I think a lot of people pirate content because it’s a much more convenient way to consume it.

http://blog.aparicio.org/2010/02/19/discovering-the-motives-behind-piracy-can-lead-to-innovation/

There are actually two distinct markets here: enterprises, and low-latency locations. Sometimes the two meet (certain parts of Wall Street), sometimes they are distinct. I think the argument still holds water for enterprises, and might even for low latency. The low latency space is primarily solved in hardware, not necessarily software. But perhaps this niche will continue to remain the domain of high-margin providers. Even here, though, I am not convinced.

Avi

I see Cisco and its competitors improving for all 5 issues noted above.

Cutting edge companies in the low-latency space will always choose the best combination of functionality and price that allows them to do business, and will worry about support models and SLA’s later. For example, I’ve seen companies use Juniper firewalls and Blade Network low latency RackSwitches. No Cisco devices in the low latency path. Too expensive and don’t perform as well.

And for the large banks, its a similar theory to the old \buy blue\ of 20 years ago. Risk-averse IT managers can’t go wrong with a known quantity that will be suable if something really goes wrong. No senior manager will bet a multi-billion dollar firm on a startup. Perhaps a niche application, but not the core.