[mikeash]

I'm not sure that one can really compare a written story sold on the internet over a decade ago, before pretty much anybody had a decent reader for such things, with a video being sold online today when literally tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of people own the right equipment for viewing it comfortably.

[interlagos]

The comparison is the hype, delivery, and conclusions. After the initial release of the Plant there was much fanfare about its demonstrated validation of a sales model, yet it was a completely atypical example that earned tremendous publicity and enhanced engagement because it was novel.

[mikeash]

Sure, The Plant was an experiment with a completely new and novel sales model that ended up falling flat. Meanwhile Louis CK is selling videos online in a world where millions of people buy videos online, but with the barely novel gimmick of selling direct instead of through intermediaries. (Something tons of people have done before, some with great success.) I really don't see the similarity.

[interlagos]

That barely novel gimmick got it front and center of every social news site. Indeed, why are we even talking about this experiment if it were "barely novel"? This submission and every comment in it is a counterpoint to your claim.

[mikeash]

A fascinating question! I think we're all talking about it because Louis CK is pretty popular.

None of this is a counterpoint to my claim. A counterpoint to my claim would be actually showing that it is novel, e.g. that this experiment contains attributes which have not been seen before.

People have produced and sold videos direct over the internet many times before, so that aspect isn't new. Is there some other aspect to this which I'm missing which is novel?