I have been following the efforts to establish a cloud based content (music and potentially movies) service by multiple players including Apple, Google and Amazon for a while. What these players are trying to offer is simply storage space where you store your music and that can be accessed from any device.
The main benefits I see out of this service are the following:
1- You can play your music when you are using a device that is not yours.
2- You will not need to synchronize digital music you purchase/add to your collection on one device with your other mobile devices since you can access it online anyway
Sounds nice huh? But how useful is it really?
1- There is an implicit assumption that you have internet access all the time and thus can access your music easily. While our connectivity has dramatically improved in the recent years, think about being in a long subway ride.
2- There is a cost involved (rumors about Apple's iCloud have mentioned a $25 charge). Are users willing to incur an extra cost in order to avoid synchronizing their mobile devices (their phones, tablets and music players)?
3- Storage caps
The key question is will users be willing to pay a premium to get this little extra connectivity with their music/movie libraries? I doubt
1 comment:
I agree with you regarding the current benefits around cloud services but I think the offerings are going to become a) more robust, b) cheaper and c) more widespread. Dropbox offers a great cloud-based storage service that allows for sharing of files, all with a very simple user interface. You can keep files in the cloud (say for a group project) and it automatically gets updated as different members add to the document. Google offers similar services with GoogleDocs. One issue with these services is security; will people steal information (think PlayStation Network). Another issue is privacy, will companies/people track the data (I think they will). With more and more people using Dropbox or GoogleDocs, there will be considerable network effects.
For the younger generation, this type of service will gain considerable momentum. Right now, I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the costs. But as storage costs go down and people/information becomes more and more mobile (think higher processing power in mobile devices to watch movies in HD), there will be an even bigger market for cloud-based services.
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