
Why Do Internet People Think Content People Are Stupid?  - peter123
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/03/20/why-do-internet-people-think-content-people-are-stupid/
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davidmathers
Because they say things like: "I say to you that the VCR is to the American
film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman
home alone."

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mhb
Is his point that even though I say I'm unhappy paying for a lot of bundled
crap to get the few shows I like, my revealed preference demonstrates that I
am happy with my cable company monopoly?

Maybe, but I think he is grossly underestimating the disaffection most
subscribers have with this arrangement. Or possibly he's referring to people
who watch sports and they don't mind paying for WNBA in order to see NFL
games.

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GavinB
If I go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and choose not to eat the crab meat, am I
getting ripped off because I "paid for" the crab meat?

A good all-you-can-eat content subscription service is a wonderful thing. Yes,
there are loads of problems with the current cable TV distribution model. The
fact that it's an all-you-can-eat subscription isn't one of them.

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mhb
_If I go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and choose not to eat the crab meat, am
I getting ripped off because I "paid for" the crab meat?_

Not if you passed several restaurants where you could have ordered a la carte
but chose not to on your way to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

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thristian
I stopped reading when I got to "The vast majority of broadband internet users
already subscribe to a video service". Maybe in America this is true, but
there's an awful lot of people out there using DSL.

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ableal
In my corner of Europe, _all_ the providers (both cable and DSL) are now into
triple-play: TV+net+phone package deals (or even 4-play, with mobile too). I
had some doubts about the TV-over-phonelines thing, but it seems to work OK.

For about 60 euro/month I get unlimited landline calls, uncapped 8Mb/s net, a
DVR box and ~100 TV channels (including some kid stuff and movies, no premium
sports). Just the net would be a little less than half the price.

I buy from a cable provider, but people with similarly priced packages from
the DSL providers aren't complaining and seem to also have adequate
performance.

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eru
For me it was phone and internet over TV-lines.

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potatolicious
It's not a matter of content people being stupid. His entire case against a la
carte programming seems to be "it doesn't pay well enough". Be that as it may
be, the alternative is currently dragging customers kicking and screaming to
pay you exorbitant cable fees.

Is it any surprise that free, cheaper alternatives like iTunes, Hulu, et al,
are taking off?

Maybe a la carte isn't the answer, but neither is cable bills and $70 a month
subscriptions. The mere existence and _massive popularity_ of other models
(unprofitable as they may be) represent a very dissatisfied customer base.

My guess is that the costs of production will scale down to meet the new
revenue reality of a la carte programming, instead of the other way around.

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dbul
I think he would just come back and point to the increasing subscriptions. I
guess this means that people are not only paying for monthly subscriptions but
also using Hulu and iTunes.

