dontdeviate.net

Is the “free” entertainment model sustainable?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:22:44 +0000

We had the dot.com crash of 94, then another in 01; but this only spurred the internet to bigger and greater things. Software developers at various universities amalgamated skill set and knowledge and gave us sites like Google, Youtube, Myspace, Facebook and even more recently Twitter.
Social media has been the buzzword for the last 3 years at least, but it has only truly captured one area of the market. Whatever happened to the technological revolution “Tomorrow’s World” foresaw back in the 80’s, and Asimov warned us all about?
Whilst we can use 000’s of different methods to share pictures, chat to our friends and ultimately share stories, it’s only been in the last year that sites like Spotify, Zattoo and lastFM have started to embrace another face of the web and technology as a whole.
Spotify: is a proprietary peer-to-peer streaming music program that allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums with almost no buffering delay.*
The model is simple, on the “no pay” version, your audio experience is interrupted approximately every 5/6 songs with an advert, somewhat like a radio advert. The main user interface doesn’t look too dissimilar to itunes, only banner and dynamic mpu’s are scattered strategically so you are never far away from the “people” allowing the site to continue running.
The premium version cut’s out the audio advertising, but your eyes are not spared – god forbid there being any chance of a media company not selling space on a plain background somewhere in this digital world.
LastFM: Better known through the iPhone of late, lastFM is a UK-based Internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. It claims over 30 million active users based in more than 200 countries. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140m ($280m USD). **
This model is more succinct but just as efficient. Playlists are created for you using advanced technology, and picking up on your favourite artists. An online community can view who you’ve tagged as your favourites and interact with your chosen songs leaving feedback etc.
Once again, advertising is displayed across the site, and ultimately giving LastFM its digital life blood! No audio interruptions, just literal music to your ears.
Zattoo: The most recent web revolution, expect to see more of it. “It’s the football game as you chat, the news as you email, and your favorite soap as you pay your bills. Zattoo is also TV when you don’t have a TV – it’s the channels you want, when you want, where you want.”***
That’s correct free internet TV, no more paying a TV license for programs that you watch on ITV or SKY! The most revolutionary aspect is, the lower the bandwidth, the better the streaming. The quality is very good and delayed slightly so buffering can take place efficiently.
The advertising model? Ssimple. A 30 second advert loads once you have chosen your TV channel, in the interim Zattoo begins buffering the feed. There are dynamic banners scattered in the TV guide bar and everytime you change channel, the same advert loads as of before.
So can any of these media be sustainable?
LastFM has been working at the model for the last 7 years and whilst it has sustained drops in the internet market place it does well to combat it. Producing the iPhone application and getting all the record companies on board as well as independents has been a stroke of genius. Content is king, and this is even more the case when you as a consumer are empowered to choose your free media whenever you want. The only irritating thing is; the music jump from Pink Floyd to Scissor Sisters can hurt the ears more than bargained for!
Spotify and Zattoo are slightly different however. Whilst the model gives you content for free like last FM, you get a choice of your viewing and audio experience. Granted the BBC iPlayer makes you choose the program you want when you want, but that’s only for the BBC; that means you need to download 4oD, Demand Five and itv catchup to see all your favourites, and sometimes at a cost. But let’s not confuse Zattoo with the aforementioned media, one is live streaming TV, the other’s are repeats.
And what about Spotify? Well like lastFM we have to consider that Spotify have managed to get all record companies on board, you can share playlists and ultimately choose whether you want audio adverts or not – at a cost.
The issue is however the following. How tolerant are you as a consumer to have your free music interrupted by some chap selling bikes? Every time you change channel, can you be bothered watching the same 30 second advert?
My theory is this. The more media becomes integrated on the web, it moves away from the mainstream at a rate of knots the captain of the titanic definitely couldn’t avoid!
To compensate you do need advertising to support the “free-ness” of the package, but what will be dependent is the tolerance of the audience. With standard media and channels, you can automatically tune out, with TV you can channel surf as much as you want until the adverts are over, and with the radio all you need to do is push one button.
Now ask yourself this question, can you be tolerant to get your TV and Music for free, or force the media to change, so it suits you at the risk of loosing the packages?
I know what my answer would be.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LastFM
*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zattoo

A Weekend of sport!

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:53:06 +0000

Wimbledon is around the corner, The last British GP at Silverstone (or could it be?) is this Sunday, and more fighting with the FIA and FOTA. This is how Wordle has assessed the situation…..

Here Here

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:12:54 +0000

So Mr Prime Minister, our un-elected official, what do you have to say for yourself now!

Apple v Nokia

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:37:09 +0000

Good little comparison between the iPhone 3gS and the Nokia N97. Whilst I agree, the Nokia has come a long way in matching the iPhone, it’s simply not an iPhone.

Apple is one of the few great brand marketeers, they have something revolutionary and every now and again develop it that little bit more. Nokia however should concentrate on performance for me, that’s where Apple slips on this product in particular.

Check it out!

Obama kills a Fly!!

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:27:36 +0000

He even cleans up after himself!!!!

Still alive

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:57:03 +0000

To all DONTDEVIATE.NET friends, I am still alive dont worry. I have made the move to London, as you may have noticed in my flickr stream, there is much to post and plenty to talk about. Hope you like the new theme and I’ll be re-envisaging the site soon. I’ll keep you all posted.

I don’t get Basketball

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:07:36 +0000

Oh no, I've lost my other arm warmer!

