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Should Kaleidescape charge for data service?

josh

josh

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Sure, as a user, I'd not be that happy to have a new fee instituted for my Kaleidescape system, but let's look at it from a business point of view.

The Kaleidescape Data Service must be very expensive to run... they not only buy most new DVDs to enter the information, but they promise the ability to send in your DVDs and CDs and have them scanned and added to the DB. They scan covers, pay for shipping both ways, they're very responsive with errors or changes reported by users...

Frankly, I'd pay for the service, and as a business decision, I wouldn't fault them for deciding it should be a fee-based service. Kaleidescape right now makes a good deal of money on the sales of the units (and drives, etc.) but has no ongoing fee from users for the data.

If the purchase of a server came with say 1 year free of KDS, then it cost say $300-$500 a year, I'd feel that was easily worth the money. And I'd like to see them have a nice ongoing revenue stream from users to help ensure their long-term success. If they don't succeed, we'll have awfully expensive doorstops.

As analogies, I paid dearly for my car's navigation system, and I pay for ongoing updates to the data. I pay for the Response system every year for my car's "SOS button"... I pay Tivo to supply me with Guide listings. (Tivo delivers ZERO content, only guide listings to enable their features!)

Thoughts?
 
Their service to add data to the system is relatively fixed - if there are 10 users or 10,000 users, the cost of buying X% of all new DVDs is about the same. This will allow scaling to drive down costs as more users are out there.

The cost of bringing in unknown discs increases as users increase, but not directly as each unknown disc brought in reduces the chance of another user needing one to be scanned in. This will also scale down, but nowhere near as well.

Overall, any fee there is would likely reduce over time. I know that my D-BOX subscription fee has cut in half since I got a system 4 years ago. I can see something similar happening with the Kaleidescape.
 
AFAIK, there already is a fee for the service. Initially, I believe it was just lifetime only and built into the original $27K base system cost. When the model line-up was changed last year, the base system cost was lowered (now $22.5 K I believe). As part of that change, the fee was extracted out as well as separate models offered at different price points for unlimited simultaneous movie streams vs. 5 movie streams. If I remember right, the fee on those new systems is either $495/year or $1995 for lifetime.

Are we talking about some other fee?

Jeff
 
I bought my unit after the price drop and didn't see the fee broken out separately, though it's possible it was there and my dealer just didn't itemize it.
 
It is in there if you have an itemized breakdown of the initial base package.
 
Looks like Jeff was right, and I'm getting my "wish"... I was sure my system came with lifetime data service (purchased December '05) but today my data service expired.

So silly me for asking if they should charge for the service... they do, and now I have to cough up bucks to pay for it.
Me and my big mouth... :eek:
 
Last edited:
Gotcha! I think this should just be part of the price for the system but I am sure they must have some kind of research that says their typical customer would rather have the choice. By my estimation, it only makes sense to buy the annual service if you think they don't stay in business for more than 2 years. If you think they will last longer than that, then buying the lifetime makes sense. I am a lifer. :)
 
I believe my service might have expired, but I have no idea how to find out for sure, other than to talk with my dealer. Is there anywhere online (or on my-kaleidescape) to find out?
 
sfisher said:
I believe my service might have expired, but I have no idea how to find out for sure, other than to talk with my dealer. Is there anywhere online (or on my-kaleidescape) to find out?
Click to expand...

Your dealer has online access to that information (as you noted). You can also call K directly and someone there should be able to provide that information to you. They do, however, prefer you contact your dealer.

Another way to check is to load a new movie and see if all of the normal cover art and info is present. While that is not a guaranteed method, you may get a message on the screen indicating your subscription has expired.

Jim
 
i don't believe there's a way to see your subscription dates on your server. But if you contact support@kaleidescape.com they can tell you the dates. I think I remember seeing that there was an onscreen message about my subscription status was nearing expiration.

I know that the service is designed to never just expire with no warnings. There should be warning messages either on screen or on the web utility. Even then, there's a grace period where your service should keep working for several months AFTER your subscription expires.

--josh
 
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