When Ananova hit the international webcasting world, traditional radio and television stations laughed. That was a few months ago. Those stations continue to pay out huge sums to thousands of news anchors around the world. Traditional stations broadcast generally to local cities or states. Newscasters work on air maybe an hour a day, five days a week. The amounts spent are in the tens of thousands of dollars an hour. But Ananova works non-stop 24 hour-a-day, 52 weeks a year, in numerous languages. FOR FREE!
In a .com somewhere in cyberspace, computers are calculating economies of scale and when (not if) Ananova should be cloned. People who owned horses that pulled barges along canals or donkeys that crushed olives or grain didn't pay attention when electric motors first appeared. When was the last time you saw a horse or donkey working?
News is now a commodity. Its value drops dramatically during the hour following its release. In-depth explanations of the news continue to be valuable for some time, some explanations have a long life. Your daily newspaper might weigh half a kilo. Most readers don't look at the classified ads, although those who do are interested. Most of this "news" exists nowhere else. Sports also of vital interest to some and ignored by others. It, however, is also on radio, TV, cable and satellite. City-core aficionados rarely read the rural sections. Most papers are read only in part by almost everyone. The Internet is now providing "the paper just for you". You select what interests you and that's what you get. Free. That includes Ananova.
Radio and TV are free. You pay with your eyeball time. The Internet is the same. But you get to choose: when to watch, how often to interact, what to clip (scissors not required) and from what country, what language, and at what speed. See why eyeball hours are moving to the Internet?
Tired of being a passive consumer? Want your 15 minutes of fame? Want instant talkback instead of being put on hold by your favourite talk-show host? Ten thousand chat rooms are there at your command. You can interact with Ananova. ANYTIME.
Need a fast news up-date? Swing in the Ananova window and catch the news while reading something else, speaking to someone else or writing something else. Get ambidextrous, digital fashion. But remember, going digital ends your life as a passive couch potato.
We are acquiring knowledge faster than ever. Our views now are becoming more global, maybe even more tolerant, certainly more sophisticated. Life is more interesting. Better to travel 10 million miles via the Internet than read 10 million books. We can't read that much in a lifetime. Few readers exceed 2,000 books in a lifetime. So the personal library on a PC card coming with the new EB Journal is limited to 2,000 books. Everybook has the capability to hold every book in the world, in every language. Download what you want when you want it. No keyboard, no mouse, no voice commands. Just touch the screen.
You can call in Ananova anytime. Live. Well, that may be questionable but at least she is always there. This could be a long affair. Mute her voice awhile, if you wish. She offers text news in massive detail, updated hourly, sometimes faster. Whatever did you do in the days B.A.?
ANANOVA just sold for almost $400 million. If that's the new slavery, have I got a synthetic humanoid for you.
You think ANANOVA isn't special? I interviewed her for an HDTV pilot. One month before she was officially born! And, she was in Leeds, England and I was in Burnaby, B. C. Go figure.
This story contains video.
