Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

[redwein]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

With all due respect, what do I expect is VUDU to give users a state of the business report with at least some supporting financial documentation to prove that they are still worthy of investing anymore of their hard earned money on.

We must agree to disagree then. I feel I am a consumer, not an investor. I utilize them in a way that I feel that I have received value for what I have already spent with them. I am hopeful that they remain alive, but their financials will in no way reduce the amount of movies that I rent or purchase from them. Like I said, it seems to bother you more than most. If you feel you are being mistreated by Vudu, because they have failed to prove their economic viability, then just don't buy any movies from them. I honestly don't know how much more simple of a solution their could possibly be. After all, it's your money.

Bottom line, you had your say. I feel that going further and aggressively implying anything about the financial health or future of Vudu based on their very common practice as a private company of not posting their financials is just plain wrong. I typically don't accuse others of things based on the lack of evidence that they didn't do something.

[redwein]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

However, if doctor office and service department parables give you comfort when you make a personal financial decisions, then turn your head and cough. I would be concerned that the films I purchased that are sitting on the "cloud" are in serious jeopardy.

Then don't buy them! And let others do what they feel comfortable with. I honestly don't feel that buying a movie is a personal financial decision. It is a purchase, not an investment. I will get some value out of it. There are many things that I buy that I end up throwing away or otherwise have their value diminish to zero. That's what purchases (as opposed to investments) typically do. The fact that you can hold on to the content and watch it multiple times can make you come out ahead of the game (when compared to renting), even if they do go away at some point. It really seems like you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

[NA9D]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

I cited but one source from a nationally known and reputable firm that manages hundreds of accounts that happily provide financial information on their privately owned businesses. It is ridiculous of you to declare that a privately owned business would shy away from publicly announcing positive financial information if that information would help attract new investment capital and customers.

One of my customers is a company called Shure Incorporated (www.shure.com). You've probably heard of them and you've almost certainly been affected by their products. They are number one in the professional audio business. They sell their microphones to top artists such as Buddy Guy, Christina Aguillera (spelling?), and many, many others. They are the top of the line in the audio industry.

A couple of the companies I represent are key suppliers to Shure. In a meeting one day with their purchasing manager, we asked if we could have a snapshot of the company's financials. We were told, "Absolutely Not." It is a VERY closely guarded secret and they don't tell ANYONE the sales of the company nor will they even tell you how many employees they have. The company is still owned and run by the wife of the founder. It's privately held. They have no reason to tell anyone their financials and they are one of the top brand names in the entertainment industry.

There's many, many, many other private companies that are the same way. My company, although small, has sales numbers that would astound just about anyone. We don't release that information though to customers because it is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. I don't know a single private company that I represent who does disclose financials. On the whole, it is just not done. There may be a few companies who do it but they are probably considering going public at some point or are in the process of wanting to attract new investors.

Illuscon, can you please tell us what you do for a living since you seem to know so much about private companies and what they do or should do? Do you work in the VC or financial world? You seem to pretty vehemently stick by what you believe and I'm curious where you get this firm conviction from.

[NA9D]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

I think that any approved external device for personal archival or playback is a long way off, if ever. Patrick Cosson told me once that VUDU made some bad initial contracts with studios that tie them to the

You joined these forums at the end of January 2009. Patrick Cosson was long gone. How could you have ever communicated with him and if that communication was recent, how would Patrick know anything now about Vudu some 6 months since he left?

[HeadHodge]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

This is clunky:



The Vudu is not!

Looks like my very second computer (an Osborne). It was fantastic in it's day.

The very first one was a circuit board with a keyboard soldered on it. I had to build my own power supply and interface it to a monitor and 300 baud acoustic modem. It had DOS v1.0 on it. I used it to hack into the Portland Universities computer and got all straight A's after that.

Thanks for the memories, those were the good 'ole days.

[NA9D]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

Looks like my very second computer (an Osborne). It was fantastic in it's day.

The very first one was a circuit board with a keyboard soldered on it. I had to build my own power supply and interface it to a monitor and 300 baud acoustic modem. It had DOS v1.0 on it. I used it to hack into the Portland Universities computer and got all straight A's after that.

Thanks for the memories, those were the good 'ole days.

Hey Hodge,

How about a bet for some cheese as to who could throw that thing the farthest!

[bald_]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

...
With all due respect, what do I expect is VUDU to give users a state of the business report with at least some supporting financial documentation to prove that they are still worthy of investing anymore of their hard earned money on. I also expect VUDU to do this graciously and not have to dragged to a podium to do it. VUDU should do this because it is the right thing to do in a business climate that demands customer loyalty be rewarded with reasonable transparency, not dismissive moderator sarcasm.
....

As much as I would like to know the health of Vudu, this is the craziest, most unreasonable thing I've heard in a long, long time. This is America. No one is forcing you to rent movies (good thing we're discussing something with serious implications here) or further "invest" in Vudu. If you don't like it, then please, move on. Please.

bald

[Stratus78]

Re: Vudu makes Yahoo Headlines on HD Purchases

I second that Bald_.

illuscon go tear down someone else's house.