ad:tech Presents: Internet Advertising & the Rebirth of the Model T
What made the Model T great might also have been what killed it.
As with us, what we thought made the internet great may be the thing that kills it, too. Or at least kills the traditional way of using it. Cars didn't stop progressing with the death of the Model T, nor did Ford and this shift won't kill this platform either (quite obviously).
As for the Model T - many have speculated that the lack of choice, in color among other things, was what ultimately moved the car from novelty to history. But what most don't know is that originally, Ford did actually offer color choice, but sacrificed that choice to the more quickly-drying black coat that made the revolutionary assembly line work those few seconds faster.
And now - as "social media" takes its place in internet lore, we forget that the internet was created to be inherently social. The fundamental structure of the world wide web is the sharing of one link with another. One computer, and thus one person or group linked to another.
But as we started to figure out how to use this thing, kicked the tires and whatnot - it came to resemble something else entirely. Another distribution point for the world's information. And it was then that most of us were introduced. So most of us saw it that way, too.
And as the internet became far more important as an outlet for advertising dollars, this was further reinforced. We made banners and websites like print ads, transferred tv spots to pre-roll with little more than a file reformatting. And advertising took its role, less communicative, and thoroughly broadcasted. A messenger to many receivers.'