iDMAa: Looking back over the last ten years, what are the things that stand out within these broad intersections?

JD: I relocated back to China in 2000 with my wife and son, after living in the U.S. for 18 years. I have witnessed and participated in the entire amazing process of China’s digital TV industry from zero in 2000 to now about 300 million subscribers, to which digital cable contributes over 100 million and DTH close to 200 million. Terrestrial digital TV is speeding up recently and China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) subscribers has reached 30 million.

China’s Internet development also stands out significantly. According to Morgan Stanley, China now has 400 million Internet users, compared with the United States’ 240 million and India’s 80 million. In the first quarter of 2012, China’s mobile internet users surpassed 400 million and will reach 430 million by the year-end according to iResearch. As a reference, China’s mobile phone service has 900 million users, of which 119 million are 3G; and China has 20 million iPhone users in early 2012 and the App Store offers 450,000 applications for Chinese users with an annual increase of 23%.

iDMAa: How does it affect your work?

JD: The impact of the above developments in digital media has been immense upon me for my work and living in this country. The digital media devices, such as mobile phone, tablet, TV and notebook PC, have for a long time already become indispensable to my life and work, each device offering functionalities and conveniences that are largely complementary. Nevertheless, concerns over information and privacy safety and worries about commercial cheating/stealing and content pollution upon my 13-year-old son have also come along.

iDMAa: What properties (art/media/scholarship) interest you today?

JD: The media properties of this emerging digital culture interest me most. These properties include new forms and new characteristics of digital media, the role of digital media and its relationships with traditional media in a society in transition like China, the technology aspect of digital media, the economic and political impact of digital media in the internet era, the regulatory issues of digital media, and digital media and social changes.

iDMAa: What technologies interest you?

JD: Technologies concerning Internet, information security, content management and protection, TV and consumer terminal, innovative user-device interface, etc. are all that have interested me very much for years.

iDMAa: What does the future hold for your area?

JD: The emerging digital media promise to bring more information, entertainment, convenience and services to our lives in the future, in China as well as in many other countries of the world. Most people believe that the digital media will make our lives better and push the economy forward.

I have seen the enormous positive impact of digital media upon the Chinese society over the past 10 years and expect such to continue well into the future. I have also seen the significant challenges that digital media spear-headed by Internet that brought along to many aspect of a country in transition like China, particularly conflicts among the consumer group who desires openness and freedom, the industry group who seeks blue ocean opportunities, and the regulatory group who has to maintain social stability and balance. The strategy to deal with such conflicts will remain an unavoidable test to the wisdom of the group leaders.

iDMAa: What have we lost as a culture in the last ten years?

JD: Many positive values and forms of traditional cultures including China are being jeopardized or lost in the process of this digitalization, crossing from family, morals, honesty and integrity, to traditional craftsmanship, certain forms of music and instruments, etc.

Relationships among and between individuals are becoming shallower and the pace of life in large cities is much faster now. More critically, social gaps are becoming wider, and justice and equity are becoming less, while the general standard of living is rising.

iDMAa: Looking back on your own professional experience with digital culture, is there something you wish you had learned more about/explored/been a part of?

JD: Yes. I used to desire to become a social reporter and commentator on what the people care about most in China.

iDMAa: What will the next generation bring to the 27 culture?

JD: How can we define that for them? The question can be better answered by themselves. However, we can do our part to prepare our next generation to develop the ability and enthusiasm to create and to contribute.

iDMAa: How will people be interacting with search and knowledge exploration in ten years? Will we still recognize it?

JD: Through and via Internet. Yes we should recognize it; after all, ten years will not be that long!

iDMAa: Most valuable lesson learned from the past decade?

JD: Everything has ups and downs. So is a country. So is one’s life. And so is digital media with pros and cons.

iDMAa: Looking back on the role that digital media and art have played in your own personal life, what has been the best and worst thing to change for you?

JD: The best thing to change for me is to have better user devices and faster Internet connections for more choices of information and entertainment and more efficient work performance. The worst thing to change for me is to shuffle among different remote control devices for Internet TV or STB, DTH box, cable TV box, push VOD box, PS3 and xBOX in the living room or to change to a new mobile phone of a different brand and design and try to synchronize the information without error and pain. The worst experience was to have my 500G portable HD stolen from my luggage checked in at a Chinese airline.