The Frontier of New Media (something seems familiar about this...)

Bad titles aside, I think that in ten years, media and our access to it will be more familiar and intuitive than we think. I would really not be surprised at all if in the future, all we had was type into a smart search bar.

People want information from their media, not that all of it is educational by any means, based on the viral popularity of videos like "Charlie Bit My Finger". However, we don't always know what we want exactly.

I think that new media outlets like the internet, mobile devices, and even TV are all on a trend toward increased efficiency in searchability. Obviously, Google is constantly trying to take over the world with its sheer utility. But the most useful innovations really have been all about finding relevant information with the least effort. Don't know what you want to watch on TV? TiVo can make suggestions based on your recorded shows. Don't know where to eat? The GPS on your phone can find restaurants in your area, or you can send out a Tweet and have your friends give suggestions.

The most useful type of search would be a combination of Batelle's Database of Intentions and social networking/collaboration. Eerily enough, I stumbled upon a flash video (how quaint--I know we all love Youtube, so I'll link from there) that actually describes this exactly, and seems plausible.

Well, actually two: Epic 2014, and Epic 2015 (an updated version including podcasts).
Epic 2014

Epic 2015


It was made by Robin Sloan for the Museum of Media History, and though it has a decidedly History Channel/semi-apocalyptic tone, I haven't been able to figure out if that's a real organization or not. Google seems to say no. I think it only exists within the videos, but there is Robin Sloan's homepage, which links to the original flash version of Epic 2014, if you're interested.