Online sharing has been the greatest equalizer for consumer products. The real problem isn’t the profits lost, but the lack of creative problem solving to these challenges. Like Napster, the first peer to peer mp3 file sharing network, Megaupload had the same response to the shutdown. Napter was a centralized incorporated company that could be sued. Sean Parker the co founder of Napter tried to make a deal with the record labels to move the server to a legitimate music server. They said no, causing Napster to shutdown. This shutdown caused millions of Napster users to be broken up into hundreds of millions. The users spread out to different networks like Limewire that couldn’t be sued. This made the piracy of music unstoppable. The Big Four record companies went from a $40bn dollar profit to $12bn dollars. The solution was right there, and Apple took advantage of this and developed iTunes Store for legal purchases of music and movies. Apple made it cool to buy your digital enterainment legally. Now that Megaupload is down, the Megaupload users turned to Pirate Bay increasing their power and user increase to 15 million. The industries hurt by these sites should be finding new solutions to these problems. They should use this to make better products, more functionality, and more affordable prices. Movies that stimulate the mind, music that moves people’s emotions, and media software products to tailor more to the musicians, engineers, producers, photographers and graphic designers. There is more blockbusters that are made with $40 million dollar budgets and profiting $400 million exluding DVD sales. The socioeconomic status of many people who pirate products is statistically low. The people who cannot afford to get see the new Mission Impossible, so they watch it on the internet. They make the decision to actually see the movie from there. I don’t think these people are thiefs but as conscious consumers. They want to make sure their money is going towards something that will have more value to them. The hard drive capacities will run out, the internet speed isn’t enough to download ten movies in one night for 3 months straight. It will eventually stop for many users. Shutting a massive file sharing and storage site isn’t the solution, it just adds to the underlying problem. The industries need to create more Spotifys where the user can have total control of their enterainment. The premium prices will make good profits as users who love Spotify will want it on their cell phones. It’s a win win for both. The archaic model of the 1990s dot com bubble needs to end and make way for new products that people will want to actually use and can afford. The industries aren’t tailoring to the consumer, because it’s a profit based. Now that the profits are slowing down, they are shattered to find a solution so they attack. The attack is an attack on themselves at the end. Companies need to make a product that has no research group, like Steve Jobs’ iPad. There was no tablet in the electronic industry, now there is many models from different companies with various price points. Apple made a product no one knew they needed until it was made. This should be the same thinking for all companies that want to survive in the 21st century.
The Conundrum
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