[TodPunk]

Actually, the harsh reality is that we do not yet have a digital content ecosystem that makes consuming any digital media easy for the vast majority of the population (US or otherwise). This is why netflix can do what they do: they have a walled garden where the entire experience is driven purely by their interface and delivery mechanisms (see also: Steam in the PC games space).

I've written specs for studio approved DRM schemes and done pre-dvd content on in-flight entertainment systems. Please believe me when I say that it is a nightmare even if you DO know what you're doing with all the tech involved, but even if it weren't a legal problem there's a good example that is pretty damning as a foundational assumption: we still don't know how to share a file.

I mean that sincerely: try to get your average non-tech worker to send a file to your grandmother on their own. I can not overstate this enough. This does not work.

We have a lot of distance to cover before the digital content world cares about our niche whims.

[fr0styMatt2]

I'm curious about this, because I read your response but think I'm missing something.

Non-techy people routinely consume digital content on YouTube or on their Facebook feeds. Most new 'smart' TVs stream YouTube at least as a minimum.

Which part is difficult? Are you talking more about the tech from the content distributor's side (as opposed to the consumer)?

[TodPunk]

You are describing turn-key solutions. They are services that provide complete end-to-end consumption methods, like Netflix. In the scenarios of content consumption (be it articles, movies/tv, or even games) even recent history has shown that it isn't the availability of content that is the limiting factor, it is the accessibility of content. What I mean by that is not that you have authorization to consume the content, but that you have the capability of enacting your end of the transaction (in this case, pressing play).

The reason VHS and DVD sales are better than digital is because it is still vastly easier to put a thing in a magic box hooked up to the TV and press play on the remote. Even this is frought with danger (How do I hook it up, how do I get to the right input, where exactly is the button to play the movie on this DVD menu?) This is also why you hear those complaints near constantly.

There's other factors as well (like people not feeling like they own a file, but a DVD is theirs), but again the barrier to entry for consumers on computers is getting past having to think of any of the moving parts. This is true in a lot of places, like automatic transmissions and ATMs (read up on the history of ATM interfaces, it's fascinating if you're into that).

Currently on a PC if you download a file that is a piece of media to consume, you have several important barriers for most people: - I have to put the file somewhere, and I don't understand filesystems - I have to have software that uses the file format, that works on my machine - I have to know how to use that software - I have to know how to purchase the file, whatever that is supposed to mean - I have to like how it's being displayed - I have to know how to get it from the machine I downloaded it on to my TV or whatever

There's probably others in some scenarios, but you probably see the point. A lot of things we tech users take for granted is that these things are very, very hard for most people, and they always have been (again, physical tech like cars or elevators follow this). Even giving someone a link is barely beginning to scratch the surface of this process. So this is, bar none, the reason digital is going to have problems until netflix or youtube or whatever can just play everything.

This is also, as a related aside, why a web browser and mobile apps win in breaking down those barriers. Everyone already has them and it's the "click icon to do thing" model, where icon might be a bookmark or typing a simple address, but the point is the same. No installs, no understanding of local mechanics and difference. It's also why Apple products are viewed by the consumers as more user friendly. There's very little to understand about your machine on a Macbook. You don't have to take my word for it here. Watch your average user use a mac. Or read their user interface guides.

[aianus]

> we still don't know how to share a file

I disagree. Without DRM it would be as simple as generating a temporary signed link to S3 upon clicking 'Buy'. I could implement it myself in an hour. Even grandma would be able to use it no problem (click buy -> double click file -> watch movie).

[nitrogen]

I mean that sincerely: try to get your average non-tech worker to send a file to your grandmother on their own.

We knew how to send a file, but MegaUpload got shut down.