Closed Format: iTMS uses a closed standard. What is the market share of Apple vs Windows computers? People want a compatible service.
Market demographic: You say that their target demographic is "low-income white Americans". I don't think that is entirely accurate, but for arguements sake, which is a bigger market segment. "low-income white Americans" or ipod owners.
Walmart is also very good at selling commodity products. They are not the world's largest retailer for nothing.
Walmart can maintain their price advantage. They have done it for several years in products that no one thought that they could. Their past experience shows this and it will be no different. If they decide to own the music download business, they can make it happen. Thether the margin is there for them to do so is another question.
Walmart is a major threat to iTMS and Netflix. Their shear size and ifluence give them a trememdous advantage.
As far as selling clean music only, there is plenty of "clean-music" out there for people to purchase.
As a recent Ph.D. graduate in Chemical Engineering, this is nothing new. When I entered graduate school 10% of my fellow class mates were US citizens. Our finest graduate schools in the technical fields (engineering, physics, medicine) have been training foreign students for a long time now.
Global workers trained here are just as effective and talented as native US workers. The notion that US citizens are somehow more innovative is just that a notion. They get the same education what US citizens get. They are equally as qualified, and WILL work for lower salaries in their native contries. The real reason that US students aren't going into these fields is that they don't have the work ethic or the dedication for it. They would rather sell wireless phones for commision and make a quick buck than educate themselves for the future of our country.
In terms of solutions to this problem: The answer in NOT legislation. This problem has to be solved by the US providing technical people where it is obvious that they are the best people for the job.
In terms of developing countries: In particular this is a great opportunity for India where they can bring about social change in their country. Well at least until some time down the road when we outsource their jobs to some other developing country.
Outsourcing to other geographical locations is not new and has happened to manufacturing, and it is happening with technology now.
First I want to say that sexual predators are terrible.
On the other hand what about wrong information. If the government has incorrect information. What if there is an innocent john jones whos picture shows up on the site because the mistook him for the bad john jones?
Not to mention the whole cracker problem. Put someone you don't like on the list for fun. Who cares if it ruins someone's life.
I just don't have a lot of faith in the law enforcement system and their technical ability.
Not to mention this is open season on sex offenders. Remember that statatory rape is a sexual offense. What about sodomy. Someone who commits these crime goes on the same list with repeated child molesters.
A major chanel for movies on P2P are copies sent to academy members by the studios. Either don't pass them out, put a tighter reign on them, or don't complain when they get on p2p before the dvd release.
Good point, another example of how the dvd offers an advantage over a downloaded copy (for the time being until higher bandwidth and the availibility of DVD+R is more mainstream).
A nice quality DVD with 5.1 sound is another added bonus.
Although I agree with the author on most topics. Heck, my household doesn't buy music anymore on principle, but we still buy DVDs. The price point is right.
Buy one factor is not considered. A CD of music is more readily conveted to mp3s and shared over the internet than a DVD. The shear size of a movie (800-1600+ MB) make them more resistant to on-line sharing than music (for the moment).
I do have to applaud the movie industry for trying to make the DVD format more attractive with special content: the making of, choice of widescreen or scaled, alternate endings, etc.
If they further lowered their prices, people would buy more dvds as a matter of convenience. Everyone likes a nice box and cover art instead of two cdrs and a handwriten index card in the case where someone downloaded a movie.
The article has a nice junxtaposition bewteen the music and movie industry.
It like the gangsters get together and meet with teh FBI and say
"You give us a piece of the action and we will limit crime to only say 80% of what it is now."
"It's in both our best interests. We already know how to distribute illegal goods. This way it stays at a managable level"
Insane. Kazza aproachs it's arch-enemy and proposes,use our service to sell your goods. You can't touch us in court because we're incormporated in some unknown island, so you better play ball.
Sco is that Old crazy guy in the Park.
on
SCO SCO SCO!
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Sco reminds me of that crazy guy you always see the park downtown. You don't know if he's a bum or just a guy off his rocker.
You know the guy. He has some outlandish claim every thirty second. " I own this park". " I used to be a king!" " Until the police and Hillary CLinton destroyed me!" " Those alians didn't like me either." " I am going to buy this park!"
YOU know that guy. That's SCO. Every thirty seconds some new crazy talk.
If I owned SCO stock, I'd be sellin it right quick. Pretty soon everyone will just say "Yeah Sure" and walk on by.
Slashdot Mirror
I see Walmart as a real compoetitor to iTMS. Why?
