Comments on: Screen Devices Should be Subsidized

By: free satellite

free satellite — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:46:21 +0000

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By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:53:15 +0000

David, Howard, and Nate – thanks for participating in the conversation. You all have brought up some extremely interesting points. The goal of my writing of this post was to spark conversation and so far, I’ve accomplished that (in my mind).

To answer some of your questions, lets start with Howard’s dead-on analysis of Walled Gardens. Prodigy/AOL/Windows/IE, mobile devices, etc all have been down that road and have lost. As Nate affirms, remaining ‘open’ is where everything is going.

I don’t disagree at all. I do think, however, that not all content is equal and neither are partners. Even with a fully open network, there are favored nations. I’m predicting a little consolidation of both hardware and content companies but even then, the hardware platforms may remain open (not put up those walls).

By: Lee Semel

Lee Semel — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:16:22 +0000

Maybe, but maybe not. If they give away the decide, they’ll have to put restrictions in place to tie you to their content and services. My cell phone was subsidized, and now I’m stuck in a year’s contract, can’t install what I want on the phone, and pay high monthly fees. I’d rather just pay full price and have the freedom to use it the way I use my PC — as an owner, not a subscriber.

By: Howard Yeh

Howard Yeh — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:43:11 +0000

It’s thought provoking, Darren, but let me voice a contrarian view. History has shown that garden walls come down over time. This is true of Prodigy, AOL (and the erosion of $125B of value in the process), Windows, IE, mobile device companies on-device portals, etc. The subsidy seemingly would make a case for walls going back on. The person who subsidizes gets to live in the garden. What do you make of that viewpoint? (Not specifically the one I hold, but the first one that conjured up in my mind).

By: Darren Herman - Marketing, Advertising, Media and Technology Blog » Blog Archive » links for 2008-01-16

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:23:26 +0000

[...] Screen Devices Should be Subsidized Razors and blades. Video games. Televisions. There are similarities. (tags: content media digital technology nextny nextnydigital device economics) [...]

By: David Honig

David Honig — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:14:38 +0000

Great, Thought Provoking Post Darren! In the case of a BlackBerry or an Iphone, Who is creating the Buzz? Its RIMM and Apple, and not so much Verizon, AT&T and others. Or who is more important, the device ( Rimm ) Or the Provider, lets say Verizon, do we really care on the provider. On the TV Side, yes, like yourself, I find My tv very sleek and a nice complinmet to my living room, but its really nothing until i turn it on. Now, my choices on content can be Cable ( and in some areas, you have more than one choice ) Or Satellitte. But why did i buy the tv is the question? I bought it because I thought it had the best picture, and i fell in love with it. I actually think its the Cable Providers or Cell phone Co’s which should be Subsidizing their services. Take the Fure Google Phone, Will it be the Free Phone that would be most appealing or the Cheaper Services. I dont know the answer, but it can make a good debate on who should Subsidize their services.

As for the video gaming consoles, it absolutley makes sense for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to give away or at least heavily discount their systems… it really is nothing without the games, and they have the deals with the EaSports of the world ( so they are somewhat controlling the content a consumer can buy )

Sorry for the rant here… I really enjoyed your post here, and hope others do also

By: Herman: Content Co + Hardware Co = Cheap Hardware

Herman: Content Co + Hardware Co = Cheap Hardware — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:02:27 +0000

[...] Check out Darren Herman’s post pronouncing that “Screen Devices Should be Subsidized.” [...]

By: Nate Westheimer

Nate Westheimer — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:12:52 +0000

I think you’re about 80% spot on here about where the future of hardware and content is going. Nonetheless, I also think that public airways will continue to be important and public broadcast television (the spectrum, not the station) will remain — and should. The Internet will and should remain open as well, so our computers will mostly remain separated, from a cost perspective, from the content they serve, minus the Apple case.

I could be totally wrong here, but I do think that open mediums will persist and that with open mediums we’ll have hardware which costs near full value.