Convergence As The Killer Of Content Business Models

from the resistance-from-the-incumbents dept

While most of this NY Times article focuses on what's happening with online video, early on it touches on a much more important point: for all this talk of "convergence," convergence often destroys business models. This isn't a new idea, of course. Some of us have been warning that people seem to forget that converged systems tend to squeeze out certain business models as part of the process for a few years now. However, with content providers believing that their business model is based on getting you to pay for the same content over and over again, it's becoming clear that they may have some extra incentives to slow down any convergence that could put the squeeze on old business models. Of course, that's the short-sighted view -- as many of these new offerings open up new opportunities. However, if we've learned one thing over the years, it's that the content industry doesn't like to embrace new opportunities, as they'd rather cling with a death grip onto older, obsolete business models.

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