This week there were several main points that I'd like to capitalise on.
It's amazing really, that I can sit through a lecture attempting to figure out every next step using logical induction, yet there is always some way for digital media and communication to overthrow my logical thinking.
The 80/20 or "power law" model, for example. You'd think that a company producing content to appeal to the mass market side would always succeed and beat the niche market. It just makes sense. As said in the lecture, Transformers will always have the upper hand against some romance journey film made in another language. Sure, people might like romance journeys, but the majority will appeal to Transformers.
This is why I was mindblown with how Amazon approached the matter. A mass market of niches. Appeal not only to the mass market, but have enough supply to attract the niche markets too. Store front? Who needs them? Why spend time on making the face value of your company pretty by sacrificing storage space? No, just buy a warehouse or ten, fill them to the ceiling with books and become one of the biggest book distributors in the world.
I also would like to stress on the attention vs content changeover after the amateurization of the Internet began. Before, there were high profiled publishers writing articles and stories with quality and flair. Now, we have millions of publishers writing blog posts and stories with just flair (okay, and some quality). Before it was the content that was scarce - those who were good writers were worshipped. But now, the attention is scarce. There are so many "writers" on the internet nowadays screaming for attention. Digital evolution on a social scale, eh?
Lastly I'd like to pose a question: do we always pay for what's first in line? Google charge a fee per month to give you live updates on stock prices. People pay money for a book before it gets digitally publicised. But what about things like torrented movies? It's not rare to get your hands on a HD film before it is released on DVD.. but is that why people pay to see a movie in the cinemas?
Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next week :).
