Beatles are going digital

It's about time, the Beatles are finally available on Rock Band. No it is not earth shattering nor is it a game changer. Still, the Beatles, known for its change to the music scene, may do the same for digital. "This Beatles week signifies one thing above others - that there’s value in shifting content from atoms to bits, if you can take advantage of those bits’ unique qualities. That same lesson has been learned from the migration from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray and from vinyl to cassette, CD, MP3 and beyond."

There is still one piece missing and one that we hope is announced soon, that all Beetles songs are available for download through iTunes. Sure, they have been accessible through illegal P2P sites, but its time to bring them back to the masses to enjoy.

Like Apple, TV Explores Must-Have Applications

When it comes to the standard of consumer friendly devices, Apple stands atop the mountain and others simply try to catch up. They created the game changer for cellular phones and the question is, with convergence, can the same be done for cable TV. Its iPhone has enabled Apps that can remotely record a show via Tivo, find information on TV and movie programs, and more. Verizon Fios and Direct TV are trying to create an Apps type store for their respective cable service. And the traditional cable operators are even further behind. "But the companies are still wrestling with how open they want their systems to be to outside developers, what business arrangement to make with developers and what sorts of things people want to do while watching their TV from their couches."

Unfortunately, the cable boxes from SA and Motorolla aren't able to yet; whether that is their fault or the cable operators concerned that opening up the box to the web will affect security and other factors. "'The lowest end set-top box is the equivalent of a Mac II from 1991,' said Mr. Kotay of Comcast. Even recent models are hardly able to handle all the interactive tasks that developers have started to imagine, especially combining text, graphics and video from cable channels and the Internet. And the next generation will go further." But how slow can cable be to get into the game before others find away to simply go around them.

As new HDTVs come onto the market, they are being equipped with internet access. A consumer could begin to bypass their cable company and use broadband only for access to programming. That is what cable has to fear and timing is everything. Upgrade the cable box now, improve the remote control, enable interactivity with web and mobile, and make the product more user-friendly or risk watching us go elsewhere.

My Kindle Has Been Stolen; So What!

When you get robbed, you go to the police and report your less. And sometimes your items get recovered and sometimes they don't. In the digital age, every item has a unique identification and since it tends to communicate with a central system, it can be followed. Yet Amazon seems reluctant to want to help the original owner of a Kindle get their stolen device back, or at least assure that it can't be used illegally by another. It seems they won't! Ironic, since they are ok peaking into your device and taking away content that the owner possesses. How cruel!

"Amazon’s policy is that it will help locate a missing Kindle only if the company is contacted by a police officer bearing a subpoena. Mr. Borgese, who lives in Manhattan, questions whether hunting down a $300 e-book reader would rank as a priority for the New York Police Department. He began to see ulterior motives when he twice sent e-mail messages to Amazon seeking an address to send a police report and got no reply. 'I finally concluded,' Mr. Borgese said, 'that Amazon knew the device was being used and preferred to sell content to anyone who possessed the device, rather than assist in returning it to its rightful owner.' Drew Herdener, an Amazon spokesman, said only that the company acted in accordance with the law and cooperated with law enforcement officials." Typical bureaucratic comment, lacking any sense of caring about their customers' needs. And this merely confirms that Amazon doesn't get it and will ultimately lose its customer base.

Is Kindle Really Sorry for Deleting George Orwell

Earlier this year, Amazon did the unthinkable. They unknowingly went into each of their customers' accounts and deleted copies of two of George Orwell's books. Ironically, one book, "1984", was specifically about this very thing, Big Brother snooping into our private lives. Well, Amazon has said it was sorry and has learned from the errors of its ways. To make it up, they are now offering to replace or refund back to their customer to back up their pledge. "Amazon said in an e-mail message to those customers that if they chose to have their digital copies restored, they would be able to see any digital annotations they had made. Those who do not want the books are eligible for an Amazon gift certificate or a check for $30, the company said."

But is this good enough? The bigger issue is one that Amazon has not yet commented on, digital rights management. "Digital books for the Kindle are sold with so-called digital rights management software, which allows Amazon to maintain strict control over the copies of electronic books on its reader and prevents other companies from selling books for the device. Consumer advocates and civil libertarians say the system could allow courts or governments to force Amazon to recall, and in essence censor, books that they deem politically dangerous or embarrassing." And that is the crux of the problem. When consumers buy a printed book, the content owner and distributor have no further control over its use. It can be shared, resold, destroyed. That right is with the consumer. With digital copies, it may not truly be owned. The consumer is limited to what he can do with the content, how it is used, if it can be shared or even resold. And that Amazon has not addressed the privacy issue that first caused this embarrassment in the first place still haunts them. If "Big Brother" can go into my electronic reader, whether to take away or even just "watch" and learn activity becomes the bigger problem. For Amazon and others.

