Da-Chief
05-22-2008, 15:41
http://i.dslr.net/urls/54/2254.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Bell-Canada-Picks-Horrible-Time-To-Launch-Mediocre-Video-Store-94649)
So for conversation's sake, say you're a telephone monopoly currently under fire from all sides by regulators, consumer advocates and competitors for your effort to throttle competing ISP P2P traffic (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/92973). Does that strike you as the best time (from a marketing perspective) to launch a video delivery store that competes with some of the same services (like Vuze (http://www.vuze.com/app)) you just got done throttling? Bell Canada apparently thinks so.
I mentioned the launch in passing last week (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/94545), and discussion of the store has been ongoing in our forums (http://www.corpsman.com/forum/r20499945-Bell-movie-store-coming), but Bell Canada today officially took the wraps off of their new video store (http://www.bellvideostore.ca/index.htm). Interested in yet another expensive, Windows only, DRM-encrusted half-assed attempt at making a buck?
The store has a limited selection of 1,500 movies and TV titles, playable only by Windows users, and protected by Windows Media DRM (mmm, excited yet?). Rentals range from $2-$5, and movie purchases cost up to $20 (usually $5 more than Amazon). Interested in playing the media on a mobile device? You have to own a mobile player by Archos, according to the website (http://www.bellvideostore.ca/CompatibleDevices.aspx?tag=1). Sounds enticing, Mr. monopoly.
Technically, users tell me the store itself was in beta long before the throttling kerfuffle arrived. Still, Bell Canada picked a very odd time to begin promoting the store. Perhaps they were counting on the Streisand effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect) to give the store more attention than it actually deserves? Either way, Bell Canada can expect a digital beat down from the growing number of people annoyed with their anti-competitive behavior.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Bell-Canada-Picks-Horrible-Time-To-Launch-Mediocre-Video-Store-94649)
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So for conversation's sake, say you're a telephone monopoly currently under fire from all sides by regulators, consumer advocates and competitors for your effort to throttle competing ISP P2P traffic (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/92973). Does that strike you as the best time (from a marketing perspective) to launch a video delivery store that competes with some of the same services (like Vuze (http://www.vuze.com/app)) you just got done throttling? Bell Canada apparently thinks so.
I mentioned the launch in passing last week (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/94545), and discussion of the store has been ongoing in our forums (http://www.corpsman.com/forum/r20499945-Bell-movie-store-coming), but Bell Canada today officially took the wraps off of their new video store (http://www.bellvideostore.ca/index.htm). Interested in yet another expensive, Windows only, DRM-encrusted half-assed attempt at making a buck?
The store has a limited selection of 1,500 movies and TV titles, playable only by Windows users, and protected by Windows Media DRM (mmm, excited yet?). Rentals range from $2-$5, and movie purchases cost up to $20 (usually $5 more than Amazon). Interested in playing the media on a mobile device? You have to own a mobile player by Archos, according to the website (http://www.bellvideostore.ca/CompatibleDevices.aspx?tag=1). Sounds enticing, Mr. monopoly.
Technically, users tell me the store itself was in beta long before the throttling kerfuffle arrived. Still, Bell Canada picked a very odd time to begin promoting the store. Perhaps they were counting on the Streisand effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect) to give the store more attention than it actually deserves? Either way, Bell Canada can expect a digital beat down from the growing number of people annoyed with their anti-competitive behavior.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Bell-Canada-Picks-Horrible-Time-To-Launch-Mediocre-Video-Store-94649)
More...