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Content producers and techies want something like this (microtransactions) to work so badly that they keep trying to make it happen, despite the fact that peopl

Content producers and techies want something like this (microtransactions) to work so badly that they keep trying to make it happen, despite the fact that people quite simply don't want it. They keep thinking "maybe I just need to make it more usable" when PayPal has been quite usable for nearly two decades. People don't want to buy a bunch of small stuff a la carte. They just don't.

bryanlarsen 13y ago
counter-example: the billions of apps sold for 99 cents on the Apple app store.
- mattmaroon 13y ago
  And yet you could buy TV shows there a la carte and nobody does. Suppose maybe I should have specified reading material though.
  - bushido 13y ago
    The reason people don't buy TV shows is due to bad pricing and lackluster value. I know a lot of people who wait to buy a TV series when it comes on DVD because they cannot understand why the sum of all episodes available for digital download costs the same as the DVD, when there are much lower expenses. Also they need to pay extra for any specials. Hollywood and studios assume that people are willing to pay more for instant access than they pay for physical products. And there in lies the problem why very few people but TV shows a la carte. On the people who download from p2p etc. a number of people would pay if the amount was lower, and within this group are a number of people who download from p2p now and buy the DVD when it has released. This is also a big attraction for people waiting a year+ for a season to show up on netflix. You reasoning is unfortunately an ad homeinem.
    - saurik 13y ago
      > I know a lot of people who wait to buy a TV series when it comes on DVD because they cannot understand why the sum of all episodes available for digital download costs the same as the DVD, when there are much lower expenses. This sounds like an education problem: how do we make people understand that the cost of printing DVDs is negligible (in fact, practically nothing) in comparison to the efforts of hundreds if not thousands of trained individuals, tens of millions of dollars of specialized equipment, and the limited availability of their favorite actors?
      - bushido 13y ago
        To my knowledge the perceived expenses with DVD comes from the costs consumers think that comes from packaging, warehousing and sales. To be honest I completely agree that this is not substantial and should not affect the costs and margins for the studios. There is definitely an education problem, but the bigger issue is the consumption problem, that is, people who are willing and able to pay for digital downloads of TV shows are prepared to wait a few months - a year to buy a DVD or watch it on Netflix. Sure we could try and educate these people about the minuscule difference in price. But chances are we would still fail to increase the perceived value. And there in lies the problem and an opportunity to find a better delivery system.
Ruska 13y ago
>People don't want to buy a bunch of small stuff a la carte. They just don't. Are you familiar with In App Purchases? The fact that so many apps are moving towards being free with paid content after purchase/install kind of goes against your statement. If anything, it would support the argument that people are willing to use a system like this if it is usable and trustworthy.
jagermo 13y ago
Paypal has fairly high transaction fees, as they mention in the article. If you pay one euro for an article, 40 cents go to paypal. Don't get my wrong, paypal is awesome for other stuff, but not for microtransactions

bryanlarsen 13y ago

counter-example: the billions of apps sold for 99 cents on the Apple app store.

mattmaroon 13y ago
And yet you could buy TV shows there a la carte and nobody does. Suppose maybe I should have specified reading material though.
- bushido 13y ago
  The reason people don't buy TV shows is due to bad pricing and lackluster value. I know a lot of people who wait to buy a TV series when it comes on DVD because they cannot understand why the sum of all episodes available for digital download costs the same as the DVD, when there are much lower expenses. Also they need to pay extra for any specials. Hollywood and studios assume that people are willing to pay more for instant access than they pay for physical products. And there in lies the problem why very few people but TV shows a la carte. On the people who download from p2p etc. a number of people would pay if the amount was lower, and within this group are a number of people who download from p2p now and buy the DVD when it has released. This is also a big attraction for people waiting a year+ for a season to show up on netflix. You reasoning is unfortunately an ad homeinem.
  - saurik 13y ago
    > I know a lot of people who wait to buy a TV series when it comes on DVD because they cannot understand why the sum of all episodes available for digital download costs the same as the DVD, when there are much lower expenses. This sounds like an education problem: how do we make people understand that the cost of printing DVDs is negligible (in fact, practically nothing) in comparison to the efforts of hundreds if not thousands of trained individuals, tens of millions of dollars of specialized equipment, and the limited availability of their favorite actors?
    - bushido 13y ago
      To my knowledge the perceived expenses with DVD comes from the costs consumers think that comes from packaging, warehousing and sales. To be honest I completely agree that this is not substantial and should not affect the costs and margins for the studios. There is definitely an education problem, but the bigger issue is the consumption problem, that is, people who are willing and able to pay for digital downloads of TV shows are prepared to wait a few months - a year to buy a DVD or watch it on Netflix. Sure we could try and educate these people about the minuscule difference in price. But chances are we would still fail to increase the perceived value. And there in lies the problem and an opportunity to find a better delivery system.

Ruska 13y ago

>People don't want to buy a bunch of small stuff a la carte. They just don't. Are you familiar with In App Purchases? The fact that so many apps are moving towards being free with paid content after purchase/install kind of goes against your statement. If anything, it would support the argument that people are willing to use a system like this if it is usable and trustworthy.

jagermo 13y ago

Paypal has fairly high transaction fees, as they mention in the article. If you pay one euro for an article, 40 cents go to paypal. Don't get my wrong, paypal is awesome for other stuff, but not for microtransactions