

Warner to Offer Movies Through Facebook - louhong
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576186913491751144.html

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teej
Facebook being in "competition" with Netflix is a bit of a stretch. We're
talking Warner's infrastructure serving Warner's IP using Facebook's payment
platform.

You might as well say Facebook is competing with EA with games like FarmVille.

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sudont
If it's not streaming, it isn't competing with Netflix.

I have to assume they're competing with Apple's claim of 100-200 million
"iTunes-linked credit cards." Since we've seen that Apple's monopoly isn't in
volume, but in customers willing to pay, Facebook's consumer-used credit
system is the most logical partner.

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jcromartie
This is weird. Facebook is really becoming the new AOL. Facebook wants you to
do _everything_ on Facebook.

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eunice_chen
yes except facebook started out specializing as a way to connect with your
friends which they've become very successful with. And now they are diverting
from that goal which doesn't quite jive with the other companies specializing
in those fields. Video gamers will still play EA games, photographers will
still use flickr or whatever, movie buffs will still use netflix. I think
facebook should stay within its social realm and OFFER specialty companies a
way to use facebook to enhance those companies' services instead of trying to
do everything.

The same way we want Microsoft to stick with making operating systems, Apple
to stick with laptops and music, google to stick with email and search,
netflix to stick with movies, etc. I think facebook movies may very well flop
just like google buzz did in light of a company that specialized in it
(twitter).

I was also going to say that I could see how microtransaction movies would be
easier to manage than a netflix subscription. But I would argue that netflix
is a one time payment with unlimited movies which is actually easier to manage
than a lot of microtransactions.

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nostromo
Hmmm, doesn't seem to be working. <http://i.imgur.com/PutjB.png>

It also wasn't easy to actually find and came with this odd warning "offer not
valid in all states".

I wouldn't be worried (yet) if I was Netflix.

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sudonim
It seems that the payment processing and virality would be the two draws of
doing it this way. 30 facebook credits is $3. And I guess if I watch it, it
tells all my friends?

It's an interesting test, and I can see people building real apps like a
Netflix competitor on top of facebook's infrastructure. I can't imagine it
will work as a facebook app - the way the Dark Knight is built.

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yalogin
The difference is the use of facebook credits. This makes it really attractive
for the user since a user can earn credits on FB without having to pay for
them. So this also gives all those apps that give out free credits a boost
too.

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radicaldreamer
The overall experience of watching movies or videos through Facebook is pretty
awful. Facebook does a few things very well, video and media beyond photos
isn't one of them.

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AndreSegers
I agree, but Facebook doesn't really need to do it well to be successful, it
just needs to be good enough, for better or worse.

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radicaldreamer
True, it seems the YouTube convenience and instant gratification effect is at
play here.

