[Sigia-l] Buy or rent?

[Listera]

Manu Sharma:

> The subscription model of buying music is bankrupt. I think you could
> make available the Second Coming in a subscription model and it might
> not be successful."

Yep.

What I think is interesting here is that the non-Apple world has pretty much
given up on download-to-own business, so thoroughly dominated by Apple. So
they are talking up the advantages of the subscription model now that MS
Janus enables them to move digital assets.

As far as I know, with the sub model, you have to give up your assets when
you unsub. Otherwise, you can download massive quantities and just unsub
*and* keep them forever. That's not a business model. Unless you enforce via
DRM a complicated set of ownership rules. I don't know anyone who actually
*likes* the Blockbuster video rental/late fee nonsense. (Librarians excluded
:-)

This somewhat ties with the build-it-inhouse or sub-from-an-ASP dilemma
businesses face everyday when it comes to app development. We have
progressed quite a bit on this front, but nowhere near what the ASP
proponents would like.

Someone mentioned off-list to me that it's akin to having a boy/girlfriend
vs. a spouse. There's, of course, the near-50% divorce rate. :-)

Ziya
Nullius in Verba