Comments on: Netflix: We Can’t Buy “Game of Thrones” and “Dexter”

By: Mo0rk

Mo0rk — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Worried about lost revenue ‘cos of lost cable subscriptions????! If they actually bothered to take a look at the level of piracy that GoT has suffered, they would understand that they would actually be looking at INCREASED profits even with the reduced price of a streaming service.

I’ve seen many of the downloaders comment that they would love to PAY for the show and are dismayed over the lack of availability. And if they DID make HBO Go a streaming service available to anyone online, they would also gain customers who do not understand how to torrent a tv show too. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose if you ask me, the time has come to ditch cable tv, the internet is the future with rapidly increasing bandwidth.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:59:00 +0000

HBO might be right, because downloading, not a whole lot of people do it. my brother is poor but rather buys the dvd than watches it for free from a usb stick cos he can’t be bothered to learn how to do that …………. it’s sad, I know.

By: 1oldman

1oldman — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:09:00 +0000

As 1oldman from pre-DOS days, for those that commented on Linux, I believe that you may have forgotten that Mac is base on the Linux kernel as well. No, Mac isn’t Micro$oft and yes M$ rules the OS game. And no I prefer to use a GUI over command line but with either M$ of Mac any of us that dive under the cover of either will end up using command line regardless.

By: John R

John R — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Link to NPR story is dead.

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:55:00 +0000

@orthorim:disqus

Really? Because they developed a client for Chrome OS which is Linux based? Obviously they can see the market potential that you can’t.

iOS is actually still a very small market compared to real computers so your logic should be that the Linux desktop would get it before iOS?

But anyway Linux is not ‘a market full of people who expect things for free’ its a community of people who enjoy the liberation that free and open source software brings.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:22:00 +0000

I think this is absolutely wrong.

We live in a world of 6Bn people. Those reading tech blogs and knowing how to torrent things are a infinitesimally small minority. They are neither the problem, nor the solution for big content. Their stealing doesn’t affect HBO, if they all paid it would be a drop in the bucket.

What *is* hurting HBO (and others) is withholding product from people who want said product. They must find ways to sell what they have to those that want it – and a way that has zero friction.

If I have to sign up for a big cable package – that’s a huge deterrent. If I can’t watch when not in the USA – a huge deterrent. Et cetera. Make it available to all comers, with one click purchasing, and you’ve unlocked millions of potential sales to people who know nothing about torrenting.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:15:00 +0000

Yes but it’s short sighted. I strongly believe that the best business model is to give customers what they want. They want the show on Netflix? Then you have two choices:
- Don’t provide it in the hopes it will keep customers roped in to your “package” which contains 95% stuff that those who are paying for it never watch, and don’t want.
- Provide it and price it to make money

Choosing #1 will keep existing revenue but lead to a slow exodus as more choices become available. Example True Blood went to Hulu, my friend cancelled her expensive cable and got Hulu instead. Gradually, that’s what everyone will do, depending on the shows they want to watch etc. If HBO had a monopoly on all content people want to watch they could get away with it. But they don’t.

These are dinosaurs unwilling to change – and it’s going to cost them everything.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:11:00 +0000

That!

More than anything else, I like the convenience of watching stuff whenever I like. Download. Done. I might put it on my iPad for that long flight that’s coming up. I might keep it on my laptop to watch at the hotel. I might put it on my USB HDD and watch on my HD TV. I might get interrupted, pause it, and continue watching it days later.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:07:00 +0000

It’s more like, there’s just no money in it. A small market full of people who expect to get stuff for free. What do you expect?

iOS is the opposite: A big market full of people only one click away from a purchase.

Which one would I develop for… hmm… tough choice!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:05:00 +0000

Funny thing is… that’s _exactly_ what happened. Twice! I desperately *want* to pay for GoT. It’s so awesome – I want to give them money so they make more of it. I tried just like the guy in oatmeal last year, for S01.

I made another effort today to see if maybe S02 was on iTunes… nope; Hulu… nope; Netflix.. nope. HBO Go… not _really_.

I am not in the USA but I have the US credit card, the VPN, etc. Can’t. Be. Done. I cannot buy this for love or money. What other product is like that? I can order anything from the USA, if not directly then via shipito.com.

Looking forward to the day when one of the streaming services starts to produce their own high quality content and sells it instantly, and world-wide. HBO will be no more at that time – a victim of its antiquated business model.