satjiv@chahil.com

In 1991, Professor Tony Oettinger (Harvard) and Dr. Doug Solomon (Apple) developed the hypothesis of a Digital Convergence. They predicted that once disparate industries would rapidly converge, creating new products and services, but also new challenges and opportunities.

John Sculley, Chairman and CEO of Apple at the time, challenged Chahil with the task of making this vision a reality.
 

In 1992, Mr. Chahil, along with a small team of believers (Doug Solomon, Eikoh Harada, Fred Bullock, Paul Wollaston, Jennie Tsunekawa, Gabi Schindler and Ron Tamura), organized the world's first convergence summits in Hakone, Japan with the following mission:
   To create an environment for individuals and institutions of the various information related industries to:                      

• Begin the process of defining and developing a shared vision of New Media
• Identify the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving this vision
• Cultivate the relationships that are necessary to make that vision a reality
• Inspire actions that will significantly enrich the human condition

During the course of implementing Apple's vision, Chahil came to the conclusion that the business economics of digital products & content would only work if the addressable market is expanded beyond PC users to include the public that have access to TV's & telephones. To address this expanded market, it is necessary to create a new class of  user-friendly, low cost  products which would provide easy and enjoyable access to the information highway.

It has often been said 'content is king'. Without compelling digital content, we would have “information super dryway”.

This illustration summarizes the main elements of the content value chain, and describes the analog to digital transition.