Microsoft CEO: All content to be digital within 10 years

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has said that all content will be digital within 10 years.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival, Ballmer said that traditional media such as print have been slow to adapt to the modern world.

“There won’t be newspapers, magazines and TV programs. There won’t be personal, social communications offline and separate. In 10 years it will all be online. Static content won’t cut it in the future,” he said.

Ballmer, named media person of the year at the festival, emphasised the importance of interacting with consumers. “All content needs to be relevant where people pull what they want rather than have things pushed to them,” he said.

Speaking about the current economic downturn, he said that as far as the media world is concerned, things have altered permanently. “I don’t think we are in a recession, I think we have reset. A recession implies recovery and for planning purposes I don’t think we will. We have reset and won’t rebound and re-grow.”