| > Netflix's problem is that there are no switching barriers to keep viewers loyal to Netflix. Sure there is. Nobody else has Netflix's library. If I bought the shows I watch on netflix from iTunes or amazon, I would probably sink 10x the money in. I've probably spent around $300-400 on netflix over the years, and I've watched many times more content than that. Ad-free, subscription, with lots of content. Let's look at the competitors: Amazon prime, which is cheaper but has only a few titles that set it apart (West Wing is the one that caught my eye). Of course, prime is worth it even without the video library, so perhaps it's not the best comparison. Hulu has a much smaller library, and its paid model has ads (which renders it unacceptable for me). As a free service for watching recent TV, it's alright, but that's not really the same market as Netflix. iTunes, Google Play, etc etc, are only worth it if you watch <$8 of content a month or want to keep up with current television. And, of course, let's all remember the biggest competitor in the room for the generation that's most likely to consume internet content: piracy. It has the best selection, best price, best quality- it really only fails on a convenience level. I also think that the download-the-drm-video is destined for failure. People want large collections, and anyone building that collection with video you don't own for that much money is either stupid or has a lot of money. |