Unlike traditional manufacturing, the expensive part of information content is almost entirely in its original creation. Replication and distribution costs are very near zero. Yet while original content is always potentially valuable, the realisation of that potential depends upon the content finding an audience. For this reason it makes sense to share or swap or even sometimes give away digital content. The goal becomes one of attracting attention and establishing credibility within a global smorgasboard of choice.
Content is very important but is only one part of the success equation.
The third distinctive characteristic of the Internet is the most obvious one. It is a network of networks of not only computer networks but also of human networks. It is a communication tool. This is a challenging phenomenon for the traditional media because specialist interest groups can now create and operate communication channels which are completely independent of TV, radio and newspapers. The more excitable evangelists of the online medium often speak in broad-brush terms about how the Internet is going to change the entire world media order.