Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Napster Business Model
Author: Jacob Levy Posted: 6/27/2000; 9:31:36 AM Topic: Napster Business Model Msg #: 18167 (In response to 18163) Prev/Next: 18166 / 18168
decided to give the users what they want.Ah. Have we defined clearly what we want? How about a start:
I want to pay for music once and only once. If I lose my copy, I want to be able to get a free replacement. I want to be able to use my copy in any application or appliance that takes bits as input, or in the absence of that feature, I want to be able to obtain a copy that will work with the new widget, at no cost, if I'm able to prove that I own the bits for another older format.
Technically this amounts to a system giving you irrefutable, unforgeable and non-transferrable proof of ownership plus the music industry acknowledging that the bits are what we buy, not the plastic or aluminum foil that the bits are embedded in. Until that happens and is technically possible, no cigar.
A major problem with this business model (if you can call it that) is that it kills off innovation in finding new ways to package and use the bits. Prices for new devices to play the music are brought down faster than they'd otherwise be coming down by subsidizing the device through sales of playable media. CD players are dirt cheap, I can buy a decent CD player for the price of two CDs. How do you think that's possible? Because the medium subsidizes the player.
How would the money flow then?
We had a technical discussion about money and micropayments here while you were away in Redmond getting your ears gummed up with SOAP and C#. :) The situation is not good. There is no widely accepted way to implement micropayments and the mechanisms being pushed now have a fatal flaw, a high cost per transaction because of ridiculous security constraints.
This page was archived on 6/13/2001; 4:55:31 PM.
© Copyright 1998-2001 UserLand Software, Inc.