Archive for October, 2007

Are Illegal Songs Easier to Find Than Legal Ones?

October 22nd, 2007 No Comments

Forbes has a story that says that Radiohead’s new album, which is priced at whatever fans want to pay, is popular on file-sharing networks like BitTorrent.

“On the first day that Radiohead’s latest became available, around 240,000 users downloaded the album from copyright-infringing peer-to-peer BitTorrent sources, according to Big Champagne, a Los-Angeles-based company that tracks illegal downloading on the Internet. Over the following days, the file was downloaded about 100,000 more times each day—adding up to more than 500,000 total illegal downloads.”

Reports say that legal downloads of Radiohead’s album are at 1.2 million now, but everyone is predicting that illegal downloads will surpass the legal ones. Why? Is it the illegality of BitTorrent? Is it easier to find illegal songs rather than look for where to get it legally?

That’s what some people are saying. Some people are already familiar with BitTorrent and LimeWire, but they don’t know where to go to get the album directly from Radiohead. (For the record, here is Radiohead’s site.)

Says Forbes:

“With popular album releases, illegal download volumes normally outstrip sales, says Garland. But more surprising is that fans chose to steal music they could legally download for any price they choose.”

Another answer is that fans may be turned off by having to register and offer their name and snail mail address to Radiohead.

Nevertheless, this pay-what-you-feel-like-paying gimmick is having a great effect on Radiohead’s awareness. Everyone’s talking about their album and the new pricing system. So even if they don’t make much money on this album, they’ve at least made a lot of noise.

Posted in Online music

New Media Advertising to Generate $41 Billion by 2011

October 22nd, 2007 No Comments

The combination of Internet advertising, Internet TV, mobile ads, game advertising and IPTV advertising will generate $41 billion in revenues by 2011, says research firm MultiMedia Intelligence.

In 2007, new media advertising will generate about $18 billion worldwide, which means ad revenues will more than double in five years.

The company says that three new categories–Internet TV, IPTV and mobile TV–will make up about 20% of media ad dollars in 2011. So far, advertising in these nascent media is pretty low.

[tags] IPTV, research, advertising, TV, DVR, new media, mobile TV [/tags]

Posted in IPTV, Internet video, Mobile, TV, research

DVRs That Update Themselves

October 22nd, 2007 No Comments

PC World’s Stephen Manes talks about one annoyance: his Comcast DVR that updated its own software one day.

“One day the device worked one way–a way I’d come to know and understand, even when it didn’t work entirely right. The next day, caramba! It had a whole new user interface that was significantly worse than the one I had grown accustomed to. The device? The DVR I lease from Comcast. I’m just glad the company doesn’t make cars.”

Apparently where he lives (Seattle, Washington) his DVR used Microsoft’s middleware with its “usual collection of bugs”. The replacement, called GuideWorks, has its own quirks. For example:

“Here’s how utterly lame the box is: As delivered, it won’t let you change channels by using the number keys to tune single- and double-digit channels directly, without pressing one or two zeros first–you know, the way you can on practically every other TV remote in the world. That default is so stupid that Comcast included a last-minute folder largely devoted to explaining how to fix it. All you have to do is go several menu levels deep, find an entry called ‘Channel Entry Behavior’, and change it to ‘Auto-Tune’. Hey, Comcast, here’s a better idea: Push software to the box that changes the default to the one people expect!”

Um, yes that’s totally lame. I wonder how many other people have experienced this with the new Comcast GuideWorks software? If you have anything to share, please add your comment here.

Posted in Administration

tulle smith farm

October 19th, 2007 No Comments



tulle smith farm

Originally uploaded by jalvear


Posted in Administration

16% Watch TV Shows on the Internet

October 18th, 2007 No Comments

MultiChannel News says that about 16% of U.S. households that use the Internet watch TV shows online, according to a report by The Conference Board and TNS. The primary reason: “personal convenience”.

Surprisingly, over a third of those surveyed said that they watch TV shows over the Internet to avoid commercials. Watching TV online means going to the website, possibly downloading a player, then sitting in front of a computer. And after all that, many networks do show commercials on the Internet although fewer than on TV.

That’s a lot to go through just to skip commercials. Haven’t these people heard of DVRs?

