My prediction is that as this new influx of broadband users come to the Web, a lot of them will be trained to see the Web as an always-on entertainment center, library and business tool. It’s already happening.
One indicator – 12% of Internet users have estimated to have download a podcast according to an August study, compared to 7% measured in a February/March study of this same year by Pew Internet.
Sounds like it’s a modest number, but I’ll tell you this – my podcast listeners are focused, serious and targeted buyers. I have a higher ratio of people who’ve heard my podcasts buy my products than any other group… except those who saw one of my free video tutorials.
And if you just think about it in general, there are two shows on TV about web video. (Maybe more by now, I don’t watch much TV.) The few occasions I DO turn on the TV, either I’ll hear You Tube or iTunes before I turn it off. When TV is what introduces folks to the Net, they’ll be here to watch TV like content.
We can get everything faster, and in a society that would largely rather listen than read, they’d also rather watch than just listen as well.
But unlike other slower period of adoption, being able to get broadband at what were dial-up prices in just about every area of the country means we’ll all have to make some kind of commitment to multimedia content, at least as an initial traffic draw.
What will this new content, ad, or traffic draw need to look like? I’m musing that shortly.
