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The complaint seems pretty straightforward to me. As you note, the value Bloomberg provides is all in its data and software, not in the physical terminal itself

The complaint seems pretty straightforward to me. As you note, the value Bloomberg provides is all in its data and software, not in the physical terminal itself. The terminal is effectively just DRM, a giant dongle you have to use to access the data and services. Back in the day you could make an argument for the value of locking services to a proprietary terminal, since most people didn't have a computer on their desk and all and there were no common standards for those that did. But these days there is a ubiquitously accessible common standard for desktop information systems: the x86-based PC running Microsoft Windows. Having to use a proprietary terminal means not being able to use all the knowledge of that standard platform the user has built up over the years, and having to build up a new stock of knowledge about the baroque weirdnesses of that proprietary terminal. So I can totally see how someone would wish they could just access that highly valuable data and software on the machine they already know how to use.

TuringNYC 7y ago
Much of the data is already accessible from almost any client that can run the BBDL (Bloomberg Data License API, or whatever the name du jour is) Many software vendors embed BBDL pulls using the API. For example, SunGard Front Arena and PolyPaths both pull rates/prices/SMFs/curves seamlessly from BBDL regardless of whether you are running on the terminal or not. This has been the case for over a decade at least. As for the individual software being available on different machines, they have a solution for some of that (Bloomberg BVAL Pricing Service, or the name du jour). Ultimately, they want a vertically integrated UX where the models and screens have a very intuitive correlate on their proprietary keyboard (oh, and DRM.) It is a choice, you cant fault them for choosing that route. There are plenty of competitors who have come along (and died) trying to offer something else. Everyone is free to choose those. It is a bit like Apple and iOS. I once went to Android for 2yrs, and then came back to iOS because I saw the value of things just working well together.
kgwgk 7y ago
The « physical terminal itself » is your PC. The Bloomberg « terminal » is just software plus an authentication device.

TuringNYC 7y ago

Much of the data is already accessible from almost any client that can run the BBDL (Bloomberg Data License API, or whatever the name du jour is) Many software vendors embed BBDL pulls using the API. For example, SunGard Front Arena and PolyPaths both pull rates/prices/SMFs/curves seamlessly from BBDL regardless of whether you are running on the terminal or not. This has been the case for over a decade at least. As for the individual software being available on different machines, they have a solution for some of that (Bloomberg BVAL Pricing Service, or the name du jour). Ultimately, they want a vertically integrated UX where the models and screens have a very intuitive correlate on their proprietary keyboard (oh, and DRM.) It is a choice, you cant fault them for choosing that route. There are plenty of competitors who have come along (and died) trying to offer something else. Everyone is free to choose those. It is a bit like Apple and iOS. I once went to Android for 2yrs, and then came back to iOS because I saw the value of things just working well together.

kgwgk 7y ago

The « physical terminal itself » is your PC. The Bloomberg « terminal » is just software plus an authentication device.