No, but he should have. BitTorrent and P2P networks are probably the most valuable marketing campaign Steve Jobs never did. Having tried (and failed) to kill P2P through the law, Content Kings have been beating down the iTunes door to hand over their precious wares to Mr Whiter, Lighter & Brighter. And, for Apple, it's a campaign that keeps on giving. TorrentFreak reports that over one billion TV shows are downloaded each year through BitTorrent networks such as Mininova. "Some episodes of popular TV-shows such as “Lost”, “Prison Break” and “Heroes” get up to 10 million downloads per episode, spread over hundreds of sites. This number is getting awfully close to the average number of viewers on TV in the US. However, the major difference is that the BitTorrent “viewers” come from all over the world." Apple TV anyone? But in fact, outsourcing digital distribution to Apple maybe not be a wonderful long-term move for the Kings of Content. Jobs appears to see their goods, not as precious, creative manna, but as great ways to shift his lovely new hi-margin kit. So may I suggest a different strategy? If we take the view that P2P is now part of the mainstream marketplace, why not engage with those who spend so much time and effort in making it happen. Because (surprise, surprise) they aren't all hook-handed, black beards who need a good wash but regular people with regular requirements. Why not start with the EZTV folk who sound very sensible: "The only possible impacts I can see (of P2P) are positive ones; free publicity, which may lead to higher ratings when people “discover” new shows and also larger numbers of DVD purchases - it is my understanding that many of the people that download TV shows from us are avid TV fans and will usually buy DVD boxsets of shows they like. Many of these are foreigners, that can’t view the shows normally. This is free money for the industry. I don’t understand why they would be upset with that." It's all a vivid illustration of Doc's words: “In networked environments, the demand side supplies itself.”
Steve jobs didn't invent bittorrent.
Posted by: Bojan Zelic | February 26, 2008 at 03:49 AM
Thanks Bojan, errr did you read the post...?
Posted by: James Cherkoff | February 26, 2008 at 12:49 PM