If Amazon can do it with the Kindle, so can Sony with its e-reader, and Apple with its iPod and iPhone. The issue of digital rights management and consumer rights are clearly coming to a head and perhaps someone will consider a class action suit to challenge it.

Control At Your Fingertips

Cynopsis pointed something out to me today that really looked cool. They pointed me to a site called i.tv and a video embedded below.



This company has built an app for the iPhone that simplifies the process of finding the shows you want, recording through Tivo, and finding Netflix films to download. "The iTV app turns the iPhone into a full-featured control center for all your entertainment needs: check TV and movie times, purchase movie tickets, manage your Netflix queue, watch YouTube videos, and now control your Tivo HD remotely. The interface is elegant, visual and easy to figure out. iTV is releasing the remote control framework to third party developers, hoping to get other set-top manufacturers interested."

To me, the biggest minus with cable is the cable box. Shouldn't cable operators be embracing this kind of convergent technology and truly making the cable box a happy experience. To me, it works more like a Model T. Perhaps I can trade in my cable box under the "cash for clunkers" and get something that is more useful. Tivo and Netflix are enabling TV sets to work better. And companies are building more useful Apps for them, but not for the cable industry. It's time for a change.

Is You Tube Leaving Its Comfort Zone?

You Tube, the home for user generated videos and clips from network shows, is looking to compete in the pay movie space. While it's revenue has been primarily from ad support, the appeal of a second revenue stream is hard to beat. Still, can You Tube compete with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and others in this transactional and subscription space.

You Tube's parent, Google, tried to be in this space prior to purchasing You Tube. "Google has charged for video rentals and downloads in the past through Google Video. But less than a year after acquiring YouTube in October 2006, it stopped offering the paid video service." Is the timing right to get back into the game; I think not. I don't believe the You Tube consumer would accept a premium model. They use the service to upload and share videos and You Tube is the place to find viral, much talked about, clips. Others, like Netflix, have been building relationships with Tivo and Sony to enable these online movies for pay to be watched on the bigger screen. And can You Tube really differentiate its titles from what the others are offering to recapture market share. Movies may also be seen as a commodity; the only way to enter is with a deeply discounted pricing model. Hollywood may not be interested in that marketing approach.

Kindle Friendlier to Environment Than Print Books

From the Book of Obvious, E-books are better for the environment than printed books. "The e-reader savings eclipse attempts by the publishing industry to reduce its damage to the environment through cleaner manufacturing processes and more recycling programs, the San Francisco-based research and consulting firm said in a report." If your not cutting down trees and processing them into books, it is frankly obvious that digital devices are more environmentally friendly than traditional printed media. Please tell me something I don't now.

Still, I doubt people are converting to e-readers for their environmental benefits. I see that more a a by-product. The reason is one of convenience of purchase, lighter load to "carry' multiple books, and even the me-too behavior that comes with electronic devices. Improving the environment is a good thing; this article simply states the obvious.

Shouldn't an HD Commercial Touting HD Service Be Filmed in HD

I am a recent purchaser of a Hi Def TV set so I have to admit that I am thrilled to watch anything in HD. And I have become much more particular about what channels I watch, so that my 1000 channels has dropped to about 20. So as I was watching this morning on an HD channel, a commercial came on from a cable TV provider (I won't say who) touting its number of HD channels over its competitor(s). More HD channels, not duplicates, best, most...all the adjectives! But here is the kicker. The commercial, touting its HD claims, was in standard definition. How odd. Customers without HD would never notice, so I guess they are selling a future benefit when (or if) these customers join the HD revolution. But to customers like me, with an HD set, and most likely also interested in feeding our appetite with more HD choices, the commercial seems to suggest that the company that it represents really doesn't have a credible message to sell. Selling more HD channels, better HD programs, but not really. I say fire your ad agency and production company, they really blew this one.

Major League Baseball: A Dollar A Game

Wish you could watch a certain out of market baseball game, but not interested in going to a bar or buying a full season pass. Perhaps you've pseudo-watched on the web, as stats and action was announced on a diamond mock-up. Well, it seems that now you can buy just one game at a time for just a buck. What a deal. "Bob Bowman, CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media–pro baseball’s standalone digital media company–tells me iPhone and iPod touch users will soon be able to buy individual games. The feature will be added to the company’s existing MLB.com app and will roll out as soon as Apple (AAPL) finishes approving the update, which Bowman expects to happen within the next few days." Now this sounds pretty user friendly. So when can I buy the same game on my big screen TV for the same price. Most people won't realize they could have bought the season when they finally count the games they bought. It sounds like a great revenue enhancing idea.