| Home > Podcasts > MTV's exclusive use of Windows DRM - how to sell out your primary demographic |
| MTV's exclusive use of Windows DRM - how to sell out your primary demographic | | Date Created: 30 Oct, 2005, 12:32 PM |
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I was following an email conversation with my Knowledge Management professor, Gabi Lakomski, about corporate cultures and leadership. This is her specialisation and
she is the Director of the Centre for Organizational Learning and Leadership and
Chair, Knowledge Management Programs at the University of Melbourne, recently voted one of the world's top 100 universities. (End of bragging rights)
She is heading to Innsbruk soon to lecture on leadership so I sent her a Powerpoint slide show looking at how airlines which create internal safety cultures, of which a significant part is creating cultures of trust, are those less likely to have incidents which threaten human life. Somehow, I figured, a real life example like that would be an effective backdrop for her academic treatise.
At the same time, I was listening to Neil Hobson and Shel Holtz's "For Immediate Release" panel on corporate blogging and how it might be used in crisis management (amongst other interesting content).
So as part of our communication, I tried to turn her onto podcasting and blogging and how they play a role in KM.
To illustrate, I offered her a link to Stanford University's iTunes podcasts of a selection of lectures here.
And a further link discussing the Stanford experiment as reported at the MTV news site. Yes, the same MTV which produces music videos, and is a main competitor for the iTunes music video site.
So when I went to the site to both read the article and then view some sample videos, this is what I saw: |
 (Click to enlarge and read)
Basically, because I have a mac which doesn't support Windows DRM - even though Windows supports Apple's DRM - I was not to have the opportunity to view MTV's content. My reading of the message text was that I ought not hold my breath for a Mac release any time soon.
What's ironic is that the webpage designer knows enough about Macs to locate a pre-OS X "sad Mac" icon to instantly deliver an unhappy message before I even read the text.
And here's the text:
"Detecting OS...
In order to offer a broad selection of full-length music videos on-demand and free of charge, MTV Overdrive uses Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect videos from unauthorized re-distribution.
Unfortunately, Microsoft's Windows Media Player Plug-in for Macintosh does not support Windows DRM. If DRM support becomes available for Macintosh, MTV will develop a version of MTV Overdrive that works on a Mac.
Deconstructing the text suggests that of the variety of DRM about, Windows was more appealing to MTV, meaning "someone within our group of companies did a deal with Microsoft."
They were offered either a deal too good to refuse (to put it positively) or it was not in our best interests to look anywhere else but Microsoft, even if it means alienating Mac users. It's the lesser of two evils. (And who knows what other NDAs apply?)
Then MTV excuses itself from any responsibility to its cool Apple end-users by letting us know that they're stuck with how Microsoft does business by not having its DRM useable in its Windows Media Player app. for the mac.
In some ways, that does me a favour because WMP for the Mac has to be one of the worst applications currently available. Fortunately, I nowadays get around that having purchased flip4mac's WMVPlayer software (USD49.99) which allows .wmv files to open in Mail as a Quicktime movie, and be saved as a .mov file, or any other Quicktime Pro allows for. (Until Microsoft releases WMP 11, and breaks flip4mac's codec).
Now if you dive further into the MTV site to its FAQ here, there is more interesting spin.
We see tighter integration with Microsoft than just the Mac disadvantage, such that Firefox is unsupported:
"Why can't I use MTV Overdrive in my Firefox / Mozilla browser?
MTV Overdrive takes advantage of special features only available in the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser (Version 5.5 or higher). These features are not currently supported by Firefox / Mozilla, but MTV is working to develop a version of MTV Overdrive that will work with Firefox / Mozilla browsers."
This of course is known as the announcement of vaporware. Which usually includes a "Macintosh version is forthcoming" announcement. Guess what? Whenever I see that announcement, I immediately write off the site and look for alternatives elsewhere.
(Of course, it also means that MTV wishes to cast away any young people with an interest in the Open Source way of life, but hell, who needs geeks and nerds anyway, right? I mean, they are merely the next gen. early adopters and influencers. Sheesh! It gets worse...wait...)
Switched on companies like Skype release multiplatform and compatible apps. simultaneously. Mind you, Apple released iTunes Music Store for Windows six months after its release for the Mac, but I expect this was an agreement with the Big 5 Music vendors so as to allow the Mac experiment to proceed, and for Apple to bed down any bugs before the Windows gazillions got their shot at the store. The rest of course is history.
Within the same FAQ, the text explaining the lack of Mac compatibility shown in the graphic above is repeated, once more emphasing the choice of Microsoft's WMP codec to ensure "the maximum possible video quality."
Gees, I wish companies wouldn't lie to its savvy audiences. How does MTV know what is the maximum possible available? What does that mean anyway? Current best from Microsoft? Best on the market currently?
So, if we scroll up the FAQ just a little to Item 4, we get to see what MTV means by the maximum possible, because it certainly isn't the maximum possible user experience.
Here is the FAQ I'm referring to:
"4. The video is sometimes displayed upside down and is colored green or orange. Why is that?
This is a known bug with Windows Media Player. To solve the problem, you'll need to follow two steps:
1. Make sure you have the latest release of Windows Media Player. You can download the latest here.
2. Download the patch that addresses the problem. You can download the patch here.
Right! Just like Apple's Front Row continues the iPod scroll wheel metaphor to make transfer of training easy for those purchasing a new iMac, MTV has its Windows users use the same principle of transfer of training so well known by Windows users: download the latest, then patch it! You know about patching, don't you?
Sheesh! This is the maximum possible video quality right? Pity I can't get to see it on my Mac to make a side by side comparison. I'll have to fire up my Windows box and give it a whirl, but... you know - I can't be bothered.
MTV - you've lost my eyeballs.
But then again, I'm not your primary audience demographic. The under 24s Gen-Ys are... Hey, MTV!
Guess which is soon to be the most popular mp3/video player for that demographic?
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Now, where did these screen shots come from?
Clever kiddies - of course it was the MTV homepage just a click away from the Overdrive site!
See, that's how you disrespect your primary demographic AND your advertisers...
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