rideside.net

home | archive | comics | about

*the* place for collaborative e-snowboarding

archive / 2007 / 07 / 03

Posted by MF DU on 2007-07-03 11:48:08 +0000

Universal Joins Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and The Beatles

<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/07/universal_itune.html">Bye Bye, I Tunes</a>.

this makes me curious about a couple of things:

-What is Universal's strategy to make more $ on digital downloads elsewhere?
-How will this fare for Steve Jobs, especially if the Iphone backlash after the initial hype dies down is as big as I think it will be? (for example, Why, Steve, can't us consumers replace our own batteries for ipods and iphones?)
-How long will the farce of "all songs are valued equally" continue? (unless they are 20+ minutes on a jazz / jam rock album, and then - you must shell out $10 USD to get the 20 min track)
Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-07-05 16:42:48 +0000
Download it for free on one of those P2P sites. Or, you know, buy vinyl/CDs.
Posted by tgl on 2007-07-06 07:20:41 +0000
* I'm not sure Universal has a strategy, especially for acts like the Beatles where there is no money in performances. I think that the monetization of recorded music is over and performances will drive profits, not little plastic discs. I'm not saying that any one format is dead (vinyl will not die), just that ticket sales and pay-per-view fees (do acts get paid to perform on Jools Holland?) will be were the money is. Get ready for that $250 Metallica concert T.
* Not so sure about the iPhone backlash. They've sold out of them and then the stock price jumped another 10%. Irreplaceable batteries hasn't hindered <a href="http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/04/11/ipod.sales.to.hit.500m/">half-billion</a> iPod sales, either.
* Paying for mp3s is a noble act.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-07-06 08:39:59 +0000
Did you see the 'I phone futures' link I posted in the AAPL thread?

IPhone is way way way more obtainable than any of the other 'hot' items when they came out (Wii, PS3, etc.)

People can't re-sell them to save their lives. If the apple stores are out of em, its a temporary nuisance solved in days, not weeks or months to wait for more production.

I really think its gonna need some more fine tuning.
Posted by tgl on 2007-07-06 09:09:17 +0000
Yes, I did see the iPhone futures link and I don't understand how the inability for people to resell iPhones means doom for the product line. Since people can't resell them, that means there is no demand? Maybe the average consumer wants to buy one direct from Apple, or figures a 100% mark-up on a consumer electronics device is a little ludicrous.

"IPhone is way way way more obtainable than any of the other 'hot' items when they came out (Wii, PS3, etc.)

People can't re-sell them to save their lives."

Your first statement explains why the second statement is true.

What's to fine tune? It's a camera phone and an ipod. That's all it needs to be successful. I've got one in each pocket right now. The internet stuff is gravy.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-07-06 09:14:58 +0000
Not doom ,just skepticism that it is not yet as great as it could be and that people will ultimately balk at its price tag and customer service nightmares until more features and service providers are given.

I was just happy that the culture of 'selling your place in line so you can have an opportunity to be the first to have __________.' was dealt a major blow by not being able to profit.




Find me on github.