Bill Gates contributed the opening keynote address at his 11th CES conference, talking about what he called the digital decade, which started in 2001, and continues on through today and onward.
Referencing software's role specifically in the decade, Gates said, "...in many ways, we are at the very beginning of the transformation that software will enable. During the next Digital Decade, technology will make our lives richer, more
connected, more productive and more fulfilling in profound and exciting ways."
An example of that reality is a an announcement by Microsoft (MSFT) and NBC Universal (GE) concerning a partnership for what they are calling the "First 'Long Tail' Olympics."
What will be included in the deal will by over 3,000 hours of live and on-demand content covering all events, whether it has only a small or a very large following.
They'll offer that through NBCOlympics.com on MSN, which is the exclusive, official Internet home in the United States of the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
President of NBC Olympics, Gary Zenkel said, "With Microsoft's cutting-edge technology and MSN's enormous reach, we will be positioned on NBCOlympics.com to enable Olympic fans to tailor their Olympic online viewing experience -- they can watch Olympic sports content when and where they want. An on-demand Olympics means online viewers will be able to return to their favorite Olympic moments over and over or watch a performance they may have missed for the first time."
While online video viewing is growing exponentially, the Olympics could bring on even more Internet video fans, especially those not that interested in the experience up to this time.
It'll be instructive to see if it permanently changes the way these people consume some of their media. That in turn would again change the Internet. Not so much in overall practice, but in expanding its video market.
The website will be powered by Microsoft Silverlight technology.
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