The safest place to be when the atomic bomb goes off is far enough away that you can say, “What was that?” The safest place to be in the media industry today is far enough away that you don’t know you’re working in the media industry.
Often times, an invention far removed from the media has dramatically altered the course of the industry. The Crooks Tube, invented in the early 1870s, led to the invention of the x-ray but also precursed the cathode ray tube which is the basis for television.
We are often too close to something to see how to change it. The innovation from left field causes the disruption that alters everything after.
So it is today with the media. Those of us in the industry feel as though we’re trying to build a new boat before the one we’re in sinks. Those outside the industry aren’t sinking and so are free to innovate on everything from technology to process to finance to organizational structure to workplace…
To see how the media we know today developed from sometimes random inventions, play with our interactive genealogy. And add anything we missed via email to ffw@imaginepub.com.
To see how the media we know today has had major impacts on society or been dramatically affected by societal changes, play with the second installment of that genealogy. And add anything we missed via email to ffw@imaginepub.com.
To read how the media is being reinvented, read the weekly installments of our multi-media book, A Fresh, Ferocious Wave.