Other reasons why they watch online include “portability and a preference for computer viewing.” Preference for computer viewing? I find that an odd finding. The accepted notion is that people prefer to watch TV shows on their TV sets: lean back viewing. Whereas computers are lean forward. Does this finding mean that consumer attitudes are changing?

The main reason I watch TV shows online is catch up with shows that I’ve missed. I find it easier to find re-runs on the Internet rather than wait for it to broadcast again. I guess reruns are becoming less relevant now that viewers can instantly go to ABC.com, for example, and watch the first few shows of Season 2 of “Ugly Betty”.

Of course this has implications for advertisers.

“Over the next few years, the growing popularity of viewing TV episodes/shows online is going to have a huge impact on the way brands and advertisers communicate with viewers,” TNS executive vice president of technology, telecommunications and media Shari Morwood said in a statement. “If advertisers can effectively leverage the online video platform, we should see much more interactivity and emotional connections between brands and he online TV viewing audience.”

[tags] DVR, ABC, Ugly Betty, research, network, Hollywood, TV [/tags]

Posted in research

fishy

October 17th, 2007 No Comments



fishy

Originally uploaded by jalvear


Posted in Administration

raquel welch

October 17th, 2007 No Comments



raquel welch

Originally uploaded by jalvear


Posted in Administration

no puking

October 17th, 2007 No Comments



no puking

Originally uploaded by jalvear


Posted in Administration

atlanta

October 17th, 2007 No Comments



atlanta

Originally uploaded by jalvear


Posted in Administration

Interested in HD USB Sticks?

October 16th, 2007 No Comments

So you want to watch HD programming but you don’t want to pay over $1,000 to buy an expensive HD TV set? Well, there’s another option: your laptop.

Pinnacle has a USB device that comes with an HD tuner and DVR software so that you can catch over-the-air HD programming on your computer. Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick ($99) comes with a full remote control, the ability to watch SD and HD programming, an A/V adapter for analog video capture and support for Windows Media Center. The cheaper non-Pro Stick version ($79) doesn’t come with the A/V adapter or remote control.

Now, ReplayTV has a similar device going on sale in November 2007 for $99. Last month, ReplayTV said it was releasing its “Personal HD” solution, a USB device with a multi-tuner and ReplayTV software.

I have a soft spot for ReplayTV since it was the first DVR I ever used. And I owned for for over 5 years. But about a year ago, I decided to upgrade to a Tivo because a) I wanted newer technology and more importantly b) I wanted to use my home network rather than have a home telephone line to get my DVR updates. My Panasonic ReplayTV ShowStopper didn’t support Ethernet and I no longer had a home phone.

Anyway, now ReplayTV is making hardware again (a USB device) even though it announced a few years ago it was no longer making hardware and making DVR software only.replaytvhd.jpg

ReplayTV is touting the ability to encode video into portable devices, like iPods, as well as the ability to stream shows over the Apple TV. But the Pinnacle Pro Stick encodes to iPods too.

ReplayTV’s solution comes with “one year of ReplayTV Electronic Program Guide service” which turns into $19.95 per year. Pinnacle also charges recurring fees after one free year of the electronic program guide, but it doesn’t list the price on their website.

The one bright spot for ReplayTV is the multiple-tuner support, but that will only work if additional tuners are installed. But out of the box, it doesn’t come with an additional tuner. ReplayTV says it works with tuners from companies like Hauppauge, ATI, and Pinnacle, however.

Overall, this an interesting trend. Portable HD DVRs on your laptop. It’s not quite a replacement of your TV and set-top DVR. But it can eliminate the need to buy a Slingbox if you’re just looking for a laptop solution.

The real competition will come with the DVR software. I’d give the edge to ReplayTV, since they’ve been doing this a lot longer than Pinnacle–but I haven’t actually played with either of these products. It’s just a gut instinct. An easy-to-use interface, good searching ability and managing your recorded shows can really make a difference to some users. Just look at how users love their Tivos primarily for its user interface.

But how big is this market? It seems very niche. Will end users really flock to these USB HD sticks? The price is good but the real downside is not getting all the cable HD channels if you’re just using the over-the-air HD signals. But adding a cable connector to your laptop really ties it down. There’s nothing as huge and bulky as a coaxial cable hanging from your laptop.

[Via ReplayTV press release]

[tags] ReplayTV, Tivo, USB HD [/tags]

Posted in ReplayTV, Tivo
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