Oops, They Did It Again

So not content with smashing the music industry to pieces using Kazaa and undermining the entire telecoms business with Skype, those clever Scandos, Zenstrom and Friis, are looking to rejig the global TV industry, using Joost.  And what's really clever is that all three industry-busting services use the same trick.  It goes something like this: find incredibly margin-rich, centralised digital content business where executives are wrestling with the Innovator's Dilemma.  Create amazingly powerful P2P network requiring no central infrastructure, using proprietary technologies with wonderfully dull moniker of The Global Index (so that no one gets that interested).  Garner vast market knowledge.  Sell to third party and organise licensing deal before tricky legal issues and Grokster-hell kicks in.  Retain IPR.  Repeat ad nauseum.  Great interviews with the Joost team here.

Comments

[Beta]

Yes, though as a beta tester, I'm not yet convinced...

Needs reasonably new Pentium + 512mb RAM, so seems to close out a lot of older PCs, even with broadband.

"organise licensing deal"

So what are they really offering? Overbuilding cable TV operators and competing with satellite is clever, but where's the money? How does it work for any US channel with US-targeted advertisers to pay for extra global rights for music, actors etc if the advertisers won't follow? And why would they?

Very different from Skype, surely, which could have self-funded via Skype Out, ringtones etc before selling to eBay.

Or is the *only* business model a sale to someone who could really use it? Hmmm... Mr Murdoch?

But then why would he do the deal if Skype on eBay hasn't been successful?

And there are legitimate P2P competitors, both local and global.

99p to rent a 2 hr Kylie concert here:

http://www.channel4.com/4od/

Or free Chinese TV here:

http://www.mediazone.com

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Beta, it's all speculation but it seems that Zenstrom and Friis are in the business of setting up massive industry specific P2P networks, using the IPR they house at Joltid, and then making their bucks through a trade sale. And the best of luck to them. As I understand it, the value for eBay was in having a wonderful new service to get their gazillion customers to spend even more time at the auctions. As for Joop, it sounds like it might be good for someone who already runs a system to deliver highly targeted advertising based. Now, who could that be?

[Beta]

OK, so here's the missing part of the puzzle. Cringely notes Google's massive rental of fibre and building programme for enormous data centres and concludes that Google will become "a huge proxy server for the Internet. We won't know if we're accessing the Internet or Google and for all practical purposes it won't matter. Google will become our phone company, our cable company, our stereo system and our digital video recorder." Sound plausible - and Joost would then be a perfect purchase...

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070119_001510.html

[James Cherkoff]

And then it will all be mine, I tell you, mine!! ;-)