[opendtv] Re: Global CIO: Steve Jobs Creating New-Age Broadcasting Network?
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 06:35:41 -0400
At 6:56 PM -0600 11/8/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> And the beat goes on, and on. and on...
Not really. Let's look at Netflix, for example. I can get to Netflix
with any wide open PC. I don't need to use their own STB, I don't
need to be suckered into AppleTV to get to them, I don't need any
other middleman. If Netflix had required me to use their STB, it
would have been a closed system.
Or look at all the web sites that offer streaming media, here and
overseas. Various TV networks, YouTube, and on and on and on.
The point was that consumers are willing to invest in devices that
are not "open" by your definition. The issue is not whether the
device/platform is "open", but rather, whether it is perceived as a
decent value and/or must have.
Netflix is leveraging "open" distribution platforms - DVD and
Internet - to get people to pay monthly subscriber fees for their
closed ecosystem. To use the Netflix Internet platform you must buy
some device - PC, Apple TV, Google enabled TV, Roku, X-Box etc. AND
you must pay the subscriber fee.
I believe this is why the author wrote:
The concepts of "open" and "closed" are inside-the-industry artifacts
that are losing their relevance in the wake of new approaches to
applications. If the App Store has tens or hundreds of thousands of
products available from tens of thousands of developers, just how
"closed" or "un-open" can that be?
Bert seems to think that companies that operate "walled gardens" will
stick it to their customers...
I guess this explains why Apple stuck it to consumers with 99 cent
song purchases in iTunes. The price later went up to $1.29 for some
some songs as part of a deal with the labels to remove the DRM - that
is to make these purchases truly "open." Sales of >$10 CDs have
plunged.
Movie and Video rentals from iTunes are competitive with other
pay-per-view and download services. But I agree that the prices are
still too high (might have something to do with the pricing demands
of the congloms).
Apps are a real bargain, opening up the market to thousands of small
developers.
So if Apple is sticking it to me, just imagine what I must think
about Microsoft and Adobe, that make me keep paying hundreds of bucks
to update their applications every year or two...
Gotta love that "open" PC platform...
Regards
Craig
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