:: Popcorn ::

The one thing the Internet really needs is Popcorn.

What?

Popcorn. With butter, and one large diet Coke. Please.

What the hell are you talking about?

Ok. I'll explain.

Think of the movie industry. A good summer production will cost over $100M. This will cover the costs of the actors, their caviar, the full-scale robotic-animated spaceship-dinosaur and the director's chair. Then the movie will be distributed to literally thousands of cinemas. Building and maintaining those is in the billions. This includes the real estate, the chairs, the Dolby surround and the cleaners. We pile promotion costs on top and we are ready for business.

Now think of the entire Internet as an Industry (kind of not accurate but let's ignore this for a minute). There are the millions in site production, then the Billions of Infrastructure and the promotion costs on top, and we are ready for business.

In both industries you invest up front. In both industries you have access fees. In both industries you have advertising and both industries hope to capitalize on brand-recognition in the "real-world". So we can conclude both industries use the same business models right? Not exactly. The movie industry has one additional card up the sleeve - yes, you guessed it right - Popcorn.

It is common knowledge that what keeps all those theaters running is not the revenue generated from ticket sales and not the one generated from advertising. Those are merely used as boosters. What keeps them running is the sale of Popcorn, Sodas and an occasional pack of M∓M. A sale to a captive audience with huge profit margins. And this just the missing link on the net. No one sells Popcorn. There is no such revenue generating mechanism that can balance the whole industry. And without it - the shakeouts are going to continue.

Now I find it hard to think how to fill the gap. But someday someone will. So if you think of the Internet Popcorn Machine - mail me a note - this is one I want to be in on.

Wadi Writer #1 (Gray )

WadiList@mail.com