Erstellt am: 7. 2. 2011 - 11:39 Uhr
Today's Webtip: Don't Make Me Steal
Anyone who has been following the whole digital distribution dliemma for more than a couple of years has probably noticed that, contrary to common sense, companies providing inexpensive easy to use and innovative services were more likely to go out of business than user hostile ones.
Or in the case of those services which started out as innovative and intersting, they would slowly become more unsuseable as the number and scope of their distribution licenses increased. Emusic blocked off the world into two markets, increasing prices and reducing the size of their catalog for european users after they got some majors on board. LastFM lost it's way and Spotify is blowing millions trying to get a foothold in the U.S. market.
And then there is the graveyard of services that were either sued into the ground, purchased into obscurity or both.
Rather than embracing the advantages of global digital distribution, most companies have been doing their best to prop up out of date analog models. Ebooks that are more expensive than hard covers? No back catalog?
Is iTunes really as good as it gets?
Unless the major companies get a looser grip, it might very well be. But that is exactly why www.dontmakemesteal.com exists. They have put together a digital media consumption manifesto that defines the type of features they would like to see in a distribution system. Yes, it's a bit childish to say give me what I want or I will just take it, but as more and more money shifts from the classic system to digital it might be time for some of the heads out there to start playing with the idea of providing what the market wants. And this manifesto is a pretty good description of what that is.