Vuze Blog

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

We’ve been making the case for years now that Vuze users are avid entertainment fans and early adopters of hot new technologies.  Recently, we decided to prove it, once and for all.  We set out to gather some data comparing you to the average Internet user.

Let me introduce you to yourselves.

In short, you’re:

• Heavy movie fans
• Avid online video buffs (at the expense of “live” TV)
• Trailblazing tech consumers
• Ultra connected online influencers
• Uniquely attracted to science fiction and animation content.

When it comes to entertainment and tech consumption, there’s no doubt that you’re the fairest of them all.  In fact, you may just be Hollywood’s best customers.

As valued customers, you’ve made it clear on how you want your online entertainment catered to your needs:

• Screen shifting:  More flexibility to watch your content on any screen you want (PC, Mobile, TV)
• Time Shifting:  More ability to download and watch your content whenever you desire
• Higher resolution:  More HD, and less grainy, stuttering, pixelated videos
• Content:  More science fiction and animation.

Your feedback has empowered us to speak on your behalf.  Stay tuned…

For more detail on our findings, download the full summary.

Believe in the Future

“I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet.  Period.”

– Michael Lynton, CEO Sony Pictures Entertainment

Over the weekend, I caught up on the news and came across this quote from the CEO of Sony Pictures.  It reminded me of an old quote from a Hollywood leader in a bygone era:

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

- Harry Warner, President of Warner Brothers (1927)

After getting over my initial disbelief and amusement, I came to realize that it’s tempting to be pessimistic about this new medium.  Media’s early forays onto the Internet showed great promise on the dream of delivering content to consumers  anytime and anywhere.  To date, however, we’ve only delivered on part of the promise.  We’ve built the technologies for distributing media over the Internet, but the industry has only begun to solve the business model side of how we productively monetize this distribution.

As a result, Sony and others find themselves navigating through a formidable set of challenges:

• The Internet has enabled widespread piracy
• The economics of video on demand haven’t emerged (yet) as a viable replacement for the industry’s DVD business
• The music industry’s business model has been disrupted by the “unbundling” of songs (good for users, challenging for the industry)
• Segments of the younger generation are watching less and less TV, and spending more and more time online and playing video games.

Like every other distribution platform before it (radio, TV, VHS, e-commerce), online media distribution is being adopted by users much faster than by content owners and advertisers, thereby leading to a short-term net destruction in value.

So, if you’re a studio executive, how do you begin to navigate these turbulent waters?  One thing is for sure — ignoring the sea change going on around us is not an option.  Cowering in fear at the thought of translating “analog dollars into digital dimes” will have only one effect — converting these dimes into pennies.  Rather, we believe content owners ought to adopt the burning platform paradigm.  Recognize that content distribution will be heavily disrupted anyway, and that the worst strategy is to move too slowly. Instead, experiment like your business is at stake:

• Understand the need to re-think and evolve Hollywood’s traditional licensing windows (ad-supported versus purchase or rental)
• Understand the user experience that end consumers desire (HD versus SD, streaming versus download, PC viewing versus devices)
• Evaluate the real trade-offs that DRM introduces
• Understand WHY people are free-riding content today, since these same people also spend more money than the average Internet users on non-digital platforms (more on this later).

Technological disruption can be brutal and uncomfortable for a CEO in the media industry navigating turbulent waters.  However, nothing good can emerge from a focus on short-term pain rather than long-term gain.  The key is to focus on what’s important to the end consumer, and what this consumer would be willing to pay for what’s important to them.

Consumers are changing.  Let’s change with them, and identify business models that embrace this change.

None of us want to end up with a quote like this to our name:

“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it to be an impossibility…a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.”

- Lee DeForest, a pioneer in the development of radio (1926)

Gilles

Introducing Vuze To Go

Find, Download, Play from any portable drive

We’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about portability of your content. Across our efforts to deliver your videos wherever, whenever you want them, we’ve been focusing on devices that you already care about and own – notably iPhone, iPod , Xbox 360, and PS3 to date.

In addition, there’s another device that most of you own. Based on a recent survey, 72% of you (Vuze users) own a portable hard drive to carry around your media files. Combine this with the fact that you use an average of 2.9 computers on a weekly basis, and we decided to focus some attention on making it easier for you to take your media with you.

Let’s face it, you don’t always have the ability (or desire) to install Vuze on the multiple computers you use at work, in school, or at a friend’s place. With this in mind, we set out to make it possible for you to run Vuze from the same portable drive where you store your media files, anywhere you go.

To do this, Vuze teamed with a company called Ceedo to create a simple, elegant app we’re calling Vuze To Go – a completely portable, self-contained version of Vuze.

Vuze To Go installs on any portable disk drive, like a USB hard drive or a flash thumb drive, rather than on your computer’s hard drive, and enables access to the full functionality of Vuze – anytime and anywhere. Just plug your portable drive (complete with Vuze To Go) into any PC and you’re ready to go. Vuze will run seamlessly from the portable drive, and all of your downloads can also go directly to that drive. And, like Vuze on your main computer, you’ll be able to play all the content in your Vuze Library even when you’re offline.

For you techies, Vuze to Go contains a virtual operating system, plus your familiar Vuze application.

While the core version of Vuze remains free (and always will), we’re offering a PC version of “Vuze to Go” for only $9.99. Try it out free for 2 weeks, and let us know what you think.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Chris