Will the Web Grow up to be Like TV?

Visual content for the web is developing fast. More sports are getting live coverage on sites like espn.com. Victoria's Secret drew two million users for its webcast. Atom Films has been making deals at Cannes. And SightSound.com debuted the first ever made-for-the-net movie. Yet naysayers contend that the web is not and will not be an effective showcase. John Gaffney sampled opinion from some key players.

Danni Ashe, President and CEO, Danni's Hard Drive Don't check this web site out in the office, or while the kids are around either. Former model Danni Ashe presides over a multimillion dollar internet business built around adult entertainment, just south of pornography. She has been an innovator in the applications offered on her site and has been investigating ways to move the Hard Drive into other media. I think that the internet will fill a unique niche as an entertainment medium. I was at a conference recently where the panel members were discussing the electronic book business. Their point was that the internet may be an ideal medium for shorter forms of publishing - between five-page and 100-page projects - but that the traditional book will still be the medium of choice for longer works. The same principle will apply for visual entertainment. It may work for a short film or a short talk show. In my genre it obviously works. We tried publishing a one-hour show, but nobody watched it. The internet will be a good place to test, as we discovered from that experience. A company like ours has a lot of irons in the fire with pay-per-view and late-night cable, so to be able to test a concept online is critical. People vote with their browsers. Of course, technology is still a limiting factor, but consumers need to understand that their expectations should be in line with their technology. You simply can't watch something on a 28.8 kbps modem and expect it to be a good experience. We're pushing our technology all the time and we're developing some proprietary projects in that area right now.