Why YouTube + Verizon = AOL circa 1995

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Why YouTube + Verizon = AOL circa 1995

December 6th, 2006 MobileFreak

So it sounds great, right? Watch all your favorite YouTube videos on your Verizon cell phone. Finally, the wireless carriers are opening their eyes to offering the content on the world wide — oh wait, no they’re not.We at MobileMammoth even wrote the recent announcement here. It would be great, if it were true. The fact is, Verizon and the other wireless carriers are still intent on controlling the phonetop. It’s AOL from 1995. AOL never made any sense to me. Back when you could choose between Prodigy, AOL, and Compuserve for your ISP (I’m sure I am forgetting a few), it blew my mind as to why anyone chose AOL. Rather than open the doors wide open to this new thing called the World Wide Web, AOL forced you to get through their own content suppliers first. Why? Just give me the net and get out of the way.

And so it goes with the wireless carriers. With the Verizon deal, they are pre-selecting the videos to be made available, and subscribers must pay Verizon an additional $15 per month for the V Cast service. If they really want to start seeing the data services fees roll in, they need to open up their mobile browsers to every site that works on the mobile phone, period.

Obviously, AOL was able to survive and was very successful for a few years, until people really began to understand the Web and what it had to offer. Well, we’re not in 1995 anymore, and today’s cell phone users are pretty web savvy. Whatever content deals the wireless carriers offer, the sooner they come to their “premium subscription” will never compete with the Web, the better it will be for everyone

Entry Filed under: Verizon, Video