I read Mark Dillon’s article ‘Rethinking Convergence’ in the April 2 Playback and quite enjoyed it. The only flaw I can see in the article is the notion that there was ever any serious thought about convergence in the first place.

The pre-April 14, 2000 world was all about financing, Porsches, Prada and, at the tail end, Razorfish unable to articulate to Bob Simon on 60 Minutes what the heck they do. If the question, ultimately, is whether ‘there is any there there’ the answer has been and remains an unequivocal YES…but…

What’s happening currently is the disintegration of the narrowband market, the realization that ‘n-band’ isn’t a compelling entertainment medium, and the belief that the World Wide Web is nothing but a distribution mechanism. So, thinking…hmm….How many companies have asked how narrative changes when users are given some measure of control? Is convergence at the appliance, at content, at revenue? How many have asked what a truly valuable experience for a client and its audience is? How many have asked whether it is crucial to seamlessly integrate interactivity into experience?

These are questions that need to be answered up front and, really, aren’t nearly as sexy as trade missions to the Far East or dinner at The French Laundry.

It’s the sweat around understanding form, and developing a language of production that will ultimately position a company. I say, without hesitation, that this is a medium and its development requires more thinking than most companies are prepared to do.

Broadband is the key, the numbers are there now, and appealing to advertisers, who understand that while banners don’t work, their audiences are shifting, increasingly, toward forms of interactive content and that it is crucial both to breathe new life into the industry and to develop valuable and sustainable revenue models.

I have spent a lot of time in the U.S. and I would argue that there are a whole bunch of well-positioned large media company executives who recognize the need to continue the work, and who are moving quickly to establish themselves as leaders.

If the message in Canada is either, the digital revolution is over or, sit back…let’s wait and see, I fear that when the market recovers over the next three to six months, the coming three years will make the last three years look like a dress rehearsal.

MIKE KASPROW,

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/FOUNDER,

TRAPEZE,

TORONTO.