Akimbo, Dot Gone – GigaOM Om Malik blogs about the latest dotgonner, Akimbo. It would appear that after raising over $56 million Akimbo is now shutting down.
Perhaps the biggest mistake that Akimbo made early on was in trying to create and sell a box that offered B and C grade content. It is very, very, difficult to get consumers to buy a new box to hook up to their TV. And it’s even harder when the content available through the box is not particularly compelling.
This is one of the reasons why I was particularly surprised to see the Netflix Roku box launch earlier this week. The Roku box allows you to access Netflix “Watch Now” video content on your TV.
The Netflix Roku probably has a better chance than Akimbo did at surviving. The box is cheaper than the Akimbo box was and they have the hype and potentially the customer list of Netflix behind them.
The problem Netflix Roku faces though is no different in some ways than Akimbo. At present there is not enough A grade content or new movie releases on the box. You can’t watch Juno or American Gangster or There Will be Blood. You *can* watch the Pink Panther, Columbo, Leave it To Beaver and Return to the Blue Lagoon.
Especially given that you can already get Netflix Watch Now on an XBox 360 (although unofficially) and that official XBox 360 and other existing platform support is probably imminent, I’m still just not sure why anyone would buy a Netflix Roku box.