What’s going to be the next big medium of the 21st century?
The 16th century had Shakespeare and his plays, the 18th century had Bach and his music, the 19th century had Dickens and his novels, the 20th century had Edison and the motion picture. So what’s next?
In his last lecture on Commerce and Culture, Paul Cantor makes the prediction that video games will be the biggest medium of the 20th century. No one in 1900 knew the impact the motion picture would have on the 20th century, and Cantor believes that video games will take off in the same way the motion picture did. Already, in 2006 when he gave this lecture, the video game industry was beginning to explode.
He gives this prediction against his own desires. Cantor admits that he doesn’t care for video games and honestly doesn’t see the point to them, but he doesn’t let that cloud his judgment on reality, and much of what he sees, in reality, is many young people who seem to be obsessed over video games. What the younger generation enjoys is usually a much better indicator of what’s going to take off vs. what the older generation enjoys.
Cantor also gives some indicators for these new mediums. Indicators that often accompany new mediums that are on the verge of exploding.
Indicator #1: The Three Complaints
If people are accusing the medium of these three things, it might be the next biggest thing.
- Too much sex and violence
- It’s causing people to confuse illusion and reality
- People are getting addicted to it
Indicator #2: Concept Over Content
The medium is interesting not for the content as much as it is because of the concept. For instance, when the Kindle came out, the coolest thing about it was that you could now put piles of books into one place and it would take up so much less space. While the content involved in it would be cool, what got people talking was the concept, not the content.
Indicator #3: Made for Commercial Value
It’s created for commercial value, not for artistic value. Think of the motion picture. When it first was invented, it was immediately used to make small adds and clips. People made money from it right away. It wasn’t until later that the art part of the technology came. If it’s going to be a big new medium, it’s made to please the customer.
Which makes sense. If you decided you were going to create the best, most perfect car in the world and you decided you wouldn’t pay any attention whatsoever to what people want, that probably wouldn’t actually end up being the best car in the world. It’s the same thing with art
Sometimes, you might have to create things simply to please the customer. But just watch, you might find that the things you make to please them end up becoming your greatest works of all.