Bob Lefsetz Manifesto

RADIO
[The] radio industry is hurting the major labels MUCH more than P2P piracy.
...
CDs
Hate to tell you this, but the CD is a DEAD FORMAT! The only people who don't know this are the old line fat cat boomers running the record companies. To copy protect CDs is akin to switching everybody to shorter, more expensive typewriter ribbons.

Sell CDs as long as you can. But why piss people off with copy protection? When the format's lifespan is so limited.
...
P2P

All the lawsuits have done is to scare away the CASUAL music fan. In order for online music to be profitable, EVERYBODY has to partake. The whole COUNTRY must be music crazy. Suing people for file-trading is akin to tobacco companies including a nicotine patch with every pack of cigarettes. The key is to HOOK people, not to WEAN them!!! The higher the price for tracks at online shops, the fewer people who partake. This is the OPPOSITE of coherent business philosophy.
...
INTERNET RADIO
The major labels have succeeded in STIFLING this format, while investing HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars in indie promotion to get their wares on terrestrial radio stations. That's MESSED UP! Go where the LISTENERS ARE! On the Net! Nurture this industry, so some powerhouse stations emerge, and niche stations can SURVIVE! It's all about turning MORE people on to MORE stuff.

http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/letter.html?id=185

Where's the development with U2?

U2's got it all wrong. They're not artists anymore and they don't care about their fans. Fearful of having their album leaked to P2P services... What's the problem here? That people love you SO much that they'll go through hoops to get your product in advance??? It's going to screw up the fourth quarter sales strategy?

http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/letter.html?id=188

When it comes to music Microsoft is like Sony. A has-been

So, despite the Microsoft hype, despite the bluster, despite the past, when it comes to music, Microsoft is like Sony. Get your flat panel from Samsung, not Sony. Buy your hand-held music player from Apple, not Sony. Get your MUSIC in an APPLE-owned/controlled/approved format, not a Microsoft one. ... And its hardware partners can't seem to come up with a hand-held player that works as well and looks as cool as the iPod. For EONS Microsoft has produced lame products and ended up with a monopoly because of pure market share. But those days are done. Apple made a device that is seeming perfection, more than the consumer could CONCEIVE OF, a product from the future, here today, and made it PC-COMPATIBLE!

http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/letter.html?id=196

Apple Rumors

These seem to be the current rumors about the next Apple products:

• Tablet iBook
  
• Flash-based iPod
• 500$ Mac
• Mobile Phone
• Audio I/O Interface

Let's see what happens. I would like to see an Apple audio receiver. Something that is a mix between the Roku Soundbridge and an conventional AV receiver. Maybe with a harddisk for audio storage. But I don't know if they are even thinking about such a thing in Cupertino. They might, they are moving in this direction with the AirTunes. But I don't know if they see their strengh in that market/product space. If I could name one thing, Apple stands for, than it is focus. Focus on essential features, focus on good UI, focus on a improved user experience.

So why should they make a Audio I/O? They will make something, if they can do it better than anybody else. There are good and cheap I/O interfaces available. There are good and expensive ones available. What can Apple bring to the market, that isn't available? No, I don't really see an Apple I/O. But I could be wrong. Maybe there is something that Apple can improve with I/O.

Mobile Phone? Hell yes, that is something where Apple can improve. But only if the first iPhone isn't as big as brick and as heavy as a quarterpounder with chease. They could do a mobile phone with Motorola. Motorola has the hardware, Apple will make the software. This could work. Let's see.

500$ Mac. Hell Yes! Give it an optional 250 $ screen. Anybody that wants a hassle free solution will go for a iMac (or an iBook!). Anybody wanting to save money might go for the iCheap. Apple could increase its reach while it cuts cost by not supplying a monitor. Why not?

Flash? The only reason for flash for Apple would be to make a smaller iPod. Smaller than the iPod mini. They might do it. Look at the mobile phones. They got smaller all the time. There is still room for improvement. A small 2 GB iPod Flash micro for 219 $? Let's see.

