Comments on: Content, not hardware, has made tablets the current king http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/23/content-not-hardware-have-made-tablets-the-current-king/ The economics of digital content Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Vijaya Prasad http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/23/content-not-hardware-have-made-tablets-the-current-king/#comment-100479 Wed, 23 May 2012 15:37:24 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=209603#comment-100479 Reblogged this on prasadmediagroup and commented:
Content is still king – the more things change…

]]> By: aepxc http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/23/content-not-hardware-have-made-tablets-the-current-king/#comment-100477 Wed, 23 May 2012 15:28:11 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=209603#comment-100477 It is about platforms, but it’s not (only or primarily) about content. Tablets, smartphones, and other devices are useful to the extent and only to the extent that they help people make their lives simpler and more enjoyable. Content consumed for its own sake is entertainment, and entertainment is only a small part of making one’s life simpler and more enjoyable.

Indeed, platforms are only superior to more disjointed/modular alternatives because the former require less hassle than the latter.

]]> By: richardmgarrett http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/23/content-not-hardware-have-made-tablets-the-current-king/#comment-100475 Wed, 23 May 2012 15:19:55 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=209603#comment-100475 This analysis and its contradictions underscores the difficulty of the tablet market. Dr. McQuivey says that content is king but also asserts that there is “a three-way conspiracy by device makers, service providers, and consumers” and goes on to say that “the platform has the power to crown a new king anytime it wants”. Meanwhile the ways that people use tablets seem to be for many of the same reasons that we use computers — email, games, social networking, etc. Thus it doesn’t appear that content is king, and the platform doesn’t have the power to crown a new king. Doesn’t this suggest that the tablet has been adopted for a variety of reasons (the three way conspiracy) and that sometimes its content (Kindle), sometimes its hardware (iPad seems superior in this category), and sometimes its consumer preference (which is driven by marketing). To succeed in this rather complicated field, a vendor has to have a strong message to deliver to and on behalf of the three conspirators (something you, Kevin, have often and accurately pointed out). That’s why the only winners thus far (and for the foreseeable future) are Apple and Amazon. Samsung (and others) has terrific hardware but have no answer for content and marketing.

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