Sorry, but it really does! I don't have time to watch an entire group of TV shows. I don't like searching for so so movies from 1984. Occasionally I will pop it up and find something I like. Tonight we watched the Lorax with the kids, it was good. It's probably the fourth time we have seen it. I didn't have to pay for it (other than my subscription I pay every month that I have forgotten about), it was relatively enjoyable. But to be honest, till tonight I didn't get it. I rationalized that parents kept it for their kids to watch cartoons. Or maybe people like really bad movies from the '80's and '90's. But, really what it boils down to is that it's cheap enough to not be a bill you are going to force out of your budget, the movies can be had for cheap enough, and the scale is large enough that they can generate a profit. And with the download service, they don't even have to send out the DVD or store it.
When I worked in the technology industry 11 years ago, I really got behind the Internet and it's disruptive effect on business. I kid you not, when I worked at a large IT firm, I recommended we start what would have been a similar business to freecreditreport.com. The problem was though that this wasn't what we did. We processed credit applications for banks. That was our model. We didn't capitalize on the disruption. I left there and went to work for an investment firm. There we had a gag order when it came to talking with reporters. One PM broke that and said some pretty stupid things to a reporter. He got fired faster than he could have yelled, "greed is good"!!! (He was a Gordon Gekko wannabe). The article was seen on the Internet by someone who got upset and he was gone. This strategy is basically sticking your head in the sand and acting like nothing is going on around you. Even if you are an early adopter, experiences can skew your view of how to use new technology. Situations like the Comcast service technician and the AOL call center rep mentioned in one of the readings can have a significant effect on organizations.
I think the thing that is so intriguing about the Internet is the change to business models. A family member wrote a book based on her experiences. She self published it, and has sold a couple thousand copies. While that is by no means a commercial success, the "Long Tail" reading and recording describe a business model that one is open to these small runs, but also has the potential to generate earnings down the road. This disruptive nature is interesting. But it isn't for every business. I think the thing to think about though is how an you harness the power of the Internet in your business. For example, though I don't talk about my current position extensively on LinkedIn, I have a significant amount of information about me and almost 750 connections. Me building my network there can only help in the long run. Even for the organization I currently work for.
The exciting thing I think I read about this time was the IBM VP talking about removing segmentation. As you think about this concept, it has a lot of exciting opportunities. For example, last January a number of retail customers really began complaining about show rooming and the effect Amazon and Ebay was having. At the same time, I covered a software company that focused on retail supply chains from warehouse to the shelf. They had issues in the March Qtr last year because customers quit buying software as they had to rethink this exact problem. How do we manage the data to work to keep customers in the store. The concept they gave was as your customer was standing in front of say a TV at Best Buy, if they went out to the Internet to check the price, you might flash a coupon or send them one to their phone. My first thought was I would leave the store and start to look to see who was watching me everywhere I went. The point is though, you can't market anymore to generations, male, female, working not. Everyone has their own desires and those that can put their message on point to that person has the potential to make a fortune. There is risk of course, but there is much opportunity if you can find that right balance.
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