INTRODUCTION
Revolutions are said to devour their children, as well as their parents. The Internet is no exception. Its success and impact have been overwhelming. But in the process it is also undermining its own technological, organizational, and economic foundations.
If its origin was cutting-edge science and engineering, then its present is that of commerce and its future is that of entertainment. Yet that descent from lofty aspirations to popular diversions should not be seen as negative. It will enable major upgrades of infrastructure, encourage diverse advances in technology and generate cultural innovation. But it will not be the same good old Internet. On the content side, too, we can be certain that the next generation of video will not simply be the same good old TV over yet another platform.This chapter analyzes these changes and will take several steps ahead. Here is how it proceeds. First, we will discuss the drivers of the emergence of an Internet of Entertainment and the major media industry approaches to it (section 27.2). We then explain the implications, focusing on three fundamental changes: impacts on the infrastructure (section 27.3); on the Internet system (section 27.4); and on the TV system (section 27.5). The key players of the new system, the media clouds, are analyzed in section 27.6. Emerging policy issues are identified in section 27.7 and questions for further research in section 27.8 before conclusions are offered in section 27.9.
27.2