Here’s an excerpt from my INQ7 Infotech @Play column piece this week:

Would you scoff at brilliant work, simply because it was shown online rather than on TV or the cinema? Which is why I find it funny that some broadcast network types seem smug that they will automatically produce the best online video content. What we are seeing as the online revolution democratizes the production and consumption of content is that, just as in the case of newspapers, often it’s not real talent that’s the edge of mainstream media, but rather access to technology back when it was so expensive that you had to be rich to afford them.

Now that you could shoot high-quality video using a cheap digital video recorder or even a camera phone, and upload them to YouTube, Google Video, iTunes or any of the many video sharing sites, you no longer have to be a Lopez or a Gozon to have your own broadcast network. With tech leveling the playing field, real talent can shine.

To give you an example of how online video can change the balance of power, a sitcom that the former WB network (which has since merged with UPN to create The CW) passed on has gained a second life on YouTube. You can check out the pilot that “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence shot for WB together with “Scrubs” and “Family Guy” writers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, and decide for yourself if the network executives were off their rocker. It’s generated so much online buzz that it seems the network is now considering airing it, after all. Here’s Part I, Part 2 and Part 3.

Read the full story.

Here’s an excerpt from my INQ7 Infotech @play column piece this week:

The wonderful thing about the flat world is that it has made us more competitive as individuals. If you’re talented, you can offer your services to employees all over the world, without even having to leave your own home. But the other side of the coin is that countries have to find more creative ways to survive in an incredibly competitive world, where every nation is interconnected.

The Philippines is blessed with world-class individuals, as shown by the success here and abroad of many Filipinos. Unfortunately, we do not have a world-class government, or a world-class infrastructure, or a world-class economy. More often than not, Filipinos reap success in spite of the failure of government to provide any support. Even sadder, they end up finding the life they’ve always dreamed about, not here, but in other countries.

Read the full story.