Playback covers my keynote

Twenty years ago, back in 1987, I used to write for Playback, a Canadian trade publication about the broadcasting and production industries -- although I'm sure no one at Playback today has any idea about that.

But today, the tables were turned and Playback wrote about me. In its coverage of the ICE 07 conference, at which I gave the keynote this morning, it said:

Gaming is just one hot button topic at ICE, a two-day conference organized by the New Media Business Alliance that has drawn more than 400 delegates and speakers from the creative and business sides of North American new media.

In his keynote speech Wednesday morning, Canadian sci-fi author and furturist Robert Sawyer took attendees on a trip to the not-so-distant future, where he predicted a blurring of the line between the online and offline worlds, and the further rise of streaming media, within the next five years.

Sawyer says the most interesting challenge of the next 10 years will be the role played by online content creators in the industry's monetization. Branding, he suggests, will drive consumers from new products such as an online video or games to older products and increase overall brand loyalty.

"New things drive always the sales of older things," said Sawyer.

At least for the moment, the article is online here.

From Playback to Rollback ... it's been an interesting journey. :)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site