Quibi is shooting itself in the foot by forbidding screenshots

The Verge

The shortform streaming service, which had a disappointing launch on Monday, is hurting itself by not allowing users to share their Quibi content via screenshots, says Julia Alexander. "Trying to describe Quibi’s essence to people is difficult," says Alexander. "There are shows where food explodes in chefs’ faces, series about flipping murder homes, and Chrissy Teigen presiding over a small claims court. Quibi’s best content operates on the belief that 'the more ludicrous, the better,' but that’s easier to show than tell. Or it would be if people could share any of what they were watching. Quibi doesn’t allow people to take screenshots while shows are playing. Any effort to do so produces a black screen. Quibi isn’t the only streamer in this predicament. Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and other video apps also have their content blacked out when people take screenshots. Unlike its bigger competitors, however, Quibi lacks any kind of web browser support. There’s no desktop experience. So while it’s trivially easy to screenshot something on your computer, there’s no equivalent for Quibi. If I want to share a moment from a series or movie, I can just load up Netflix on my laptop." Alexander adds: "Not being able to share outlandish or impressive parts of a series is detrimental to new shows looking for success."