Tech - Friction between control, content & connections

I chose the word friction deliberately for the title of the post. More on that later. Let me first explain what I mean by control, content and connections.

Photo by  Paulo Barcellos Jr.   

Control

This is the ability by which people are going to control their access to all things digital and more. By digital, I mean - web, media and communication. Control is today offered by various devices - mobile, tablet, desktop, laptop, TV, music players and so on. The major manufacturers of these devices are technology and consumer appliance companies like Apple and Samsung. More and more, these devices are not tied into any specific kind of content or connection.Within the control space, there are those who provide just the hardware or software or both. Apple has always done both. The Microsoft-Nokia partnership, Google-Motorola acquisition, Samsung points to a trend that companies want to follow that model. Companies that do only one of them are at risk of being left out. There are some moves by companies in this space to own content. The lone ranger in all this is HTML5. It can possibly dent the monopoly of a homogeneous control platform. 

Content

I would classify anything that people consume as content. Today, the content is very varied in terms of format - text, audio and video. It is also created by the community at large as well as the traditional creators such as  entertainment / news / gaming studios. Right now, nowhere is digital disruptive, as it is in the news, media and entertainment space. Also, the unfettered access to control and connection, has given rise to a people creating content, bypassing the traditional creators. However, the traditional content creators will continue to hold their own. But, they must innovate to beat threats like piracy. And, they also need to keep in mind that there is a lot of quality content generated by people nowadays. Look at the amount of food or fashion related blogs, all quite credible or indeed sites like Pinterest.

Connections

Last but not the least, control and content are literally useless without a connection. And, there is where the telecom providers continue to be dominant. For the foreseeable future, they would probably continue to do so. This is simply because of the sheer infrastructure and cost involved in setting it all up. At the most, we might see some convergence in this space. A company might possibly offer a 'all-in-one' bundled connection (cable, 3G/4G, WI-FI and broadband) to people. And, there are some companies in this space trying to bring their own OEM devices to market. There is much scope for innovation in the space, but I suspect since the companies anyway enjoy a dominant position, their appetite for it is quite less.

Summary

Now, back to the friction, not yet a battle, but friction. I see this between companies that provide control, content and connections. Possibly with near-term goals in mind, companies are trying to jostle with each other. I don't think any company is ever going to own all three aspects and shouldn't attempt to do so too. All the three are still different beasts altogether and require different strategy, skills and execution. Case in point - the largest merger in business of AOL-Time-Warner. The deal was once valued at a staggering $350 billion. And, where is it today? Sadly, nowhere. It is now taught as a case study in business schools, of what not to do.

I am hoping companies will pay heed to the past. There is enough room for innovation and growth within each of these areas. Each of these companies need to focus on creating the best control, the best content and the best connection. And, they would need to work closely, indeed very closely with others to provide the best experience to customers. Hopefully, we will see a new case study of how companies collaborate together to create something exciting and sustainable.