• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, September 10, 2007

I have never been one for sailing (I suffer from motion sickness), but I do enjoy the ocean. I love the sound of waves crashing on the shore; birds calling to each other as they soar above; the laughter of children as they taunt the water to catch them as they try to outrun its reach. No, this is not the beginning of a novel, folks; this is my way of acknowledging the rising tide in digital entertainment.

What do I mean? Well, let's take a look at The New York Times this morning. Three out of the five front page stories of Business Day are about -- you guessed it -- digital entertainment. Was this possible only a year ago? Maybe. But the tone is completely new. We are finally hearing how the light bulb is going off and the probability, not possibility, that media companies, creators and distributors will make money from this medium. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

And while the adage "a rising tide raises all boats" does hold true, we must be careful that the water doesn't spill over and cause a flood. By that I mean we need to be mindful of how this newfound optimism will affect not only the content community, but the consumer as well.

For example, in his article "Steve Jobs: iCame, iSaw, iCaved," David Carr points to Jobs' fallibility with respect to the pricing shift in iPhones that happened last week. But was it an error? Or was it a perfectly orchestrated dance within which to launch an updated iPod hardware line, and rekindle interest for the iPhone as we head into the fourth quarter? Perhaps. Perhaps not. And what about the Apple vs. NBC showdown? Who is going to win there?

Regardless of the he-said-she-said nature of how this is playing out in the news, at the end of the day only one thing will determine the winner of this battle: consumer ownership and loyalty. The question is, will Apple be able to maintain its stronghold on the consumer because the company is literally plugged into its consumer base? Maybe. Or will the content owners lure the consumer to their own sites despite the limitations of the consumer experience? Could be. All I know is that history has shown that good content is good content, regardless of who or where its distributor is. Consumers will seek and follow good content, which is why we see the cyclical rise and fall of networks -- because the audience isn't loyal to the network, they are loyal to the program.

So, as media companies come to reconfigure their digital entertainment strategies in an attempt to capitalize on this positively charged market, I would ask that everyone stop for a moment -- and please be mindful of the rising tide. There is still a chance you could drown.