I woke up yesterday evening, around 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I thought maybe my prostate had given up on me, or that the indigestion was slowly but surely going to tear my stomach into tiny little pieces. As much as I could, I just couldn’t get SG1 (Sleep Gene) to kick in. So I dared to do what only nightwatchmen and suicidal people do at 3am, watch TV. The usual Open University programs weren’t on, someone at the BBC managed to screw that up; and now unfortunately for 3 of 4 channels, some two bit loser was doing a quiz game. (Who the hell rings these shows, at these un-godly hours?!)

I found Basketball, or rather something called a “play off” match. It was between “The Celtics” and “The Magic”. Now imagine my shock when neither vikings or magicians were on the “court” but bestial men, all measuring over 6’4 weighing 200lbs and being able to leap over tall buildings with a single bound!

I don’t get how what seems to be 6 seconds left on the clock managed to last 5 minutes. I don’t get why one of the athletes was wearing “arm warmers”. And I don’t get why Ron Jeremy was a coach for one of the teams.

I was also shocked to find that the ref uses terms like “travelling” and well, I only picked up on “travelling”. (Apparently this means you don’t bounce the ball enough whilst moving – that’s how I understood it!)

I’m pretty sure that this is indeed a cool sport. I mean what other sport can you get coached by Ron Jeremy in? I think it’s cool that a so-called “non-contact” sport has more physical contact than a vietnam movie on roids! I think it’s cool that President Obama has decided to stick a court up at the back of the White House, and I think it’s very cool that this is a sport that allows you to wear arm warmers!

I need to learn alot more about this very popular American sport, so I shall purchase NBA 09 for a games console and play. If I still don’t get it, who cares, either way it kept me company for an hour last night, and for that I thank the good people at Channel 5 and NBA for keeping me sane in an open university and game show abyss.

It’s only torture if you admit to it 2………

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:46:03 +0000

Following my post from the other day, and it’s light-hearted message I have to say that it had me intrigued. Intrigued enough to read the memo’s (what I could muster before nearly being sick), intrigued enough to openly admit that maybe this a subject left to the professionals in the military, but intrigued enough to keep reading whatever I could to gain my own personal view.

Whilst most moderate Republicans (US), Conservatives (UK) and PDL (Italy) would consider me to be a lefty liberal with one iq point short of a plemboyant genius, I can assure you I am not, and this does not affect my position.

Ultimately I am someone who believes in the free right to live my life in the way I choose, something which terrorism (in it’s most modern form) wishes to take from me. I also believe in the right to trial and hence the idea of Guantamo Bay being the scariest of propositions for any law abiding citizen.

So it comes as no shock to anyone that when I came across this particular story it had me thinking.

The first is from Salon.com, and it is a brilliant piece of journalistic review of torture, it poses questions rather than answers and it’s helped me make up my mind on the subject.

The second is from an interview on Fox. (Who would have thought it hey!) All I want to know is, who the hell does the male guest Cliff May – Defense for Democracy – think what world do we live in? I’m glad he doesn’t agree that “a red hot poker through the eye” can be considered to be torture. I’m pretty sure a red hot poker through the eye can lead to certain death, I don’t know maybe going a little too deep. Also, yes these people captured do not disclose name rank and order, it doesn’t give license to torture. Are we saying if I get stopped by a police officer and don’t have my documentation, but you believe me to be a threat to society that I should detained, then tortured? Could I hold that information that “you” so desperately need to stop other offences?

Don’t forget in the last 6 years 18 prisoners have been let go from Guantanamo Bay because they were taken on bad information, they still suffered torture.

But the greatest thing about this whole video (which is worth your time), is that the presenter, a FOX presenter is irked so much by the fact the states tortures that he argues with everyone even his own producer. To you Shepard Smith I salute you – thank goodness there may something worth watching on Fox!

And…..

We are America, we don't f*£%&^g torture!

It’s only torture if you admit to it…..

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:08:28 +0000

Walling (don’t ask), waterboarding etc etc…..Just remember it’s only torture if you admit to it, like a financial crisis is only a financial crisis when you stop using an abacus and don’t know how to use a spreadsheet.

It’s amazing when you genuinely think that the previous administration said that they did not torture, but there were over 170 memo’s, 28 of which were released clearly advocating waterboarding. I wouldn’t be surprised, the man that advocated it the most was also the only person in history to receive an apology from the person HE SHOT!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M – Th 11p / 10c

We Don’t Torture

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6 week ab plan? The Challenge Week 1

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:23:37 +0000

The quick way to body excellence?

How many of you have ever wondered, do the plans in fitness magazines like Men’s Health work? Can something which promises to change your physical appearance in only a matter of weeks deliver on its promise?

So for the next six weeks I will be following one of these plans, adjusting my diet accordingly and seeing if all the effort works. I will have to make one or two changes to the plan, simply because science and experience dictates multiple sets don’t work as effectively as single set to failure. Furthermore, due to a shoulder and knee injury picked up snowboarding this year I will need to use machine assisted exercises rather than free weights so I don’t incur further damage.

Now don’t get me wrong on this, my aim is to not disprove the theories or exercises in these magazines, on the contrary, if I wanted to do that I would stick to every last aspect to the letter and do the recommended exercises. (By doing the machine assisted exercises I am giving myself a further advantage for muscular growth and development of lean body mass).

Now I would consider myself to be in decent shape. A regular attendee of the gym and I have an active lifestyle, but not since I was 20 and living in Florence have I seen the remotest sign of a six pack, unless you count the beer in the fridge.

Can it be done in 6 weeks? Watch this space…