about how content is not [necessarily] king

Rather, content aggregation and context are (according to Bear Sterns analyst Spencer Wang, in his report "Why Aggregation and Context and Not [Necessarily] Content are King in Entertainment" --> view presentation here).

His basic thesis, according to this article I'm reading in AlwaysOn Magazine:"The amount of online content choice continues to proliferate, and at exponential rates, the value of SMART AGGREGATION goes up." (Emphasis added)

Looking at the Latin behind aggregate: we see it is from aggregtus, past participle of aggregre, to add to : ad-, ad- + gregre, to collect (from grex, greg-, flock). We are not just CREATING CONTENT... we are intelligently collecting, flocking together...
But how do we discern between good content and bad? right and wrong? without getting too philosophical, we really let the [free] market do it's thang...

Basically, it's the Zagatization of everything... "Everybody is a critic" (so says David Carlick).

And we count on our zagatian brethren to filter, cull, judge and evaluate.

This is a modern version of an age old law of economics: ppl are rational actors and left relatively unrestrained to make decisions, their collective opinion will generally result in the best possible outcome.

posted by: Leslie