Closed Format: iTMS uses a closed standard. What is the market share of Apple vs Windows computers? People want a compatible service.
Market demographic: You say that their target demographic is "low-income white Americans". I don't think that is entirely accurate, but for arguements sake, which is a bigger market segment. "low-income white Americans" or ipod owners.
Walmart is also very good at selling commodity products. They are not the world's largest retailer for nothing.
Walmart can maintain their price advantage. They have done it for several years in products that no one thought that they could. Their past experience shows this and it will be no different. If they decide to own the music download business, they can make it happen. Thether the margin is there for them to do so is another question.
Walmart is a major threat to iTMS and Netflix. Their shear size and ifluence give them a trememdous advantage.
As far as selling clean music only, there is plenty of "clean-music" out there for people to purchase.
You have a point there, most of the people that can afford the technical education in their countries are well above in terms of wealth.
As a recent Ph.D. graduate in Chemical Engineering, this is nothing new. When I entered graduate school 10% of my fellow class mates were US citizens. Our finest graduate schools in the technical fields (engineering, physics, medicine) have been training foreign students for a long time now.
Global workers trained here are just as effective and talented as native US workers. The notion that US citizens are somehow more innovative is just that a notion. They get the same education what US citizens get. They are equally as qualified, and WILL work for lower salaries in their native contries. The real reason that US students aren't going into these fields is that they don't have the work ethic or the dedication for it. They would rather sell wireless phones for commision and make a quick buck than educate themselves for the future of our country.
In terms of solutions to this problem:
The answer in NOT legislation. This problem has to be solved by the US providing technical people where it is obvious that they are the best people for the job.
In terms of developing countries: In particular this is a great opportunity for India where they can bring about social change in their country. Well at least until some time down the road when we outsource their jobs to some other developing country.
Outsourcing to other geographical locations is not new and has happened to manufacturing, and it is happening with technology now.
First I want to say that sexual predators are terrible.
On the other hand what about wrong information. If the government has incorrect information. What if there is an innocent john jones whos picture shows up on the site because the mistook him for the bad john jones?
Not to mention the whole cracker problem. Put someone you don't like on the list for fun. Who cares if it ruins someone's life.
I just don't have a lot of faith in the law enforcement system and their technical ability.
Not to mention this is open season on sex offenders. Remember that statatory rape is a sexual offense. What about sodomy. Someone who commits these crime goes on the same list with repeated child molesters.
I have met a lot of Profs in Chemical Engineering and not a single one of them is what society would call normal.
Newton would fit right in.
Physics profs are pretty strange also.
A major chanel for movies on P2P are copies sent to academy members by the studios.
Either don't pass them out, put a tighter reign on them, or don't complain when they get on p2p before the dvd release.
Good point, another example of how the dvd offers an advantage over a downloaded copy (for the time being until higher bandwidth and the availibility of DVD+R is more mainstream).
A nice quality DVD with 5.1 sound is another added bonus.
Although I agree with the author on most topics. Heck, my household doesn't buy music anymore on principle, but we still buy DVDs. The price point is right.
Buy one factor is not considered. A CD of music is more readily conveted to mp3s and shared over the internet than a DVD. The shear size of a movie (800-1600+ MB) make them more resistant to on-line sharing than music (for the moment).
I do have to applaud the movie industry for trying to make the DVD format more attractive with special content: the making of, choice of widescreen or scaled, alternate endings, etc.
If they further lowered their prices, people would buy more dvds as a matter of convenience. Everyone likes a nice box and cover art instead of two cdrs and a handwriten index card in the case where someone downloaded a movie.
The article has a nice junxtaposition bewteen the music and movie industry.
It like the gangsters get together and meet with teh FBI and say
"You give us a piece of the action and we will limit crime to only say 80% of what it is now."
"It's in both our best interests. We already know how to distribute illegal goods. This way it stays at a managable level"
Insane. Kazza aproachs it's arch-enemy and proposes,use our service to sell your goods.
You can't touch us in court because we're incormporated in some unknown island, so you better play ball.
Sco reminds me of that crazy guy you always see the park downtown. You don't know if he's a bum or just a guy off his rocker.
You know the guy. He has some outlandish claim every thirty second. " I own this park". " I used to be a king!" " Until the police and Hillary CLinton destroyed me!" " Those alians didn't like me either." " I am going to buy this park!"
YOU know that guy. That's SCO. Every thirty seconds some new crazy talk.
If I owned SCO stock, I'd be sellin it right quick. Pretty soon everyone will just say "Yeah Sure" and walk on by.