kongo09
29.01.2006, 16:38
Everyone agrees that OTR is a smart idea. But everyone also agrees that the whole download thing is a pain.
- The managers of OTR have high cost for traffic
- The managers of OTR obviously like some sort of payments (paypal, Micro$), but don't want to appear to rip off users
- The users find it increasingly difficult to get download slots and might have to try for hours, which leads to high frustration
- Even paying users are not guaranteed an immediate download slot, which adds to the frustration and reduces willingness to pay
- Prices during rush hour seem to fluctuate in a non-transparent way
I'd like to suggest the following solution:
Let's think about a reverse auctioning of download slots, coupled with a random allocation of a certain percentage of traffic, e.g. 20%. Generally, we have two types of users:
- Users with time
- Users with money
The users with money can be served by reverse auctioning the slots. Users would enter a bid. The system queues all users according to bids. As soon as a slot becomes available, the sytem picks the user with the highest bid for the next slot. The result is published on the site, so that users can adjust their bids, if they like.
Those users with low bids would have to wait until everyone with higher bids has been served. By displaying a one week winning bid profile in hourly steps as a graph, people get a feel at what times the lower bids might succeed. The logic is simple: you bid low, you wait long. You bid highest, you succeed as quickly as possible.
In addition, users can also queue up without a bid. These people would always end up at the end of the queue. Generally, if users can't be sorted according to bids, they should be sorted according to waiting time. The longer you wait, the better your chances are.
These free riders will only get a slot when all paying users have been served. If OTR desires to do some free-serving, the capacity set aside for free-serving could be allocated at random. The random picking would have to be done from all users in the whole queue: paying and non-paying. If you are picked at random, you never pay.
My feeling is that with such a system, everyone's interests are addressed. Free riders can still download, but have to wait for all others or the luck of randomness. Paying users can control speed with their willingness to pay. The managers of OTR get a more stable source of revenue.
Let's open the floor for discussion!
kongo09
- The managers of OTR have high cost for traffic
- The managers of OTR obviously like some sort of payments (paypal, Micro$), but don't want to appear to rip off users
- The users find it increasingly difficult to get download slots and might have to try for hours, which leads to high frustration
- Even paying users are not guaranteed an immediate download slot, which adds to the frustration and reduces willingness to pay
- Prices during rush hour seem to fluctuate in a non-transparent way
I'd like to suggest the following solution:
Let's think about a reverse auctioning of download slots, coupled with a random allocation of a certain percentage of traffic, e.g. 20%. Generally, we have two types of users:
- Users with time
- Users with money
The users with money can be served by reverse auctioning the slots. Users would enter a bid. The system queues all users according to bids. As soon as a slot becomes available, the sytem picks the user with the highest bid for the next slot. The result is published on the site, so that users can adjust their bids, if they like.
Those users with low bids would have to wait until everyone with higher bids has been served. By displaying a one week winning bid profile in hourly steps as a graph, people get a feel at what times the lower bids might succeed. The logic is simple: you bid low, you wait long. You bid highest, you succeed as quickly as possible.
In addition, users can also queue up without a bid. These people would always end up at the end of the queue. Generally, if users can't be sorted according to bids, they should be sorted according to waiting time. The longer you wait, the better your chances are.
These free riders will only get a slot when all paying users have been served. If OTR desires to do some free-serving, the capacity set aside for free-serving could be allocated at random. The random picking would have to be done from all users in the whole queue: paying and non-paying. If you are picked at random, you never pay.
My feeling is that with such a system, everyone's interests are addressed. Free riders can still download, but have to wait for all others or the luck of randomness. Paying users can control speed with their willingness to pay. The managers of OTR get a more stable source of revenue.
Let's open the floor for discussion!
kongo09