As at Sony, Time Warner’s vision of the future was correct. But, as at Sony, it didn’t work for them. Amazon, a retailer, transformed the distribution of print media: just as Apple, a computer company, has transformed the distribution of audio-visual media.
The executives of music companies, film studios and book publishers did not rush to embrace the opportunities offered by new channels of distribution. They saw these technological developments as threats to well established business models in which they had large personal and corporate investments. And they were right to think this. So convergence was accomplished by groups such as Apple and Amazon, which had no similar vested interests to oppose change. These companies succeeded precisely because they were outsiders.
