September 11, 2006
Via Scobleizer comes this Uninnovate indictment of Amazon Unbox. The author’s first two points highlight obvious deficiencies of Amazon’s offerings; his last point spells out the service’s unusually restrictive (in terms of what you can’t opt out of) terms of service. Most of these terms are often developed so that companies reserve the right to do things they may never do, but agreement to them still seems onerous for the convenience of digital downloading.
August 30, 2006
It looks like digital music has almost come full circle from the original Napster to Napster.com (limited free listens) and now to SpiralFrog, which will trade rights-managed music for your ad time. This notion of “paying” people to watch commercials online goes back at least as far as CyberGold, but SpiralFrog has potential because of the emotional value of music can be higher than its monetary value. The devil will be in the details for this one; much will depend on SpiralFrog’s catalog, but Universal Music Group has apparently signed on.
August 18, 2006
No, it’s not a cross between 1960s Japanese and 1940s American monster movies. iLounge got some hands-on time with Zune and its initial report doesn’t turn up anything dramatically threatening to the iPod. As with Vista, Microsoft is paying more attention to eye candy and animations with smooth transitions (I must admit I’m a fan of the “dissolve”) and overlays of letters while scrolling are a nice navigation aid. Beyond that, it looks like Apple’s competitive advantage is still intact. The Zune has no scroll wheel and it’s thicker. As I’ve advocated, it also looks like Microsoft has put the kibosh on iTunes reimbursement as well. Toshiba’s GigaBeat S has the aided navigation and it’s just as small as the iPod with a larger screen like the Zune.
Of Zune’s much-touted Wi-Fi features, iLounge notes that you can “lend” a song to a friend for a day (what’s with the content industry’s infatuation with a 24-hour cycle?) While iLounge does a fine job of pointing out limited utility of this feature until both the Zune and its store achieve critical mass, it does represent one of the first advantages that protected music might have over unprotected music.
For example, you can stream MP3s across a home network, share them on as many PCs as you like, and download them to practically any portable music player, but Zune would only enable peer-to-peer sharing — even in its limited form — only for protected music. Microsoft may be banking on users wanting to reanimate a bunch of deactivated music files on their Zune as a distant way of driving viral music purchase. Microsoft will probably also work to enable this kind of sharing on Zune’s community-focused music service as well, where it can spread more quickly.
August 9, 2006
Sony recently introduced Mylo (My Life Online), a device with a resurrected name that resembles its PSP (but is actually much smaller) and boasts an integrated slide-up keyboard. Early coverage labelled it an instant messaging appliance, perhaps a higher-end version of the Wi-Fi-enabled K-Byte Zip-It, but it really is more of a mobile Internet appliance akin to the larger but comparably priced Nokia 770, which Nokia unfortunately sometimes treats like an open-source science project.
Two main differences are that the 770 has a high-resolution screen better suited to Web browsing and Bluetooth. The absence of Bluetooth in Mylo is a quandary; I’d prioritize it more highly than Wi-Fi. If Sony is concerned about the difficulty of pairing or the availability of DUN-capable phones among young hipsters, it should recognize that they can already get a capable Bluetooth-enabled handset (and headset) for less than the Mylo.
In any case, like the 770, the Mylo has the de rigeur music and photo capabilities as well as an integrated Web browser. Mylo reportedly uses Trolltech’s QTopia operating environment; let’s hope its browser is better than the PSPs and that its keyboard is better than the Vaio UX’s. Unlike the 770, it includes a Skype client and hotspot directory, the latter of which it wouldn’t need (as much) if it had Bluetooth.
July 22, 2006
With the Zune announcement today came much speculation that the company that used to be known for powering other company’s devices is working on a portable game system. This would likely be somethng at least as robust as the PSP, the weakest link of which is the UMD distribution system. With Bill Gates having decried physical distribution, now would be an ideal opportunity to distribute games the way Zune would distribute other forms of media. Such a radical move would cause retailer revolt, but it could also pave the way for a much sleeker portable gaming system that offered a great user experience in terms of the flexibility to carry along a wide variety of games in flash or a an entire catalog on a hard disk.
