Charlie Rose interviews Marc Andreessen

Here is the video, via charlierose.com:

This is a very interesting, fun interview. Marc Andreessen delivers commentary on a number of different current developments in the tech industry. One piece that stood out for me was his take on newspapers. This is from the transcript on TechCrunch:

Charlie Rose:
So you would recommend to the owners of the New York Times, stop printing papers.

Marc Andreessen:
Yeah, absolutely. You have to. You have to –

Charlie Rose:
And take your losses –

Marc Andreessen:
Yeah. You have to.

Charlie Rose:
Like a courageous person.

Marc Andreessen:
Chronic pain? Acute pain. How many years — music industry, same thing. How many years of chronic pain do you want to take to avoid taking a year of acute pain?

Charlie Rose:
Right.

Marc Andreessen:
And by the way, the acute pain would be acute. Like this is a big deal. I’m not saying that this –

This is a very interesting point. If companies or an industry are built around a technology, what happens, if the technology becomes obsolete? The companies could prove flexibility and adjust their course, potentially reinventing themselves. They embrace change and progress.

An alternative is to try hard to resist: Invest time and resources into technology that may not have a future. Potentially slow down or work hard to prevent progress that is not in line with the company’s vision.

These struggles are happening all the time to varying degrees. Some current examples worth observing: Newspapers, books, music, movies, transportation, finance.

Wherever innovation yields new technology that challenges pre-existing assumptions, this sort of impact and struggle can be looked for.