Changes based on the Internet business model are now moving from causing tumultuous change in the Print Business (i.e., newspapers, magazines, and books) and the distribution of entertainment content (e.g., Netflix, iTunes, and Pandora) at home, to taking all this real-time and on the move.
The “eureka” moment came about a week ago when I was frustrated in several ways at once while driving to the office last week. I was frustrated on not being able to get the news channels I wanted on AM radio without static - not interested in the music selection provided by the FM stations - not willing to pay the additional twelve plus dollars for satellite radio. This was all topped-off by the nearly fifteen minutes of advertisements and bumpers every 30 minutes on all of the broadcast stations.
This was quickly remedied by connecting my Andriod phone to the auxiliary input into my car’s audio system and firing-up Pandora. Within minutes, I had essentially commercial-free music that suited my taste. In additional, was able to browse to the streaming content of some talk shows that I was not able tune in well as broadcast radio. Within a very short period of time, 3G and 4G wireless will cover of 90% of the population and a vast majority of users will have the mobile devices to do the same.
More than the radio and satellite providers are affected, as the need to buy and download music online via services such as iTunes and Amazon MP3 could be significantly diminished. The new model puts additional control in the consumer’s hands – without having to pay monthly for content.
However, there is no free lunch, and as I have previously written about Internet download caps from Internet Service Providers, my current wireless 3G/4G provider is going to eliminate my unlimited data plan in the near future.
In addition, it is likely that the embedded radio in cars will also change. First, FM, then Satellite, next HD Radio, and soon 3G/4G streaming. In fact, every car that has OnStar is only some software away from a new capability. Wow, much more competition for your entertainment dollar.
If the amount of dollars that a consumer is going to spend on wireless services and music services only grows so fast, the question is going to be whether the consumer is going to want to spend a bit more money on the wireless data transfer, their satellite radio subscription, or buying and downloading music.
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