There is a great post over on dembot on why video platforms fail. You should read the whole thing, but here is the top ten list:
1. Insubstantial library of content
2. Poor bit rates
3. Lack of innovation (clone platform)
4. No share in content ownership rights
5. No exclusivity of content distribution
6. Lack of spark/spirit for a centralized community
7. Need for users to d/l proprietary software
8. Awkward interface design
9. Overly excessive emphasis on rights protection
10. Lack of technological foresight & audience expectations
I’ll be posting a follow-up post on this topic later today or tomorrow when I come out from under embargo on some news to be announced at Streaming Media East.
I’ll add
11) Poor performance (stream dropouts/stuttering/buffering delays, excessively long download times)
Maybe that’s part of (10), but it’s a big problem with a lot of internet-based video nowadays.