Monday, October 17, 2011

Skype Founders Try a Video Startup, Again

Skype cofounders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis appear to be working on another video startup called Vdio. They launched a video site called Joost in 2006 that got no traction. 


Whether the new venture will succeed is an open question. What technologists often forget is that success in the video entertainment markets always hinges on access to the content consumers want to watch, and rarely on huge technology innovation. 


Technology can help, of course. Recommendation engines of the sort Amazon and Netflix have built are quite helpful in terms of the end user experience. But it all comes down to content access, and content owners are doing everything they can to make sure any new delivery channels create at least as much revenue as the legacy channels do. 

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