ice crums

It’s been a general rule that hardware has always lagged behind software development and releases. It’s obvious that iterating and releasing in software is much easier than in hardware since there is little to no fabrication issues.

On the other side of the spectrum is content(movies, music, books). For the first time in history almost all the technical hardware difficulties are pretty much solved, and content is lagging behind.

Enter Roku and Kindle. Both very promising pieces of hardware(like the Apple TV) but limited because content providers can’t see to let go of past business models.

Let’s take a look at what the marketing guys for Roku have to say about content:

The Netflix Player lets you explore even more possibilities from the world’s largest online movie rental service. Access a growing library of over 10,000 instant movies and TV episodes. Watch as many as you like, as often as you want—with no additional fees. You’re in control with the power to play anytime and finish watching whenever you like.

I think Netflix has nailed the streaming business model. Monthly fees for all you can watch is the way to go. the device costs just a mere $100 when compared to Apple TV which cost $229. The price differance lies in that the Roku unlike it’s fruit competitor dosen’t hav a hard drive, therefore it is just a streaming device and not a Media hub. Conclusion: it is priced according to it’s capabilities. I wish I could end this here, then comes the big “BUT”; according to Gizmodo:

Basically, you get a lot of back catalog (classic movies) and a lot of TV shows (unheard of in rental situations!) right as they hit the market. But you don’t get the same blockbusters on day one release that you’d get from Apple TV or Vudu.

The same thing happens with Amazon’s Kindle. After all the technical details were sorted out: digital paper with great battery life, over the air downloads, limited books(120,000 books and growing, versus the 1 million released in English every year) have a lot of heavy readers doubting the platform. Don’t believe me? Search for “John Grisham” give little to no relevant content:

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Sure they have a huge Kindle Library but not the new releases just like the Roku. Hard cover new releases go for far more than their kindle counterparts, thus scaring old media. This hasn’t stopped the Kindle from being a huge success. Good for you amazon!.

In honor of al the content industries: