Global Geek News Blog The home of more Global Geek News insight and opinions

6Aug/091

Amazon’s VOD success depends on distribution deals

Greetings Readers!

The streaming video market has become rather crowded in the last couple of years with services like Hulu and YouTube, but the video service with the most potential is Amazon's VOD service.

Amazon's VOD (Video On Demand) service has been around for a while and has a huge library of tv shows and movies including some of the newest releases yet it has never gained much traction in a world dominated by Netflix.  If Amazon hopes to really compete in this market, it needs to do more than advertise its service (which it doesn't do a very good job at anyway).  Amazon needs to through its weight behind the service and make sure that everybody is aware of it and it is accessible as possible.  How can they make it accessible?  Amazon needs more distribution deals with hardware manufactures.

Amazon currently has deals which allow its service to be accessed on Roku boxes, Panasonic Blu-ray players, TiVo DVRs and Sony Bravia TVs, but they have to do much better than that.  Amazon needs to push for a deal with every TV manufacture instead of just Sony and their Bravia line.  With many people upgrading to new and better TVs after the DTV transition to take advantage of the new HD content, there is a huge opportunity for Amazon if they work to put themselves on all internet connected TVs.  Same thing with Blu-ray players, Blu-ray is starting to gain traction and Amazon needs to do its best to get on more than just Panasonic players if it wants to get in on the ground floor before the mass exodus from DVD to Blu-ray begins.  As far as TiVo goes, that is a great move for them but they should also work towards being on the DVRs offered by cable and satellite providers.

Amazon has the huge opportunity to grab a huge chunk of the streaming video market if they are willing to do what is necessary to put their service in front of as many people as possible.  They have started moving in this direction, but so as Netflix and others, so if they want to put themselves in a dominant position, they must act now!

Finally, I think they need to go mobile with their video on demand service.  Apps for the iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and such should be coming too.  Many people like to watch videos on their phones, so if you have a way to stream videos to a phone, even if it is over wifi, you are ahead of the competition.

The competition in this space is in its very early stages and Amazon is on the position of either being left behind or taking the lead.  The potential for profit is there, will they strike before its too late?

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12May/090

Don’t let your social networks become your enemy in lawsuits

Greetings Readers,

For a long time now, I have advocated being very careful of what you put on your social networks.  From compromising photos on your facebook page to tweets about your desire to become the next Hitler, anything you post on social networks can and will likely be used against you if you don't think twice before posting them.  Not only can those drunken party pictures damage your chances of landing that great job, but they can also screw you out of winning a lawsuit.

This week, a man in Canada who was suing for damages resulting from two car accidents in 2001 and 2003 had many of his claims rejected because what he had posted on facebook was the complete opposite of what he was alleging in his lawsuit.  Long story short, he claimed that his social life had gone down the tubes and that his friends wouldn't speak to him, but his facebook pictures showed him hosting parties and socializing with a good number of friends.  The $1.3 million lawsuit only got him $40,000 thanks to the photos.

If you are going say one thing, especially in places where it really maters like a courtroom or a job interview, it is generally a very bad idea to have evidence to the contrary on your facebook profile, flickr page or any other social network to which you belong.  Not only can the truth come out and screw you (that is what you get for being dishonest), but social networks are a better way for people to get to know you which might not be a good thing depending on what you want them believing about you.

In the end, you have two real options, be completely honest with everybody at all times incase they want to check up on you, or think twice about what you put online and what people will think about what you post.

Follow me on Twitter!

-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray

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21Mar/082

Many YouTube Users Lack Creativity and Originality

Hello readers!

Unlike many of the YouTube commenters, I generally hold my tongue when it comes to the videos that drift around the viral video sites, but today that changes.  While I am sure that what I am about to post will turn into another controversy like the Twitter post, what I have to say needs to be said.

While the problem of unoriginal and uncreative videos plagues all video sharing sites,  it seems to be the worst on YouTube.  While their are a number of posters that upload original and creative videos, thereis also a plague of users that create copycat videos.  As a YouTube user, I find it disappointing whenever I go to the site and find that much of the new content is just a copycat video of one that made it famous.  This lack of creativity and effort to create something new is a cancer on viral video sites and must be removed before these sites can become truly valuable places on the internet.

It seems that many people believe that since people like Chris Crocker can become famous for videos telling people to leave Britney Spears alone that they can do the same thing and become popular.  While many people chose to do similar videos about other celebrities, the idea behind the video is still exactly the same.  While videos like that might make you popular among fellow fans, it will not bring the mainstream success that you seek.

Creativity and originality are the keys to viral video success.  If you post a video that is creative and original, it is far more likely to raise to the top than a copycat video.  Experiment with different ideas and topics so that if you make it big, you can say that it was your own, original idea rather than stealing the concept from somebody else.  There is a lot to be said for doing your own thing instead of ripping somebody else off.

Not only is doing your own thing likely to increase your success in the viral video world, but it increases the diversity of content that can be found on viral video sites.  Much like television, it is far better to have original and diverse ideas rather than having multiple spin-offs of the same show.  Keep in mind that whether its viral videos, movies or TV shows,  sequels are almost never as good as the original.  If television networks or websites lack diversity, they will be lucky to survive, much less become successful.

This concept applies to all forms of media and entertainment, whether its viral videos, blogs, video games, movies, television, radio, or podcasts.  If you have dreams of fame and fortune, dream about what your next original idea is instead of what internet trend you can copy.

-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray

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