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To Download Or Not To Download

April 3, 2009

I thought a lot about what I would say this month. February has been a tough one. 

A lot of things going on here in the South, and times are tough all over for that matter. I just wanted to take some time to talk about what we are watching and how we are watching it. I was reminded of this when a family member recently passed away and I was looking at old movies and pictures. Crazy what has transpired in the video-content industry. I have a Beta, for goodness sake, in mint condition with old movies taken on a Beta camera. Sounds like the wheel just got invented. 

In the same way in our business we are consistently revamping old technologies and embracing new ones. As people are becoming more nervous and less courageous about risking their hard earned dollars on frivolous items, we see outrageous advances in media storage, retrieval and viewing. DVDs are seriously being challenged by content that can be downloaded and stored on a hard drive, retrieved and viewed at will. It sure humbled me when I was watching the BETA tape. Crazy how far we have come. 

We are implementing these new technologies every day. Vendors like Vudu and Hulu and Kaleidascape and Fusion, just to name a few, are letting our clients download or store almost any kind of content they can imagine and keep it secure. I have even heard of some video-production companies in the adult industry say they will no longer roll out DVDs. That is why my Beta was obsolete. The key though is that because we are becoming a society that demands everything now and at our fingertips when we need it, companies are designing with great success the tools that really can make some of our life more manageable. All those photos and old movies can be stored, managed and retrieved at will. Sure makes life a little simpler. 

We love the way these servers are allowing our clients more freedom to enjoy our system.


Posted by Lewis Franke on April 3, 2009 | Comments (3)


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April 7, 2009
In response to: To Download Or Not To Download
Andrew F commented:

That's the beauty of it. These new mediums are simple to use, but not necessarily simple to set up - magic words for the custom business.

I always thought the onset of on-demand and video storage and the IP networking expertise they demand will be the next level of competitive advantage absolutely necessary to get through the ongoing commoditization of mainstream video. Now that it appears mainstream audio is commoditizing as well - further eroding profit sanctuaries - I think we'll see substantial shake-out of the smaller players in the install industry.




April 8, 2009
In response to: To Download Or Not To Download
Andy commented:

So True, Andrew...
Seems like 5 years ago, you were deciding if you wanted to specialize in video or audio install, now it's content management and broadband delivery. IT skills are a prerequisite, not a competitive advantage. With the current
economic climate, all we can do is hold on tight and try to keep up. Hope to see most of us still here come next CES...
Andy E. NJ




April 22, 2009
In response to: To Download Or Not To Download
ZoetMB commented:

If I subscribe to a service that provides commercial movies or TV shows and that service "disappears", it's not a big deal - I can subscribe to another service.

But if I subscribe to a "cloud" service that is storing my personal files and videos and that disappears, that's a really big deal. And there have been already a number of services that have either folded or informed members that they must maintain a minimum sales level to have their files maintained.

The problem with these new services is that they are not archival. (Although your Beta isn't either since it's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything to play it on.) In a throwaway society in which we create tons of trivial junk, we might not care about most of it. But there are always going to be those personal mementos that we do care about and there's a danger that material will be lost in a non-physical world.





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