Some of you may recall a post or six where we discussed the notion that consumers really want to consume entertainment in the manner most convenient for them. For example, most of the world wants MP3s they can migrate between machines without a hassle. What does the music industry do? Anything but. And then they grumble when iTunes rules the world.
One would think life lessons would be learned; one would be waiting for proof this happened.
And so it goes — the publishing industry is terrified of the Google Print program. The motion picture industry sees pirates under the bed. And consumers are making their preferences clear. We’ve long believed that while many consumers don’t really understand the fine distinctions of illegal downloads, there is also a large population who go the illegal route simply because the media companies haven’t offered alternatives.
Yes, this is our way of saying they sold a whole boatload downloadable videos via the iTunes store. Maybe it’s an anomaly or maybe it’s that people really hate appointment television and commercials. And maybe it’s time the entertainment industries started rethinking their goals and started listening to consumers.
3 responses so far ↓
David Thayer // Nov 2, 2005 at 10:04 am
Are you suggesting that the entertainment industry use common sense? This was tried back in the Fifties when no one was allowed to touch the TV. TVs weren’t much use. They made excellent planters though.
Debra Hamel // Nov 2, 2005 at 10:17 am
I don’t know about the legal ins and outs of the situation, but I for one, as a consumer, want desperately to be able to search through vast libraries online. Google gets my vote here.
Booksquare // Nov 3, 2005 at 12:31 am
Common sense has been known to happen. Not often. I believe the last time was, hmm, it will come to me. Rest assured that I have an example. Somewhere.
Debra, more consumers should speak up on this issue. There are compelling arguments on all sides, but when you get down to it, if you can’t connect people who want books with people who have books, then a lot of trees have died in vain.
And trees are really nice.