6 ms·

< Amazon, Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are all developing programming efforts of their own. If this competition is about catalogue, I don't understan

by gourou 8y ago

< Amazon, Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are all developing programming efforts of their own. If this competition is about catalogue, I don't understand why they didn't try to purchase Time Warner or 21st Century Fox like Disney or AT&T did. Are they betting they'll get a better chance by producing their own content or teaming up with Disney?

foota 8y ago
You can make a lot of content for the price of a large media company.
- shanghaiaway 8y ago
  They're probably underestimating how difficult it is. I predict both Amazon and Apple will fail at building content libraries.
  - quakenul 8y ago
    Interestingly, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) disagrees with you. At Recode 2017 he said looking forward they are "never going to be as good at what [Amazon] are trying to be [regarding the media sector]" (spectrum, library size), but instead "can be the emotional connection brand like HBO [that is] super focused on one thing that people are very passionate about" What a refreshingly sober perspective (probably why I kept it in mind). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn4hdTI2jc&feature=youtu.be&t=994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn4hdTI2jc&feature=youtu.be...
    - lakechfoma 8y ago
      How does he square that with the inundation of Netfix originals on the home page? HBO has a handful of quality shows. Neflix has a plethora of random titles, many of which (especially those created at Netflix and not acquired) are really not that good.
      - rainbowmverse 8y ago
        That makes sense if you think like a major studio going after broad demographics, but it's not how Netflix thinks. They use their data to try and build global clusters of people. It fails miserably for me, at least with their recommendations, but it seems to work for most people based on Netflix's stock price growth. Someone is out there watching those 5000 shows imported from China with no English dub, and in big enough numbers for Netflix to consider it a wise investment.
    - shanghaiaway 8y ago
      My point is that Apple,Amazon will not be able to build up valuable IP. They don't get culture. Content is not about quantity.
      - culturestate 8y ago
        You think that Apple of all companies doesn’t understand popular culture? Two of their senior executives used to run major fashion houses, another is Dr. Dre, and the guy who previously served as their music content director is the frontman of Nine Inch Nails. Apple undoubtedly has some significant hurdles to jump over in this space but a lack of cultural understanding is not one of them.
        ethbro 8y ago
        No offense to fashion executives and musicians, but their expertise seems orthogonal to running large, diverse content business. Maybe they have that skillset too. It doesn't follow intrinsically though. (And also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about)
        culturestate 8y ago
        > their expertise seems orthogonal to running large, diverse content business. They also have Jimmy Iovine and a bunch of former Hollywood execs running the business side of things. I was just trying to point out that of the major tech companies, Apple probably has the best “cultural” bona fides by a wide margin. > also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about Can you give some examples of what you see fitting into this category?
        ethbro 8y ago
        > Can you give some examples of what you see fitting into this category? Most of the standard HN gripes. Design prioritized over regular hardware updates for existing product lines. Mobile emphasis to the detriment of desktop and developer. Touch Bar. Keyboard changes to an already loved design. Pursuit of thinness / lightness past the point of utility. iPhone stiffness issues. iPhone antenna issues. Severe macOS functionality regressions / bugs in updates. Apple makes a great product, so I'm not bashing. But their priorities seem increasingly myopic, and they're losing the forest for the trees.

by gourou 8y ago

foota 8y ago

You can make a lot of content for the price of a large media company.

shanghaiaway 8y ago
They're probably underestimating how difficult it is. I predict both Amazon and Apple will fail at building content libraries.
- quakenul 8y ago
  Interestingly, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) disagrees with you. At Recode 2017 he said looking forward they are "never going to be as good at what [Amazon] are trying to be [regarding the media sector]" (spectrum, library size), but instead "can be the emotional connection brand like HBO [that is] super focused on one thing that people are very passionate about" What a refreshingly sober perspective (probably why I kept it in mind). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn4hdTI2jc&feature=youtu.be&t=994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn4hdTI2jc&feature=youtu.be...
  - lakechfoma 8y ago
    How does he square that with the inundation of Netfix originals on the home page? HBO has a handful of quality shows. Neflix has a plethora of random titles, many of which (especially those created at Netflix and not acquired) are really not that good.
    - rainbowmverse 8y ago
      That makes sense if you think like a major studio going after broad demographics, but it's not how Netflix thinks. They use their data to try and build global clusters of people. It fails miserably for me, at least with their recommendations, but it seems to work for most people based on Netflix's stock price growth. Someone is out there watching those 5000 shows imported from China with no English dub, and in big enough numbers for Netflix to consider it a wise investment.
  - shanghaiaway 8y ago
    My point is that Apple,Amazon will not be able to build up valuable IP. They don't get culture. Content is not about quantity.
    - culturestate 8y ago
      You think that Apple of all companies doesn’t understand popular culture? Two of their senior executives used to run major fashion houses, another is Dr. Dre, and the guy who previously served as their music content director is the frontman of Nine Inch Nails. Apple undoubtedly has some significant hurdles to jump over in this space but a lack of cultural understanding is not one of them.
      - ethbro 8y ago
        No offense to fashion executives and musicians, but their expertise seems orthogonal to running large, diverse content business. Maybe they have that skillset too. It doesn't follow intrinsically though. (And also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about)
        culturestate 8y ago
        > their expertise seems orthogonal to running large, diverse content business. They also have Jimmy Iovine and a bunch of former Hollywood execs running the business side of things. I was just trying to point out that of the major tech companies, Apple probably has the best “cultural” bona fides by a wide margin. > also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about Can you give some examples of what you see fitting into this category?
        ethbro 8y ago
        > Can you give some examples of what you see fitting into this category? Most of the standard HN gripes. Design prioritized over regular hardware updates for existing product lines. Mobile emphasis to the detriment of desktop and developer. Touch Bar. Keyboard changes to an already loved design. Pursuit of thinness / lightness past the point of utility. iPhone stiffness issues. iPhone antenna issues. Severe macOS functionality regressions / bugs in updates. Apple makes a great product, so I'm not bashing. But their priorities seem increasingly myopic, and they're losing the forest for the trees.