Olympics are the Digital Games

The Olympic opening ceremony is less than 24 hours away and everyone is forecasting medal counts (and predicting doping scandals).

The Games also will be a test of how much the media industry has changed in the last four years. The lines between the Web and traditional media like television have blurred even more radically since Athens. Digital media landmarks of the Beijing Games include the first games where every sport is filmed in HD; and YouTube will be used to broadcast events.

So, digital will be tested alongside the human competitors. The ambition of the media companies is exceptionally high and they're taking some real risks in the level of investment and the expectations that they are setting.