October 28, 2005
What's the Value of Music?
Yahoo has raised the price of its music subscription service. As I read this article, this quote caught my attention:
"We definitely believe that subscription is the model that most people will adopt," said Shannon Ferguson, director of Yahoo Music Europe.
I don't know what most people will adopt. Some people will definitely sign up for a subscription service. A paid subscription service is not much different from a paid radio service, like XM Radio or Sirius. The difference is that with a music subscription service, you pick your own playlist. With a paid radio service, someone else picks the playlist.
Then, it occurred to me: doesn't the music subscription service diminish the perceived value of the music? Even though it's a paid service, it's so much like just listening to the radio, which is free. The monthly subscription fee is small. In return for paying, you get to listen without advertisements.
Much of the value of music comes from having something -- something you can hold. What if, ten years from now, there are no new CDs manufactured? What if the only way to get music is to download it from the Internet? Will music still have its perceived value?
I'll suggest an answer to the last question. There may be no value attributed to the music. Instead, the value will be attributed to the service itself. In other words, we won't be thinking, "Is this song worth $X to me?" Instead, we will be thinking, "Is this service worth $X a month to me?"
October 22, 2005
Skype Filtering Technology
Verso Technologies announced a Skype filter:
Verso Introduces Carrier Grade Skype™ Filtering Technology
The announced network "filter" would enable ISPs to control the kind of content that may be conveyed through the networks they own (and "lease" to their customers).
Who could possibly feel threatened by Skype? Skype is relatively low bandwidth. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that Skype uses less than 64 kbs. Besides, with Skype being free, one would think that ISPs would tout Skype as a feature, like email, blogging tools, etc. It seems odd that Verso would advertise that the product is targeted at Skype, when there are worse applications from the perspective of an ISP.
The whole issue of ISPs policing the use of their networks -- allowing some applications and disallowing others -- is controversial. Don't expect anything Draconian from the ISPs. They would never get away with blocking applications willy nilly. For example, a cable internet service provider like Comcast, which charges $55 per month and offers 3 Mbs downstream, would never get away with blocking Skype. However, we should expect situations where the ISP makes a stonger case in favor of blocking. Consider an MVNO (mobile virtual network provider) that would like to provide basic wireless email access, in the model of the Blackberry, that wants to block Internet phone calls.
October 16, 2005
German Proficiency Test
Transparent Language has a German proficiency test online. I took this test and scored 125 out of a maximum of 150 points (83%). The test results put me in the advanced intermediate category.
I still think one of the best ways to learn conversational German, other than spending time in Germany, is to watch videos of TV shows in German. For $40 you can get a DVD drive for your PC, set it to Region 2 encoding, and watch videos in German. (PAL videos play just fine on a PC.) You can order the videos from amazon.de. Shipping costs about $20. I prefer videos that have both English and German language audio tracks. When I watch the show in English, I understand everything. Then when I watch the show in German, it's easier to catch the German words because I already understand the meaning and I am aware of the context. However, I usually watch the show first in German because it's more challenging.
Federated Instant Messaging
There's no reason why instant messaging should exist as it currently does, with "free" clients that are supported by advertising, and closed networks that don't interoperate. A better model would be one that's patterned after email: your ISP provides you with an IM account and an IM address, and you can choose your favorite client to send and receive instant messages on the global, unified network.
Enter the IM Federation, which is pushing just such a model. The federation is based on the XMPP standards for IM, which is based on Jabber. Since Google's IM, called Google Talk, will use XMPP, the IM Federation should get noticed.
In the other corner are Microsoft an Yahoo, who announced that they will connect their IM networks. Interestingly, this combined Microsoft and Yahoo network will also be based on open standards, namely, SIP and SIMPLE.
The question remains, though: will there be spim (Spam through Instant Messaging)?