Archive for September 2004
Wikis Allow Knowledge-Sharing
"Taran Rampersad didn’t complain when he failed to find anything on his hometown in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is unique for an encyclopedia because anybody can add, edit and even erase. And the Wikipedia is just one, albeit the best known, of a growing breed of Internet knowledge-sharing communities called Wikis.
"Though for now largely the domain of techies, Wikis are poised to become what blogs have turned into–still in the Internet avant garde yet widespread enough to be influential."
Anick Jesdanuna. ‘Wikis’ Offer Knowledge-Sharing Online. USA Today. Sept. 26, 2004.
California May Terminate P2P Use
"California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the State CIO to come up with a policy for the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications by state personnel.
"While the order prohibited the use of state resources to illegally download copyrighted material, it specifically allowed for legitimate uses of the controversial software — in moderation.
"Today California is taking a stand against use of state resources for illegal downloading of this material and standing in support of the work of these talented Californians," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to make sure that state computers aren’t used to contribute to what he called ‘huge losses of revenue to the state’s valuable entertainment industry.’"
Susan Kuchinskas. California To Set P2P Policy. InternetNews.com. Sept. 20, 2004.
The Hon. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Executive Order S-16-04 by the Governor of the State of California. Sept. 16, 2004.
See and Hear All Evil
"For the longest time, the recording labels viewed digital music as something that could hurt them with hurricane force but made no efforts to adjust to this new reality, let alone exploit it. Finally, they were persuaded to license their works to online music sellers. Apple’s iTunes Store, which sells songs for 99 cents a shot, became a template for a mini-industry that clearly represents the future of music. Microsoft opened its own long-awaited online outlet earlier this month. And just last week Yahoo dropped $160 million to buy Musicmatch and its store.
"This summer provided a clue to further harnessing the force of digital nature. For three weeks, Real Networks tried to lure new customers by slashing prices to 49 cents a song and $4.99 per album. Since Real paid the full royalty load to the labels (almost 70 cents a tune), the company lost money on every transaction. CEO Rob Glaser says that the company did get new customers, but here’s the real news: Real sold six times as much music and took in three times as much money."
Steven Levy. Music Companies Are In Denial. Newsweek. Sept. 27, 2004.
EBay Allows You to Share the Love
"Internet giant EBay is joining the online music parade with a service that offers a slight twist for customers — sharing hit songs earns rewards, not lawsuits.
The service, powered by Tennessee startup PassAlong Networks , lets customers share samples of their favorite tunes with friends and neighbors.
"And for every 10 songs that those friends purchase, the sender receives a free song."
Benny Evangelista. EBay Links With PassAlong to Offer New Music Service. San Francisco Chronicle. Sept. 23, 2004.
See also
BusinessWire. PassAlong Networks Debuts Music Download Service; Launches First Digital Music Store on eBay Offering Major Label Catalogs; Consumers Rewarded for Legally Sharing Music . Forbes.com. Sept. 23, 2004.
What Price PlayStation Portable?
"Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Portable, which goes on sale in Japan later this year and overseas next spring, boasts the superb image quality of its home-console counterpart. But the big question on everyone’s minds is: How much will the handheld gaming machine cost?
"The pricing question is crucial as competition heats up in the game machine market ahead of the holiday season, when video game hardware makers rake in as much as half their annual profits.
Yuri Kageyama. Price at Issue With PlayStation Portable. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 25, 2004.
(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
Downloading Via Subscription Service
"Long before Sir Richard Branson dreamed of becoming the latest billionaire with a reality TV show, before he started his cellphone company, his airline and his record label, he sold music from the Virgin Record Shop on Oxford Street in London. When he began in 1971, of course, music was presented as grooves pressed into a vinyl disk.
"Today, Sir Richard starts a new music store, VirginDigital.com, this time selling music as streams of bits to be downloaded from the Internet. Virgin becomes the first major music retailer to enter the download market, which has been dominated by Apple Computer and other technology companies.
"What’s interesting is that Virgin is putting its biggest emphasis on its subscription service, rather than on selling songs one at time for 99 cents a track, as Apple and Microsoft do.
"It is betting that new customers will join its Virgin Music Club for a $7.99 monthly fee to listen to an unlimited amount of music from Virgin’s one-million-track library on their computers."
Saul Hansell. Music Sites Ask, ‘Why Buy If You Can Rent?’. The New York Times. Sept. 27, 2004.
See also:
John Borland. Virgin Launches Online Music Service. News.com. Sept. 26, 2004.
Sue Zeidler. Virgin Launches New Digital Music Service. Reuters. Sept. 27, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)
10 Major Trends Emerging in the Internet’s First Decade of Public Use
"Ten Years, Ten Trends’ Highlight the Major Findings in Year Four of the Digital Future Project’s Study of the Impact of the Internet on Americans.
"Ten years after electronic portals to the Worldwide Web were first opened to millions of computer users, ten significant trends have emerged that vividly illustrate how the Internet affects America, according to findings from the comprehensive year-to-year study of the impact of online technology by the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future.
"Year Four of the Digital Future Project (formerly the UCLA Internet Report) provides a broad year-to-year exploration of the influence of the Internet on Americans. The project examines the behavior and views of a national sample of 2,000 Internet users and non-users, as well as comparisons between new users (less than one year of experience) and very experienced users (in Year Four, seven or more years of experience)."
USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. Center for the Digital Future Identifies the 10 Major Trends Emerging in the Internet’s First Decade of Public Use. Sept. 23, 2004.
USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. Digital Center’s Internet Report 2004. (.pdf). Sept. 23, 2004.
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