I'm just back in Ireland so am noticing interesting distinctions between the level of access to Internet websites and facilities between the UK and Ireland. It's reminded me how evident it is that while the Internet in principle is an open playing field, various legal and contract agreements mean that every country gets different services.
Examples: Amazon mp3's. Unable to purchase in Ireland. A real pity too as they had no rights management and a better price than iTunes.
Spotify. The hugely hyped online music service that isn't offered here (with no sign of an offering).
Amazon electronics. Unable to purchase in Ireland.
the new iPhone 4s's new voice interaction feature, Siri, is not available in Ireland to begin with.
I could continue going on here but the whole point is that there is different tiers starting to appear online. A 1st world Internet, 2nd world, etc. Ireland isn't on that top tier unfortunately - economies of scale play a part here as we're just too small for some of the larger companies to be given an incentive.
Of course, this means that companies in Ireland have a massive opportunity here to take this market. There's no excuse for one of them to go and negotiate with the music labels. What are you waiting for?
What do you think? Are some countries getting better offerings than others? Am I missing competing services here in Ireland so that I shouldn't notice?
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