it was difficult to explain to people that the worlds of computing, consumer electronics, telecommunications, television, entertainment and publishing were merging.

Not long ago, each of these industries had its own distinct markets, business structures, relationships, lingo, regulations, infrastructure, personnel and products. However, those distinctions are vanishing, lost in the changes that have been brought about by advances in digital technology. It is no longer possible to think about any of these individual entities without understanding the effects on or by the others.

That’s what we’ve been calling “the convergence,” which now seems like old news. But the changes we have experienced since 1990 are far from done. In fact, what has happened during the past four years — even the past four months — is setting the stage for what is to come. The pace of change will only increase.

A GREED THAT’S BRED OF UNCERTAINTY

Intel Corp.’s president and CEO Andy Grove said at last year’s Digital World that greed was the central motivating factor in this so-called convergence. Not only was he right, but he didn’t go far enough. The motivation is not merely financial greed; it is not the greed of “first to market,” or selling more units than your competitor.

The greed of the digital world is the greed that is bred by uncertainty. The chaos of today will ultimately settle into new industries, with new relationships, and new business practices. But despite all the hype and posturing by all the players, we still don’t have any idea what those new industries will look like.

Look to the long term.>> There is no divine right of passage here. There is no Hero’s path to follow. This is a time of turmoil and growth, and for those who choose to participate, it is a unique opportunity to change the status quo, to form new methods of doing things, to determine new power structures, to create the new vocabulary for the next generation of communications. And once we emerge from this chaos, once the new businesses and markets and relationships take shape, they will not change again for a very long time.