The Future of Youtube and UGC
Mark Cuban talks about the problem with Youtube operating at a loss and what that means to the future of the internet. His point is that Google is subsidizing the cost of bandwidth for user uploaded video. He wonders what will happen when they stop. He gives a basic rule of gravity reason that they will have to stop someday.
This is supposing that YouTube and sights like YouTube will never make a profit. There will never be a cost effective way for people to put up user generated content and share it with other people.
Part of the problem is that the average person has no idea about bandwidth fees. They have no idea where the cost centers are. They assume that all this video is just a drop in the bucket compared to everything else Google is doing. Everyone know that Google as a Googolplex of servers.
People do not understand why bandwidth cost money. They do not understand the cost structure of the internet. They are not sure why Google would be paying for that bandwidth. Without knowing about those costs it will be hard for businesses to change money for these services. I will admit that once YouTube starts to charge for videos, the business of internet video will change forever. We just don't know how it will change.
This is supposing that YouTube and sights like YouTube will never make a profit. There will never be a cost effective way for people to put up user generated content and share it with other people.
Part of the problem is that the average person has no idea about bandwidth fees. They have no idea where the cost centers are. They assume that all this video is just a drop in the bucket compared to everything else Google is doing. Everyone know that Google as a Googolplex of servers.
People do not understand why bandwidth cost money. They do not understand the cost structure of the internet. They are not sure why Google would be paying for that bandwidth. Without knowing about those costs it will be hard for businesses to change money for these services. I will admit that once YouTube starts to charge for videos, the business of internet video will change forever. We just don't know how it will change.
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