July 5, 2006
CNet continues to devour news about Google Checkout — the search juggernaut’s entry into the electronic wallet craze that fizzled during the (first) bubble — the way Takeru Kobayashi devours hot dogs. Originally considered so much of a threat to eBay’s PayPal that it sent the auction giant running into the embrace of its vanquished auction rival Yahoo!, it turns out that Google Checkout is another attempt to launch a service like Microsoft’s Passport.
CNet blogger and veteran technology journalist Rafe Needleman calls Google Checkout “Amazon’s worst nightmare,” but I think Rafe may be indulging in a bit of hyperbole, to say the least. Let’s see Google line up more than a handful of vendors before we lay the tombstone on Amazon’s grave. Amazon has won customers through great customer service, not by accepting unknown payment schemes.
While the CNet piece offers several explanations as to why Passport (and the reactionary yet equally ineffective Liberty Alliance that it spawned) failed, it overlooks the major competition with far more trust than any technology brand — credit cards. These continue to be the dominant way people pay for things online. No, they aren’t hassle-free, but they’re nearly universal and most consumers already have them.
June 27, 2006
I thought we had gotten past the point where all Wi-Fi business models seemed doomed, but I find it odd that Boeing did not have more success with Connexion, its technology for delivering Wi-Fi in-flight. In particular, no US airline signed up for the service, which has reportedly lost a billion dollars in its six years of operation, and so may be grounded. I thought I had long ago won an argument with a former colleague about the availability of Internet access in planes, but perhaps he will have the last laugh.
One would think that a more creative approach to the service could have used it as a business class perk or frequent-flyer reward, allowing the proletariat in coach to purchase it a la carte. Well, at least being on a plane provides a closeup view of a cloud’s silver lining, and expected relaxation of clell phone usage on planes could open up the market for at least selective high-speed data. Hmmm, 3G clobbering Wi-Fi; maybe things aren’t so different at 30,000 feet.
June 15, 2006
There aren't many bands about which I can say, "I knew them when…" even though I'm told that 10,000 Maniacs used to play a lot of local clubs when I was in college. In any case, I was a fan of Barenaked Ladies long before they hit it big and have remained impressed with their technology savvy. "BNL" offer MP3 downloads of their concert performances on their site, from which they also offered a flash drive album that sold out. Here's a great quote from band co-founder Steven Page's blog:
As I’ve said to friends, we can’t expect to tell our fans “see you in court” and then “see you at Massey Hall next fall” – we have to choose one, and I choose the latter.
May 25, 2006
This is a great example of the kind of fringe site with an incomprehensible name that was the beginning of the end for the dotcom boom.
With all the focus on the Napster glasnost and Urge as part of the revamped Wndows Media troika, there's been a lot of discussion on the "closed" nature of iTunes Music Store and how it is the only online iPod-compatible store for music. This has never been the case. Long before the iTunes Music Store and even the iPod were launched, eMusic.com was selling DRM-free music in the nearly universally supported MP3 format. The downside has been that it hasn't been able to attract content from major — or even, it seems, many independent — labels.
I checked out the site for the first time in a while tonight. The layout is clean and easy to navigate, but I had a hard time finding much music I like and the site isn't helping itself posting AMG reviews that say things like this regarding Todd Rundgren And His Friends:
As well-intentioned as this was meant to be, it really doesn't add much to his catalog and essentially just gives session players like Steve Lukather and Kulick's brother, Bruce, a showcase for their talents. But they have already proven their worth on their own recordings, making this a non-essential item for all but dedicated Rundgren collectors.
Editorial integrity is one thing, but you'd never see such a damning review on Amazon.com. Worse, eMusic combines some of the worst of both worlds in charging a subscription fee for a limited number of downloads! In eMusic's defense, those downloads can be used practically anywhere digital music can be played, with no limits on the number of machines on which they can be used. Furthermore, unlike with services such as Napster, the songs won't expire if you cancel your subscription. Still, there's no way I could find enough content on the service to justify a subscription (although I admit I'm not a big fan of live music which is featured heavily), and that would certainly be true for more discriminating consumers.
As usual, some of the gems seem to be among unsigned artists but, if that's your bag, you're better off surfing garageband.com or cdbaby.com.
