NBC, Apple part ways
Engadget is reporting that NBC is leaving iTunes, effective the end of the year. You can spin this a lot of ways, but here’s my personal strategy summed up in easy-for-executives-to-digest bullet points:
- I don’t own a television, hence I can’t get Heroes over-the-air.
- I own an iPod, hence, I use iTunes to manage all my music, video, etc.
- If it requires me to wander to another store to pay for Heroes, that leaves me 2 options, quite honestly: Don’t watch the show, acquire it via some other fashion
Let’s be clear: I will not have multiple tools for this. I will not subject my computer to more crappy software in the name of enriching lazy and stupid “executives”. More importantly, I’m on a Mac, and last I knew, none of the other sites were cross platform.
So what I’m saying to you, and Universal is this: you’ve removed the “no hassle” legal way to acquire your content and will likely make the legal option substantially more difficult than me driving to a friends house to watch it. You sure that’s what you wanted?
This entry was posted at 8:44 am on 31 August 2007 and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the post-specific RSS 2.0 feed.
I guess the point is, lost money for them, and no increased revenue. I didn’t mean to imply that watching at a friend’s is illegal, though I’m quite sure they’d like it to be.
His point is…
current options: – buy it on iTunes – legal, easy, modest cost – acquire it illegally – illegal, somewhat a hassle, no cost – drive to a friends house and watch it – legal, but a hassle, modest cost
future options: – acquire it illegally – illegal, somewhat a hassle, no cost – buy it on some stupid NBC-run site – legal, probably a hassle, modest cost – drive to a friends house and watch it – legal, but a hassle, modest cost
Currently buying it on iTunes is the best option… sure there is some cost, but it is easy and it “just works”. When that option goes away it is likely that the new option will be a hassle. If every choice is an annoying/tedious hassle, then he (as a reasonable person) will likely either choose to do none of them or do the one that costs least. Either way, less viewers/revenue for NBC.
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Last I checked, driving to a friend’s house to watch it is legal, so long as they actually let you in the house. Also legal: spending commercial breaks talking to your friend instead of watching commercials.