Microsoft has announced Zune, its new personal media brand and associated download service. There is much speculation about the player and its features. Pundits are weighing in on the validity of the rumored "closed” system (similar to Apple's iPod/iTunes environment)--good idea, bad idea? There will be video, but ...
The Myth Of Personal Video
on 2.9.06
MY VIDEO IPOD LOVES ME! Unfortunately, I only like it "as a friend." It all started last December when we met at a holiday party--the chemistry was extraordinary. It was sleek, beautiful and full of mystery ("Lost"), drama ("Law & Order") and intrigue ("Desperate Housewives). It had a sense of humor ("SNL") and even a ...
I’ve Seen The Future, And It’s Confusing!
on 1.5.06
It’s the dawn of a new year--filled with excitement, possibilities and promise. By now all of the new HDTV sets are hooked up, new iPods are formatted, iTunes accounts are set up, and BitTorrent 4.2.2 is properly installed. Let the media frenzy begin. Just one problem … according to studies by SA and Leichtman, over ...
The Pwss Principle – People Watch Shows, Stupid!
on 12.8.05
Cable and Congress are at it again. During a hearing that was supposed to be about indecency, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin brought up a study which "concludes that purchasing cable programming in a more a la carte manner in fact could be economically feasible and in consumers' best ...
Who Are The Real Pirates?
on 11.16.05
We hear the content industry and rights holders complaining about piracy everyday: file sharing, physical piracy, theft-of-services, derivative works, etc. But has anyone stopped to think about how many times consumers are asked to pay for the same content? Computer files may be the final form factor, but that is not ...
The Apple of my Video iPod
on 10.20.05
Did Steve Jobs finally screw up? After all, if there was such a thing as the portable video business wouldn’t everyone would have been walking around with a Sony Watchman for the last 20 years? No and no. Apple’s new video iPod probably won’t capture the imagination of consumers quite the way its audio ...
How Personal is Personalization?
on 7.21.05
Growing up in the 70s on Long Island, I had a pretty set after-school routine. Throw my coat over the living room railing, throw my books on the kitchen counter, grab a soda and a big bag of chips or cookies and throw myself on the couch in front of the television set. Most afternoons included F-Troop, The Munsters, I Dream ...
Verizon Music Phone on the Horizon
on 6.29.05
The Los Angeles Times Reports: Technophiles predicted that the PDA would go the way of the dinosaurs, and it looks like the prediction is about to come true. Thanks to the success of the MP3 player generally and the iPod specifically, cell phone manufacturers are turning PDA/phones into music-playing ...
Apple Cuts iPod Prices
on 6.28.05
In addition to its bigger announcements of iTunes 4.9 and its new color screen iPod lineup, Apple today quietly dropped the price of the 1GB iPod shuffle to $129, from $149. The price cut is seen as a move to boost sales and distance the device away from the lower-end iPod mini model. It is widely believed that ...
iTunes for TV is here!!!
on 5.17.05
The British aren't coming ... they're here! The BBC will move a step closer to delivering what it calls "iTunes for the broadcast industry" later this year, launching a public trial of iMP, which allows viewers to download any show from the previous week that they may have missed. Some of us call this a PVR, but ...
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