HOLY GRAILS
A lot of discussion and debate has ensued following Steve Jobs' 2008 Macworld keynote a couple of days ago, with the new Macbook Air getting more than it's fair share of it (see Techmeme discussion).
But what caught my eye the most was this teeny, unheralded feature on Apple's new digital download rental option for Hollywood movies and TV shows. It was described by the New York Times' David Pogue as follows:
"And you can start watching a movie on the computer, and finish it on your iPod or iPhone."
So for three or four bucks, the library or new release movie you just downloaded, could be watched on different Apple devices as you go through your day. It's the most reasonably priced version of what I call "Follow-Me" media, available to date.
Apple also announced revamped software for it's Apple TV product, so I presume this also means that you could start to watch your rental movie on your big-screen TV via Apple TV, then later watch it on your computer, iPod and iPhone, as you move through your day.
The phone and cable companies have been pursuing the so-called "three-screen" strategy for some time now, whereby digital content can be delivered to a customer on the phone, the PC or their TV. Witness this AT&T media kit and TV ad for an example.
In fact the AT&T Trickplays TV Ad is a demonstrative visualization of what I'm referring to as "Follow-Me" media, even though the 15 second commercial it not quite the likely way a viewer would watch a movie (sorry, couldn't find an embedded YouTube video clip of the commercial...I tried).
What AT&T doesn't clarify in the commercial of course is that under current "defensive" economics of the media industry, the consumer would likely have to buy each version of the movie, for each of the "screens" separately, in effect paying for it several times over...until of course the Apple service announced this week.
But "Follow-Me" media is easy to dramatize in a TV commercial, but a lot harder to make it really work for mainstream customers in the real world.
It's not just technology, but a lot of business models across a number of industries, and stakeholders that have to come together, before true Follow-me media is really possible at affordable, mainstream prices.
The Apple rental service is likely the closest we've come to this vision, at least on paper. And it's not just limited to download services.
As part of the new service, several major studios have agreed to bundle an iPod/iPhone version of a movie or TV show in a DVD package a customer would buy or rent at retail.
So in theory, one could start to watch the DVD on TV, then be able to continue to watch the iPod/iPhone version on the mobile device later. Not sure how it all works in terms of the ease of transferring the content from one device to another. I look forward to trying how it actually works in real life.
And "Follow-Me" media is not just about movies and TV shows. It could also apply to other media like books.
So imagine you buy the latest Harry Potter best-seller book and it comes with two additional digital versions, the "e-book" version and the audio-book. And the product is designed to allow you to start reading the physical book at night, fall asleep, wake up the next morning, continue to listen to the book in the car commuting to work, and later continue reading it on your e-book reader like the Amazon Kindle, Apple iPhone or other hand-held device at lunch. Then of course finish reading the physical book later at night.
Of course ideally, there'd be technology built-in so that the media would "remember" where you left off in each version during the day, in the form of auto-bookmarks.
It's a far different world today of course, where the defensive economics of various industries force the consumer to shell out three times the price of the book (or more), for the physical, audio, and the ebook versions.
And if they could get away with it, the publishers would love to put time limits on each version so that they could keep charging you for the stuff again and again.
Speaking of time-limits, especially when it comes to digital downloads of movies and TV shows, we need to re-think the 24-hour downloads that the industry is offering customers to date, including Apple with it's announcement this week.
A reader to David Pogue's blog captured it best in this statement of the problem and solution:
"The 27-Hour Day
This e-mail message blew my mind with its logic…
Hi David–You know what this country needs? A good 27-hour on-demand viewing time-frame.
Typically, you get 24 hours to watch your on-demand movie. Here’s what happens time and again to my wife and me. We get the kids down, and about 8, we click an on-demand movie to watch. I get sleepy by 9:30 (I work hard, okay?) and turn it off but I want to see the rest of the movie the next day.
Next day, I get the kids down at 8 and—poof—the rest of the movie has disappeared. If it’s free, I have to fast forward through the movie (which is particularly slow and annoying). If I paid for it, then it’s particularly enraging.
With a 27 hours to view the show, all problems solved.Only you can mount the sort of sensical (sic), nationwide campaign that’s needed."
We can all so relate to this problem, which has totally slipped through the cracks of every industry offering on-demand or digital download services.
I think this is one of the most brilliant innovations I've heard so far in 2008. Sign me up for the campaign.
We'll eventually get to true "Follow-me" media and 27-hour days...it's only a matter of time. But there's going to be a lot of false starts and frustrating product/service offerings before then.
Patience.
Just like the 2-3 weeks I have to wait to get the MacBook Air I pre-ordered* two days ago.
* Yes, the SSD version, I couldn't resist. Please don't tell my wife...just yet.
Comments