RE: Will They Pay? Part II

From: Brian Shepherd <Brian.Shepherd_at_TechnologyReview.com>
Date: Thu 14 Jun 2001 11:41:29 -0500

BRIAN SHEPHERD <Brian.Shepherd_at_TechnologyReview.com> WROTE:

>I think one thing is clear, PEOPLE ARE BUYING STUFF ON THE
> WEB.

TO WHICH ALEX CHUDNOVSKY <alexc_at_jungle.com> RESPONDED:

>Yes they are, but most of it are physical goods,
>often sold below price. Michael was pointing out that
>CONTENT is not that popular, and this is unlikely to
>change in the future. Indeed, I am used to going to
>cnnfn.com every day for line many years now, and if
>they start charging for it, then I will go away,
>however NOT because I don't want to pay money for
>news, but because THEIR news (content) are not worth
>paying money for.

While I understand that Michael was specifically talking
about content, I also think he was casting a wide net over
buying on the web in general. A misunderstanding that we
cleared up offline.

However, I am constantly amazed at how many declarations
there are out there from people saying they WON'T BUY
ONLINE CONTENT. I would bet (and hope) that content,
presentation of content and substance of content will
improve over time, thus justifying a cost. I wish I had a
nickel for the amount of times I heard when I was kid in
the early 80s - "I will never buy cable television, it's
all crap. I get network television for nothing". Now, I
can count on one hand the amount of friends I have that
don't have cable, direct TV, or a dish connected to their
home. I also have some friends who swore they would
never buy HBO. Guess what? HBO isn't just movies anymore.
"Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos" are two shows that
have won with critics and audiences. I can't get my
friends (same friends) to stop talking about those shows.
Does anyone remember "Brothers" or "Dream on"? Two
shows HBO did that were popular but had very small
followings. HBO is becoming very successful in the
television drama business. My point here is, it's taken
a while to win over audiences. Don't say you won't pay
for content online, you never know what the online
landscape will be like five years from now. Just like
HBO did with Brothers and Dream On, you've got to start
from somewhere, much like what content websites are
doing. Will they all succeed, absolutely not. That
doesn't mean the model won't work.

Thanks all,

********************************************

Brian K. Shepherd
Technology Review, Inc.
Director, Online Sales and Marketing
EMAIL: brian.shepherd_at_technologyreview.com
PHONE: 617-475-8030
FAX: 617-475-8042
ADDRESS:
One Main Street
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Received on Thu Jun 14 2001 - 11:41:29 CDT