Chris Rusbridge has on a number of occasions on this list raised concerns on
a book by a certain technologist/futurologist and its possible
interpretations by business leaders. These concerns may be well founded. We
hear today of a management restructuring at the BBC to, it is explained,
prepare for the digital age. As a result, TV and radio production is to be
combined. Perhaps someone at the BBC has also read Negroponte's book, which
argues that in the digital age all media are the same, just a stream of
digital bits. Much as I like the book myself, this is not one of the
arguments I agree with, but if the BBC's actions are an example of the
influence of this type of message it could prove very damaging, in this case
to the less commercial medium, radio, in the UK. As we build the electronic
medium, it is important that we continue to differentiate this medium from
established media and don't view it simply as a multimedia/digital catch-all.
Steve Hitchcock [log in to unmask]
Open Journal project Tel: +44 (01)703 594479
Department of Electronics and Computer Science Fax: +44 (01)703 592865
University of Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
http://journals.ecs.soton.ac.uk/
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