podslug.com Blog

Flash Video Debate

July 14th, 2006

On July 14, 2006, I wrote this comment on Scobleizer:

I agree that it would be corporate suicide if Adobe starts to charge for their player but I have seen companies with such free-product reach with no immediate monetization succumb to pressure to push pro versions and ads. I have no idea what Adobe has in mind but they must be thinking hard about how to make money off of YouTube and Google Video. What is your guess about how they will do this?

I am very torn about Flash Video. I really appreciate their commitment to Mac and Linux. I think the light footprint of their player has dramatically simplified the consumption of online video which has dramatically increased the audience of users who are willing to watch online video. All great stuff.

My concern is that it is proprietary and non-interoperable. This means that if they become the de facto standard then they have too much power and content owners are too dependent upon one company for distribution.

So, yes, I am paranoid. Companies must do what they can to stay in business and drive profit. If Adobe does not have a return on their Flash Video investment then they might seek some sort of monetization strategy for the client software. It might be suicide if they don’t do this at some point. [source]

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized