This isn't true for all businesses, of course. In some industries, like construction, mobile computing and the social web might provide new communication tools that allow for greater operational efficiencies or increased audience participation, but do not necessarily amount to a fundamental shift in the way that industry functions.
But if you're in the business of creating and providing content of any kind, it's the Wild West out there. The old models are crumbling/evolving, and they don't appear to have direct online equivalents. Will the New York Times (or Wall Street Journal or Times Free Press) website generate ad revenue equivalent to that lost in the print edition? Will mobile applications make up the difference?
And what about the Creative Sector? Big Agencies derive the vast majority of their revenue off the Big Ad Buy: can they diversify and find new (or old) business models quickly enough to stave off competition from competitors both old (Big Agencies) and new (Interactive & Integrated)? The shift that's occurring is a cultural one and cannot be addressed simply by adding a new service sector or hiring an "Interactive Creative Director." Can the institutional inertia of a sinking ship be righted fast enough to ensure long-term profitability?
Maybe. Or maybe they, like Big Media, will shrink, and instead return to the one asset they have which cannot be replaced by technology or outsourced overseas: creativity.
