• USA Today, Thursday, November 2, 2006 11:30 AM

Media companies, in embracing the new fast-paced world of the Internet, need to examine the difference between fidelity and convenience. Fidelity refers to the total experience of something, while convenience refers to easy access. An example: U2 concerts are high-fidelity--a total experience for the hardcore fan, but tickets cost a lot, and travel is often necessary. By contrast, listening to the band on your iPod is low-fidelity but high convenience. Now, what can media companies take away from this?

But everyone in media's got a beef with YouTube these days. Why? Because it's more convenient than anything media companies are offering. But it's a low-fidelity experience, because clips on YouTube are usually grainy and no longer than 10 minutes. It's the best, most efficient way for consumers to enjoy the best parts of a given TV show.

So if media companies want people to stop using YouTube, they need to make their TV shows more accessible and more interactive. Fidelity (quality) doesn't matter much when you're talking about highlight clips from talk shows like "The Daily Show." But if you want to compete, the content owner (Viacom) has to make "The Daily Show" experience more interactive and more worthwhile than watching a bunch of clips. In other words, you've got to innovate instead of sue.

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