First, you sound like you have some vested interest in NBC's decision. As if you were somehow involved in this collaboration and that my comment has somehow insulted you. If so, I apologize. Otherwise, lighten up.
As a response to your thoughts:
I think it was probably more along the lines of Apple didn't do things the way NBC wanted to and NBC pulls out. The series of events the way you describe them doesn't make logical sense.
Certainly NBC can do whatever they want. I'm sure they still make the majority of their money through advertising on live television, they should have plenty of wiggle room to figure out how they want to sell digital content. I'm certain that the decision NBC made was in the interest of making money, nothing else. Corporate politics don't serve the bottom line when the two companies are not competing.
What NBC did was not an "affront" to Apple, nor was it intended as an "affront" to the people who prefer to use iTunes and iPods. However it does negatively affect the iTunes and iPod consumers. And as such, despite the intent, those consumers feel slighted. I am sure NBC did not consider those people when making the decision. Their bottom line is more pressing.
I don't think that the only solution to the distribution of digital media is iTunes. The real solution is eventually going to be the same system we have for buying real world consumer goods, multiple sources for the same commodity with competing prices. I can go buy a loaf of bread at a number of grocery stores, and choose which store I go to for the same product based on my needs. A single supplier for any single commodity time and again proves itself to be detrimental to the consumer. And in the digital age where a purchased commodity can be reformatted and re-distributed for free, a single source is going to end up being detrimental to the suppliers as well.
This is not about brand loyalty, this is about economics. But more importantly it's about digital economics, something new and more complex than most people realize.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scott @ Dec 11th 2007 3:15PM
First, you sound like you have some vested interest in NBC's decision. As if you were somehow involved in this collaboration and that my comment has somehow insulted you. If so, I apologize. Otherwise, lighten up.
As a response to your thoughts:
I think it was probably more along the lines of Apple didn't do things the way NBC wanted to and NBC pulls out. The series of events the way you describe them doesn't make logical sense.
Certainly NBC can do whatever they want. I'm sure they still make the majority of their money through advertising on live television, they should have plenty of wiggle room to figure out how they want to sell digital content. I'm certain that the decision NBC made was in the interest of making money, nothing else. Corporate politics don't serve the bottom line when the two companies are not competing.
What NBC did was not an "affront" to Apple, nor was it intended as an "affront" to the people who prefer to use iTunes and iPods. However it does negatively affect the iTunes and iPod consumers. And as such, despite the intent, those consumers feel slighted. I am sure NBC did not consider those people when making the decision. Their bottom line is more pressing.
I don't think that the only solution to the distribution of digital media is iTunes. The real solution is eventually going to be the same system we have for buying real world consumer goods, multiple sources for the same commodity with competing prices. I can go buy a loaf of bread at a number of grocery stores, and choose which store I go to for the same product based on my needs. A single supplier for any single commodity time and again proves itself to be detrimental to the consumer. And in the digital age where a purchased commodity can be reformatted and re-distributed for free, a single source is going to end up being detrimental to the suppliers as well.
This is not about brand loyalty, this is about economics. But more importantly it's about digital economics, something new and more complex than most people realize.