The danger for content providers is a surfeit of good enough
From a Dec. 24 New York Times story on the continued attempts of publishers to extract more value from libraries when it comes to e-books (or just sit out the e-book library lending game all together):
While many major publishers have effectively gone on strike, more than 1,000 smaller publishers, who don’t have best-seller sales that need protection, happily sell e-books to libraries. That means the public library has plenty of e-books available for the asking — no waiting.
This is an aside to the main thrust of the article, but it’s the most important bit. Because here’s the thing: as long as library collections (or Netflix streaming or Hulu or ebooks that cost $7.99 or less) have enough works that are good enough, consumers are going to go the cheap and easy route. Yes, there are still premium titles that some consumers will pay old-content company prices for. But more and more, it’s clear that there is a surfeit of good enough.
To speak more directly to the library vs. publisher tug-of-war detailed in the article: my library system has gone on an ebook buying spree this past year. I have the Overdrive app on my iPhone. Yes, there are a select few books that I will buy or that I will check out from the library in hard copy, but I also find myself reading books that may not be the number one choice on my list of to-reads because they are available as an ebook from my library. It’s just so easy to check it out and read it on my iPhone.
My wife and I also decided to drop our DVD plan with Netflix and just pay for streaming. Yes, there are things that may not be available. But between Netflix streaming and Hulu (the free, non-plus version), we have more than enough shows to watch. We have a surfeit of good enough. And that’s a problem for publishers and studios stuck on the old ways of generating revenue.
Features I want from Hulu, Netflix, Gmail and other web services
I have no major complaints about most of the web services I use*. Of course, that’s a bit tautological because if I hated them, I wouldn’t use them. But anyway, I do have some suggestions for minor improvements to the following web services:
Hulu: I would like a smarter queue that tracks what I have already seen. It’s great that you can subscribe to shows and when new episodes get loaded on to Hulu, they pop in your queue. But because episodes sometimes get taken down (after I have seen them) and then put back up (for example, to drum up excitement for the start of a new season), the queue oftens clogged with episodes of a show that I have already viewed on Hulu. I want an option to only show ones I haven’t viewed already — and for re-uploads to recognize that I saw them on the first go round.
Netflix: I would like a queue that’s just like the current queue but is for tracking purposes only, and I want to be able to subscribe to actors, directors, writers, studios, awards lists, certain critics picks, sub-genres and sub-sub-genres and when something new is acquired by Netflix that features the keywords and individuals I’ve subscribed to, I want those titles to appear at the top of that tracking queue.**
Gmail: I love Gmail. I’m one of those who immediately took to thread conversations and tags instead of folders. There is one feature I’d like though: the ability to tag an e-mail before (or as you go to) send it.
Google Docs: Yes, you can export Google Docs in a variety of formats, but there are occassions where I like to simply publish a Doc. For those instances I’d like to be able to have the option of auto-pagination (and be able to specify how many paragraphs or words for each page).
Twitter: I know this is supposed to be on the way, but, imo, the ability to RT from the web interface can’t happen soon enough. Yes, I use Tweetdeck and Hootsuite fairly often, but sometimes the web interface it just easiest to use, and I’d like to be able to easily retweet from it.
YouTube: I want 20 minute video uploads. Some better metrics tools (and even integration with Google Analytics) would be nice too.
Flock: I want it to open faster.
Flickr: I want the ability to batch organize sets and collections without going in to Flickr’s Ajax (sometimes browser resource heavy) Organizer e.g. just using titles of everything without thumbnails and the drag and drop feature — a light version, I guess, of the Flickr Organizer.
GoodReads: I want the ability to easily order titles on shelves (both drag and drop and enter number) and the ability to select multiple shelves and only show the titles that match all the selected shelves.
*Facebook is the Big Exception, but I’m not going to go in to all that in what is intended to be a light, quick post.
**I also want Linux supported Netflix On Demand, but that’s not a feature improvement, per se.
Wm’s Twitter stream- morriswm: RT @fakebaldur: This: http://t.co/NTaIPRJx “Khan Academy: It’s Different This Time” February 5, 2012
- morriswm: RT @Nobilis: I figured out why I don't like Tumblr: There's no room for conversation. It's a place to put up billboards. February 2, 2012
- morriswm: @ImaginaryZina @mel_leilani Yep. That's what I do. But I only do it on 1 out of the 4 times that I would normally click. So. Lost pageviews. February 2, 2012
- morriswm: @HeidiTighe 3/4 of the time I will just forget it. The other 1/4 I'll just Google the headline. February 2, 2012
- morriswm: RT @stacylwhitman: @morriswm The thing that drives me most nuts about it is that it *appears* to be a link to the newspaper itself. February 2, 2012
- morriswm: @stacylwhitman Exactly. February 2, 2012
