a reaction to Movielink

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Robert Raisch <info () raisch com>
Reply-To: info () raisch com
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 12:16:10 -0500
To: dave () farber net
Subject: RE: <[IP]> more on Blockbuster Video's days are numbered.

For IP, if you like.

Dear Movielink,

Having just signed up for your service, I'd like to make a few observations.

While I find your interface easy to use, I find it difficult to use
effectively because you lack a search feature, either for the movie's title,
its director or its stars.  The list navigator is fine if you know what
movie you want before you begin browsing, but if the title is in the far end
of the list (for example, an 'F' title in the 'A-F' list) your customers
have to plow through a large number of pages to get to the title they seek.
As I am sure you know, any user interface must support the primary purposes
for which it is used.  In this case, the primary purpose is to locate a
movie and if there are more than a few clicks to get to the title sought,
people will lose interest quickly.  I would suggest you add a full-featured
search engine.

Another point I'd like to make concerns early adopters.

I'm a technology-expert, live on my computer, make my living designing
information systems, and as such, my tastes in entertainment run to science
fiction, fantasy, horror, and other "non mainstream" categories.

I would have thought, to gain the critical momentum needed to prove this
experiment, you would have designed your system to answer the needs of your
first, and most vocally supportive, customers, the so-called "early
adopters."  However, I note with regret that while there are a few
interesting films in your lineup, Movielink lacks these primary
entertainment categories in its navigation.  This suggests to me a dangerous
myopia regarding your customers.

While I can understand your need to satisfy a broad audience, it's clear
they will not use your service until they have cheap access to "big pipes"
and have some way of displaying your films on their televisions.  Cable
companies are far better positioned to own the set-top box then you are, as
even Microsoft has learned.

So, while your mainstream titles are interesting, I'd suggest the very first
people to use your service will be technologists like myself, people who
seek diversion using the tools they feel most comfortable with and your
lineup is weak considering our interests.

The early-adopter issue is a critical one for far-looking services like
yours.

The broadband cable industry is still reeling from their ill-considered
conclusion that their customers are "couch potato web surfers."  I've been a
broadband customer since the very first trials, (and have the arrows in my
back to prove it), having convinced many of my peers to sign up, and we are
not primarily interested in simple web-surfing.  We require a broader,
deeper experience from our broadband connections.  You should consider that
as you evolve.  We early-adopters don't mind glitches, we don't mind
crashes.  We are your first customers, your best customers, and the
customers you can rely upon to help build the video-on-demand service you
can ultimately sell to Mom and Pop America.

I wish you luck.

/rr
Rob Raisch
www.raisch.com


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