The Change Mariner

Sony's Chief's View of Change: Broadband as the Big Meteorite

UK Times Online

Inteview with Nobuyuki Idei, Sony CEO.

... In an environment changing as quickly as this you have no time to create a business model. People used to talk about "game plans" but you can't even do that today’.

"Tokyo has created a society that is completely different from other regions of Asia. Its economy is bigger than England's. The greater Tokyo area represents a quarter of Japan's GDP. It has created a totally different lifestyle. Other companies around the world see that, and Tokyo has become the place for product planning. Devices that work here are forerunners for the rest of the world."

"Now, I suppose, you own a mobile phone and many other devices; in the future there will be no distinction between data and voice and it will all be integrated into one"

"It only took a small meteorite to hit the world and the dinosaurs all died. The internet and MP3 are just a small meteorite. Broadband is a big meteorite. Unless the content industry changes, it will become extinct."

"I think that the combination of broadband internet, wireless, games and mobile phones will shape the future of content. Whether it is a two-hour movie, a 30-minute show for TV, or short content for a handset, I think that the length of content will always be related to the size of the screen you watch it on."

"How many people really watch NBC in Hokkaido? There is a huge gap of cultural convergence versus technological convergence. It will take a long time to close. Technology is much easier to advance. It’s just mathematics."

Amazon Price: $24.95