Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
Jason, I think you've made some very good points, but I also think Sony and Microsoft are interested in some kind of vendor lock-in, even though I agree that Mobipocket isn't. (So was Apple, no matter what Jobs is saying these days.) So I think it's fair to characterize one of the possible purposes of DRM as "vendor lock-in," depending on the vendor.
From the other side of the publishing fence, I think DRM vendors are quite interested in "vendor lock-in" or at least "vendor predominance" among publishers, who are, after all, the customers of the DRM vendors.
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I totally agree, especially in the cases of Sony, Microsoft, and Apple.
So far, the Sony business model is virtually identical to Apple's iPod model. Locking people in to BBeB for the big publisher titles while leaving a back door open for other sources of content is an essential part of that game plan.
Microsoft's game plan has
always been platform lock-in. That's what was behind the whole "works with Windows" certification program. Let's face it, when you sell OS software, your business plan is based on getting as many people to use it as possible. The same goes for DRM vendors like MobiPocket. The format/DRM combination is the functional equivalent of an OS platform, at least in business model terms.
I sincerely believe that the way in which these arguments are presented is important. It's already been demonstrated that this board is watched by many of the players in the e-book industry. That means that this community stands a real chance of influencing what is still a young industry. If it starts looking like Slashdot, that chance will evaporate the same way Slashdot's influence has.