I saw Netflix's chief product officer Neil Hunt say a while ago Netflix would "never" offer downloads, but I have to say I'm really pleased with this. Getting the train through spotty service areas effectively rendered Netflix unusable, but now! :)
“I think it's something that lots of people ask for. We'll see if it's something lots of people will use. Undoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It's not going to be instant, you have to have the right storage on your device, you have to manage it, and I'm just not sure people are actually that compelled to do that, and that it's worth providing that level of complexity.”
Part of me wonders how much this was marketing spin to cover a gap they had relative to Amazon Prime and they were in actuality evaluating how to catch up.
This happens far to often. Notorious example is Ballmer saying iPhone will be a flop when teams internally know that Windows Mobile just blew up.
Anybody in such a position that says "never" to anything is either naive or they're protecting their current short-term interests. I'm willing to bet most of them say that for short-term reasons while internally they'll still consider it in the future; there was once a time that HBO would "never" offer a monthly streaming service and here we are today.
ziszis|9 years ago
“I think it's something that lots of people ask for. We'll see if it's something lots of people will use. Undoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It's not going to be instant, you have to have the right storage on your device, you have to manage it, and I'm just not sure people are actually that compelled to do that, and that it's worth providing that level of complexity.”
Part of me wonders how much this was marketing spin to cover a gap they had relative to Amazon Prime and they were in actuality evaluating how to catch up.
This happens far to often. Notorious example is Ballmer saying iPhone will be a flop when teams internally know that Windows Mobile just blew up.
MBCook|9 years ago
But we all know that it's a very desirable feature and most people are willing to pay for that complexity to be able to watch offline.
So it was mostly spin, like Steve Jobs saying they'd never make a tablet at a point where it had to be in final development internally.
talmand|9 years ago