Almost everyone has heard of Pavlov's dogs. Ivan Pavlov would ring a bell, then show his dogs a bowl of food, which caused them to salivate. Slowly, the dogs associated the food with the bell. They became conditioned to automatically respond. I can think of no better analogy for modern television viewing habits.

Unless you've had your head wedged firmly under a rock, or have been traveling through some unreachable outback for the past five years (where there are no televisions, computers, cell phones, landlines, newspapers, smoke signals or two tin cans connected with a string) you are well aware that the online world has been attracting a new and growing following among tweens.

It's been a while since I've made a genuine confession in these pages about the true nature of journalists in general - and editors of industry magazines in particular. Here it is: We're not infallible. Other than some fairly rudimentary editing and writing skills, we're just like you. What sets us apart, ultimately, is that we have the hubris to believe that we are fair and knowledgeable arbiters of the information you should consider when ordering your world. We filter information about trends, insights and news that is likely to affect your life - or business - and we package …

Poor network television. What do you do when your writers refuse to write? When your characters and talk show hosts have nothing deep or clever or witty to say? Apparently there are a few options.

In increasingly treacherous digital swells, a rowboat might be just the thing

Sometimes it's easier to remember the warm hiss and forget the scratches. The coming of a new era always brings a touch of nostalgic loss, a longing for the old and amnesia on its shortcomings.

Joe Levy, a veteran music writer and the newly-appointed editor-in-chief of Blender magazine, has keenly observed the music industry throughout its digital transformation. He's seen it all - from the last spools of magnetic tape to studio techniques that compress songs until they sound like Burger King commercials. We asked him to set his beater to frappé and share his thoughts on the old sounds, the new noise, the direction the industry is going in and what happened when Axl met Pro Tools. Besides Botox and braids.

Conspiracy theorists out there might imagine the CEO of an electronic retailer in a mansion somewhere rubbing his hands together and cooing "Excellent," after a thunder clap à la Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. So far though, the switch to digital broadcast is shaping up to be a cipher.

While seemingly inevitable, the move to digital hasn't been swift. Despite the hype, large segments of the media landscape remain outside of the next-gen matrix.

As television leaps into the digital storm, will the blizzard lead to a blackout?