Weekly blend – May 9, 2009

Posted by on May 9, 2009 in Weekly blend | Comments Off

Rant alert: The world is bigger than the US alone

Posted by on May 6, 2009 in Rants | 7 comments

copyrights.jpgI was just reading the live blogs coming from the Amazon press conference and felt kind of disappointed… again… I was hoping that Amazon would announce the European launch of the Kindle. But sadly… no.

I’m pretty sure it is yet another copyright issue that is preventing Amazon from launching Kindle worldwide. And that is exactly something that needs to change. With the Internet being this widespread and content accessible worldwide, old school copyrights and release tactics just don’t work any more. And in my opinion, they also make no sense at all.

Sadly… It’s not just Amazon. Apple’s iTunes is another good example. iTunes TV shows and movies are still only available in 1 or 2 countries in Europe. Or what about other online video providers like Netflix and Hulu? Even though it is perfectly possible to access these sites outside the US, copyright laws prevent you from using their service. Why is that?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to release books, movies, music, games, … on the same day worldwide? Combine available marketing power into one global campaign? Could that also have a positive effect on piracy? If I can go and see/buy a movie on the same day as someone across the ocean can, surely there is no need to download it? I would have no problem paying to see a movie or a new episode of a TV show.

Sadly, this is not even just restricted to copyright laws. Remember the launch of the iPhone? It was available only in the US for months. What did people outside the US do? They bought one in the US and hacked it. There are plenty of other examples like this one out there…

I know this blog post is not going to change anything but at least I got it out of my system ;-) Would love to hear your thoughts though!

UPDATE: As Mike Chambers pointed out, in some cases this is a knife that cuts both ways. People in the US also can’t watch content from Europe.

- End of rant -

Making money with mobile apps outside Apple’s App Store

Posted by on May 5, 2009 in devices, Flash, iPhone, mobile | 5 comments

mobilemoney.jpgWhen I talk to developers about mobile application development, they all seem to think that Apple’s App Store is the only outlet where you can make money with mobile apps. Sure, Apple has done a terrific job making it easier for the consumer to buy and install apps on their iPhone but that doesn’t mean this is the only way. The iPhone market is also only a fraction of the total amount of mobile devices out there and people have been making money from mobile phone users for years now.

Here’s a little test. Turn on your television and tune in to any music channel. (Try to) Leave it on for half an hour and count the commercials for ringtone and application subscriptions you see. I’m pretty sure that after half an hour you’ve seen at least five for companies like the Ringtoneking, Jamster and Jamba. All of these (worldwide) providers allow users of just about any mobile phone to buy, download and install mobile applications. All it takes is a simple premium SMS that returns a download link. People have been doing this for years now and the Ringtonekings of this world are obviously making a ton of money from it.

Sure, it’s not the most ideal solution and again, Apple has done a fantastic job with the App Store. However, if these ringtone/app providers have been making money for so long, that means that people have been buying and installing ringtones, games and apps way before the iPhone was even conceived.

Conclusion: If you want to make money from mobile application development, why not do it for the broadest possible audience? And if you’ve made that choice, look in to Flash for mobile devices. It’s available on more than 400 650 (source: Device Central CS4) different mobile phones from just about all manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, LG, …

Weekly blend – May 2, 2009

Posted by on May 2, 2009 in Weekly blend | Comments Off