Bill Watt’s Blog

My friends and I are always talking about web-based businesses that people are able to start, grow organically, and need little hand holding. Check out From 10 Hours a Week, $10 Million a Year in the New York Times.

Granted, the thing I find funniest in this article is how unconcerned he is with user experience. Sure, his site is doing really well and people apparently like it but it is just this kind of response that leaves the door open for someone to beat him.

Spending time at Plenty of Fish is a visually painful experience. Wherever a row of members’ photos is displayed, which is most pages, many of the faces are elongated or scrunched because Mr. Frind has not taken the trouble to write the software code that would automatically resize frames or crop photos to prevent distortion. When I asked him why he had not addressed the problem, he said it was a “trivial” issue that did not bother users.

And that my friends is the power of the free market.   His choice not to address it, his user’s choice to stay until they find a better solution, and someone else’s option to come along and dethrone him. Maybe I should have gone with, “that’s the circle of life (on the web).”

I was reading the Apple Closes In on Hollywood article in the Jan 7th Business Week that discusses Apple’s bid to gain market share in movies. It is a good read and a solid summary if you don’t know any of the issues that will plague Apple as they try to expand further into that market but it doesn’t go through all the background that I think it pretty interesting.

So, if you already know how Apple has changed the music industry then none of this will be new to you. The short summary is that many music execs feel that Apple has destroyed their businesses by pricing individual songs at $.99. They have gone back to try and negotiate for variable pricing which is completely counter what users want. They have tried some interesting variations with charging more for new releases or DRM free downloads but the market is screaming loudly that the perceived value isn’t there. Still, that won’t stop the music execs from trying to get every penny they can. (Make sure you read this post that really sums up the problems with the music industry.)

Anyway- as bad as the music industry has been the movie industry is going to be a pain in their own way. Why? Because they’ve seen how people want control of their music and that the highly profitable market for CD’s is shrinking like crazy. Even more than the music industry the movie companies want to own the ways that we consume the media we purchase.  To that end they won’t let Apple become the central distribution point for digital movies like they’ve been for music.

Well, I like iTunes and love my iPods. I love the ease of purchase, integration with the players, and my ability to download a bunch of the free content like podcasts (like TWIT) that I consume weekly in addition to music. I’m not wild they they too restrict my use of the media I’ve purchased even if they do it under the guise of appeasement. One thing we know about Apple, they love their closed systems and want to control everything they can.

Still, I want everyone involved in the industry that wants to be. More competition will make for better solutions. Who knows… maybe Apple will come up with the best solution and maybe they’ll be beaten by some company we’ve never heard of yet. Regardless of Apple’s role in video I think that 2008 is going to be a huge year for the industry.

Ok… not really but I know this will make some people laugh. I enjoyed the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and I’m not (terribly) embarrassed to say so. I caught it on cable this weekend and laughed at all the celebrities that are in it. At one point I saw Bianca Kajlich who is now appearing in Rules of Engagement (CBS page), one of the new sitcoms I’ve watched. And since it is well known that I liked Bring It On I’ll throw out that Gabrielle Union was in this too.

God, I was really hoping those last 3 years of options would be worth something but since eBay dipped into the 20’s last week I think those dreams are over.

This is a post from Seeking Alpha with the title Choosing Amazon over eBay: and I’ll refrain from offering any additional commentary

I’ve been asked by several readers why I’m writing more positive posts about Amazon (AMZN) than I do about eBay (EBAY), so I thought I would list the reasons. I still believe eBay can be a fantastic business again but I don’t see that turnaround anytime in the near future. (more…)