- A good idea whose time is long overdue. My former boss once had a difficult time convincing the immigration department that he was applying for a US visa to start a company and create jobs, not to take jobs away from Americans.
- The sentiment is right, but I'm not sure I buy this guy's argument (or the examples he uses to prove his assertions). Claiming that products like the iPhone are successful not because they are innovative, but because they are merely good (awash in a sea of mediocre competition), he argues that innovation as a concept is overrated. True that the word 'innovation' is certainly overused, but in most of the examples he cites, the product was innovative because it was good.
Australian TV is in the sights of Hulu, the web untangler
- A couple of pieces here on recent moves by players in different positions of their respective value chains to capture the opportunity that internet video represents. In the case of Wal-Mart, buying a service like Vudu makes sense, as it will help defend against the disintermediation otherwise wrought by direct-to-consumer internet video services. Although some analysts think that Netflix would have been a better acquisition target for Wal-Mart. In the case of Hulu finally rolling out to Australia, this seemed inevitable, but personally I wish it had happened sooner. I also think that the major ISPs (namely BigPond) are missing out on the chance to partner with Hulu for exclusive/enhanced distribution through their networks. Companies like Telstra have spent so much money building out their own content play in an attempt to avoid being relegated to bitpipe status, but sometimes these content plays have been heavy-handed, ham-fisted, or just generally not in line with consumer tastes. In my experience of Hulu in the US, they have done an excellent job of providing users with a compelling content and user experience, and there's indication of why this wouldn't also be the case with their international expansion. For a local telco, partnership with Hulu could lead to not only increased cred with savvy consumers, but also a bona fide comparative advantage over their competitors.
