All Peers - Matthew Gertner - Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Applications

Matthew GertnerCo-Founder and CTO

AllPeers

Building Media Distribution Apps

A brief history of media distribution apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Napster• Peer-to-peer client

• Centralized index

• Lousy user interface

• Primarily unauthorized works

• No business model

• ...but gave people what they wanted

1999

Building Media Distribution Apps

Kazaa• Peer-to-peer client

• No centralized index

• Slightly better user interface

• Primarily unauthorized works

• Paid content through Altnet

Also: Gnutella, Limewire, BearShare

2000

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

iTunes

• Web-enabled client

• Complete solution for normal consumers

• Authorized works only

• Initially music, added video in 2005

• Per download fee

2003

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

BitTorrent• Very efficient peer-to-peer protocol

• Open client

• Terrible user experience

• Both authorized and unauthorized works

• Popular for all types of media content

• Paid torrents

2004

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

MySpace

• Web application

• Primary focus on socializing

• Secondary focus on music distribution

• Content streaming

• Advertising funded

2004

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

YouTube• Web application

• Some social features

• Content streaming

• Weeding out unauthorized content

• Advertising funded

Also: Metacafe, Dailymotion, Revver, Brightcove

2005

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Joost• Peer-to-peer client

• Interesting social features

• Video only

• Content streaming

• Authorized content only

• Advertising funded

2007

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

AllPeers

• Peer-to-peer client, inside Firefox

• Current focus on private sharing

• Version 0.70 with “Social BitTorrent”

• Plans for public channels, communities

• “Ask me about our business model”

2007

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Streaming vs. downloading?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Streaming

• Instant gratification

• Minimum bandwidth requirements

• Low quality

• Issues with offline viewing

• Lightweight copy protection

?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Downloads

• Mature existing technologies

• Maximum flexibility for consumer

• Offline consumption

• Perception of ownership

?

Building Media Distribution Apps

What about DRM?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

Smashing Pumpkins Norah Jones Coldplay

DRM FreeCDs

Building Media Distribution Apps

DRM alternatives

• Watermarking

• Positive incentives

• Rewards

• Status

• Lower prices

?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Web vs. desktop application?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Web

• Easy installability

• Mediocre usability

• Technical challenges

• Offline consumption

• Peer-to-peer

?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Desktop• Much harder to develop

• Need to install software

• Web-enabled or P2P

• Integrate with other media apps

• Media organizer

• Media player

?

Building Media Distribution Apps

Rich internet applications

Building Media Distribution Apps

Rich client apps

• Markup-based user interface

• Multiplatform runtime

• Web-enabled

• Deployment is a challenge

Building Media Distribution Apps

Silverlight

• User interface technology for .NET

• Advantages of RIA and .NET

• Great runtime

• Great development environment

• Uber-proprietary

Building Media Distribution Apps

Flex and AIR• Leverage popular Adobe technologies

• Adobe knows how to propagate its runtime

• Great demos

• Partially open source

• Tamarin

• FlexReference: Pownce

Building Media Distribution Apps

JavaFX

• Java meets Flash

• Leverage Java IDEs

• ...but still starting from scratch in terms of adoption

Building Media Distribution Apps

XULRunner

• Mature technology

• Firefox is a terrific killer app

• Lukewarm support from Mozilla

• Tools support is weak

References: Joost, Songbird, AllPeers

Building Media Distribution Apps

WebRunner• Combines advantages of web apps and

desktop apps

• Will require beefing up of web browser

• Codec support

• Offline storage

• Peer-to-peer

• Social features

Building Media Distribution Apps

My dream media distribution application

Building Media Distribution Apps

WebRunner-based

Building Media Distribution Apps

Stream or download

Building Media Distribution Apps

Peer-to-peer

Building Media Distribution Apps

Integration with best-of-breed

apps

Building Media Distribution Apps

“Commodity” social

features

Building Media Distribution Apps

matthew@allpeers.comwww.allpeers.com/blog