You don't consider their format for providing content a proprietary architecture? If that's the case we'd have to say that software applications aren't proprietary architectures, that only the programming languages used to create software apps are "invented" technology.
I agree that the code that they develop which represents their format is a proprietary architecture, and it is a significant part of their differentiator and is, arguably, the foundation of the barriers to entry. However, the barrier wall itself (above that foundation) is made up of the relationships that they have with their advertisers, content providers, subscribers, and the infrastructure that they have built/are building to provide the capacity and efficiencies to deliver their service.
However, exactly the same statement may be made of Amazon.com, e-bay, etc, and these are not high-tech companies, are they? They are retailers using technology to reach their customers.
An analogy: Kroger uses trucks to deliver goods to their stores. Cars, buses, and taxis bring their customers to those stores. Kroger places its stores in locations near major traffic arteries, but Kroger is not a transportation company, nor a real estate company, nor a builder of highways. It uses those assets strategically to provide its products to its customers. It is a retailer. |
