I want to be a Spaceman!

5 minute clip of his 40 minute speech

Double Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey has challenged TV channels to give "control" to their audiences or risk losing them.

The Hollywood star, whose recent foray into television -- House Of Cards -- has been a commercial and critical hit after it was released on streaming service Netflix, said there was a danger of "thinking that something which is working now will necessarily work a year from now".

Spacey said: "Clearly the success of the Netflix model -- releasing the entire season of House Of Cards at once -- has proved one thing: the audience wants control. They want freedom. If they want to binge -- as they've been doing on House Of Cards -- then we should let them binge."

The actor said that way of working "demonstrated that we have learned the lesson that the music industry didn't learn -- give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it."

Read that again. Sound like anyone we know?

Spacey, who starred in and was also executive producer on the show which was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, warned the audience of media executives that "labels" were becoming meaningless and they risked being "left behind".

He said: "If you watch a TV show on your iPad is it no longer a TV show? The device and length are irrelevant ... For kids growing up now there's no difference watching Avatar on an iPad or watching YouTube on a TV and watching Game Of Thrones on their computer. It's all content. It's all story."

Apple did it with iTunes (A thousand songs in your pocket). BlackBerry had it locked up for years (email in your pocket) but then they lost their way. Sony had the Walkman long before the iPod. ABC, CBS and NBC - none of them could do what Netflix is doing? Really? Not even HBO?

Have you ever used “a mouse” with a computer?

Geek version: In computing, graphical user interface (GUI, sometimes pronounced 'gooey') is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators. A precursor to GUIs was invented by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led by Douglas Engelbart. They developed the use of text-based hyperlinks manipulated with a mouse for the On-Line System (NLS). The concept of hyperlinks was further refined and extended to graphics by researchers at Xerox PARC‍ and specifically Alan Kay, who went beyond text-based hyperlinks and used a GUI as the primary interface for the Xerox Alto computer. Most modern general-purpose GUIs are derived from this system.

Non-Geek version: Stanford invented the mouse, Xerox owned the mouse, but when Steve Jobs saw it demonstrated at Xerox he said “Guys, if you are not using this, can I have it?” He did ask permission, right?.

“We have learned the lesson that the music industry didn't learn -- give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it."

I say that Kevin Spacey was channeling Steve Jobs here, what say you?  

To be continued...