THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Consumers being treated as pawns in digital media war

Consumers being treated as pawns in digital media war

Internet TV has recently become all the rage – Smart TVs, Fire TV, Roku, Apple Stick, etc. A while back my family purchased a couple of such products.

We chose Fire TV, as the most flexible digital media player as well as the easiest to use. Then we discovered we use YouTube much more often than any other source.
Imagine our surprise to discover that two industry giants are treating customers as pawns in their business game. Google has had difficulty selling products via Amazon – Google’s problem, not Amazon’s.
YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, so Google has instructed YouTube to disconnect from Fire TV, an Amazon product. 
Childish? Certainly!
Simply stated, YouTube is the backbone of Fire TV. The Amazon-Google business difficulties are affecting millions of Google and Amazon customers.
My children are the primary users of our Fire TV and their most common source for entertainment is YouTube. My middle son likes sports, my wife has her own favourites and I watch the news. But YouTube is the source for 40-50 per cent of our usage.
Without YouTube, Fire TV is nearly useless.
Such conflicts do not sit well with customers who have alternatives. I do not need to buy from Amazon or use Google products. There are many alternatives.
Michael Weldon

nationthailand