The Rise of alternative Media Distribution channels

Well, the pre-CES hype is in full gear with annoucements from a host of players including Intel, Skype, Starz, Motorola, Apple and Disney among others. As has been repeated over and over again, the key issues revolve around the particular business model(s) that will work for the various entities along the media value chain. Since, no-one knows for sure what will tickle the consumer's fancy, look to see a flood of experimentation this year as content owners, publishers, service providers, CE gear makers and the like all throw their hat in the ring. You know the iPod/Disney offering had to act as a wake-up call to every incumbent in the media space, given what Apple did in the digital music sector. Of course, the jury is still out on whether or not Apple can strike gold again, but nobody is going to sit around waiting for them (Apple) to fail this time. What should these incumbents be thinking about as they drawn up feverish plans to take over the media world (or at least hold onto their turf in such a world)? Offer value and make it easy to use for the average person. How exactly does one do this? I will share my thoughts on this as the blog grows.