Distribution is King?

The old expression was "Content is King." If you produced quality content - writing, images, ideas, you'd succeed.

I read an article today that postulates that in today's digital environment content is no longer king:

http://www.digidaydaily.com/stories/reading-list-why-distribution-is-king/

The big juggernauts like Google, Facebook or Twitter, don't actually produce anything, they just aggregate the ideas of others.

On the other side, the big content producers of old, like newspapers, are struggling to survive.

Not sure that I have a point really. It does seem a bit like a house of cards though.

Who do you look to for ideas? Who or what do you "follow" for information to expand your knowledge or to inspire your own ideas?

The big juggernauts like Google, Facebook or Twitter, don't actually produce anything, they just aggregate the ideas of others.


Harv, you just summed up why the US economy is in deep $hit..sorry for the drift...The US is the man behind the curtain.

JasonWx wrote

Harv, you just summed up why the US economy is in deep $hit..sorry for the drift...The US is the man behind the curtain.

Actually, the switch from a blue collar to white collar economy is actually what drove our most recent drive of prosperity. You can argue why we are in such a bad economic condition now from many perspectives, but you can't really argue that white collar IT producing ideas and platforms rather than content is screwing the US. Look at the economic prosperity of countries that only produce "things" (i.e. the countries we get most of our "stuff" from)... they are significantly less well off than we are as a whole.

Creating demand is King. Offering something that people want is King. If that is a good or a service, it doesn't matter. People want products. And people want a service to aggregate content that they are interested in. They want a way to effortless connect with businesses and friends and family just as much as they want the hardware they are using to make the connections. One is neither King nor anything less. People couldn't use Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. without their laptop, computer, wireless, router, cable/DSL connection, etc.

Riv, You make a good point, I guess the bottom line is we need to create a more balanced economy..

riverc0il wrote

Actually, the switch from a blue collar to white collar economy is actually what drove our most recent drive of prosperity. You can argue why we are in such a bad economic condition now from many perspectives, but you can't really argue that white collar IT producing ideas and platforms rather than content is screwing the US. Look at the economic prosperity of countries that only produce "things" (i.e. the countries we get most of our "stuff" from)... they are significantly less well off than we are as a whole.

My original idea didn't really relate to economic issues, but since we are here...

It wasn't my intent to diminish the value of what companies like Google have created. They and others have added huge value.

IMO: The ONLY chance the US has to compete in the world economy is through the creation of technological innovation.  Our standard of living is too high to compete in manufacturing with China or even India. I agree with River on this point, our (slim and diminishing) edge in the world is technological. That edge came from "blind" investment in research going all the way back to the 50s.  Silicon Valley is in part a result of investment in research done by the California university system.  We aren't investing enough now in math, science and research to maintain our edge in the future.

Again, all in my opinion.

We aren't investing enough now in math, science and research to maintain our edge in the future.

Harv, you're so right.. my daughter is applying to college in 2 months. She wants to go to a expensive private school. The only way I will pay for that is if she majored in the above.

Could not a case be made the slow economy is due to certain things being out of balance, as someone mentioned? Huge Government debt, heathcare costs, too much dependence on fossil fuel, out of whack gov. employee costs, these areas exceed their bounds in costs and influence on our society.

The first three are self explanatory. I saw the other day the US Post Office will lose around 9-10  billion this year. 5 billion of that is from them " pre-paying " retirement costs.

Congressman Weiner resigns after eleven years in congress and at age 62, is eligible for a pension of $54,000 per year and free healthcare. They also receive substantial money to maintain their " library and office ".

Is this at all in balance with what the private sector receives? There's a very long list of such inconsistencies.

The 10% unemployment rate may not be so high if there weren't millions of illegal immigrants.

Print vs. digital.

Content is still King. People are just getting it from different venues. The newspaper, record albums, movies, even books are now being delivered electronically. Letters and bill paying no longer travel solely through the Post Office, but instead also happen electronically. Brick and mortar stores compete against online retailers. The alarm clock, point and shoot cameras, and a host of other traditional devices are facing stiff competition from smartie phones.

Man, snowballs. Holy political thread drift!

The reason we are in an economic slump is the attempt at getting a free lunch. In the 90s and much of the 00s, folks were rolling in more money than they should have been able to achieve due to suspect practices. Now we are paying for it. It all evens out. No free lunch and you gotta pay the piper. Trite and warn out sayings but completely true and relevant. The economic slump has nothing to do with a white collar intellectual properties based economy vs a make stuff economy or else the 90s and 00s would not have been times of prosperity. The problem is the boom and bust bubble cycles. They make the good times really good but the bad times really bad. People try to blame their pet political philosophy on the bad times, but a more honest approach would be to simply look in the mirror and in the past (as a society).

Harv is spot on in lack of education in math, science, and engineering. But we have setup an educational system that thrives on being diploma mills and most schools specialize in liberal arts... because that is the easiest way to get more students and get more grads (I can say that, I double majored in two social sciences). The educational system is designed to be self sustaining and make money (either for profit or just to pay the bills). Making tougher entrance requirements and expanding tough programs isn't in the money.

I majored in 2 Sciences, minored in Math, and my job title includes the word "Engineer".

I went to school with a lot of people who majored in economics.

Their starting salaries coming out of college were more than twice what I'm making now (after almost 10 years of working in my profession).  Now, they probably make 5-10 times more than I do.  They have fancy titles like "Currency Strategist" and "Vice President Heading Covered Bond Origination", but as far as I can tell, all they do is move money around.

Why would someone major in Science or Engineering when they can make way more money on Wall Street?  Even if they're completely wrong about something like the near collapse of the world economy, they don't get fired, or get any kind of pay cut at all.  Seems like I might have made the wrong decision (money-wise, not quality of life-wise).

Who do you look to for ideas? Who or what do you "follow" for information to expand your knowledge or to inspire your own ideas?

None of the above have answered the original question.

Do you read the Wall Street Journal, Listen to NPR or watch BBC. How about  just surfing the web and futzing as I call it?

Myself I’m a stick in the mud. I read the Post Star. Time Magazine, 6 o’clock news channel 13 couple  times a week..
I agree with Harv that content is not so important anymore, I call most articles I read fluff. Does anyone remember the Hearld Tribune. They had content and depth. I’m at a loss as to where to turn for good quality writing ideas or photos. I used to subscribe to the National Observer a weekly newspaper with interesting news and articles. I miss it.

Matt, my wife is a F/X trader..She is the first one to admit it all smoke and mirrors. As far as career choice, you made the right decision. Wall street and Banking are a shrinking industry..

My daughter wants to be a engineer of some sort. Hopefully the economy will straighten out by the time she is out of college.