Media Moguls Ponder Emerging Technology

At a retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho this week, a who's-who of media and entertainment executives gathered to consider how to come to terms with the Internet. In an era of rampant file-sharing and disruptive practices like blogging, they sought ways in which they could leverage emerging technologies and still make money.

The elite audience heard from Microsoft's Bill Gates, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and representatives from Intel on their respective companies' offerings, and how technologies such as search engines, online communities, mobile devices, computer gaming and Internet distribution will affect the media and entertainment industries in the years to come.

The fact that these heavy hitters are taking technology seriously, instead of fighting it or just wishing it would go away, is progress. Whether or not they truly "get it" and will be able to create new high-tech products and services that consumers will actually want, however, remains to be seen.

Source: AP (Excite)