Tablet iBook? iNewton? Now we are political. I would like to work with a tablet notebook for some time. See how it is to write and read blogs. Surf the net. Do stuff. Apple has tested tablet PCs, that is for sure. If they are an improvement, Apple will do it. Even if Steve Jobs is allergic to the Newton.

Let's see.

It is a Great Big Hassle!

Then, came the advent of videotape.

Once again, the film companies went BALLISTIC!! The SAME man professing doom as a result of the online world said that VCRs were going to be the end of the business.

Yes, Jack Valenti said:

"the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."

He asked for a modest royalty of $25 to $50 a blank tape!!

http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/letter.html?id=69

My Audio Manifest

I want to own music. That is, I want to buy the right to listen to titles anywhere and as long as I want. I want to have the right and technical possibility to copy this music on any medium I deem fit for my listening demands. Owning music implies that I can listen to this music until I die, not until my DRM license expires or the format I bought the music on gets unsupported by the world.

I have several places, where I want to listen to music (that includes albums FM and internet radio):

• In my living room
• In my bedroom
• In my kitchen
• In my bathroom
• In my car
• On my bike
• At work
  

I don't think that an iPod or a computer running iTunes 24/7 can satisfy all my demands. My audio focus is not mobile. An iPod could help, but it is not audio nirvana for me.

I think the following four componets could bring me closer to audio nirvana:

• An audio hub. This could be a computer running a rendezvous server like iTunes, but it could be something like my Pioneer receiver. It would could contain a harddisk to store the music library and a WLAN interface to stream music to other parts of the flat. It might or might not have a UI of its own. An important fact is, that I want to be able to control this from other parts of the flat, as if I was sitting directly before it (making playlists, browsing the library, making ratings, etc.)
• WLAN audio satellites in every room. These can be a "WLAN to Chinch" bridges like AirTunes or a active speaker with a WLAN receiver build in or a classical AV receiver with WLAN. They can have a UI (display and buttons), but don't need one necesarrily because of:
• WLAN remote. This could look something like a Philips SBC RU 865 or a Philps Pronto.
  
• Mobile audio player. Now this could be a iPod. But don't know how well it would do in my car.
  

On these devices, I have some demands:

• Easy sync. If I rate a song with five stars at work, I want that rating everywhere. If I import a song at home, I want that song at work as easy as possible.
  
• Easy UI. If I listen to music from my bathtub, I don't want to go to the computer to change the song. I might not want to create playlists from the bathtub but it would be nice to rate a song from the bathtub :-)
• Plug and play. It must be easy to set up a secure WLAN network with all these compontents.

These technologies I would use:

• MP3 and AAC for audio compression
  
• WLAN for networking
• Shoutcast for push and Rendozvous for pull
• http for anything that cannot be covered by the above

Voila, there is NOT ONE SINGLE NEW technolgy needed to create my audio nirvana. Just add goodlooking devices with good UI. Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive, do you read this? Could you please create a "audio receiver"? I know, it will look unlike anything on the market and it will work differently than anything on the market, but could you please build an audio receiver? I hate my Pioneer AV receiver and I could help. I really would like to help. Please?

Why iTunes is five stars and WMP is not

I was thinking about giving WMP a try. But wait, no need to:

It really annoys me that after a song has been played through completely once in WMP10 that it automatically bumps the song from a 3 star rated song to a 4 star song. I think if it's played enough it automatically bumps it to a 5 star song. I hate this and wish there were an option to disable it. Frequently I'll get sidetracked, leave the house, etc. with my player still running and a bunch of songs that I end up not liking end up in the automatic 4 and 5 star playlist and it's a pain to try to manage this. Give the user an option to turn off this annoying feature.

That is REALLY ANNOYING. This one single point would stop me from using WMP. I don't care what other cool features it has. This make the rating unusable. A nice idea, that goes amok on my music library. IT IS REALLY MUCH WORK TO RATE YOUR MUSIC and I don't want anybody changing the rating I give a song without my consent. Make a automatic list title "underrated" and give the user to opportunity to change the rating by himself. Heck, in iTunes I can created these lists by myself.

http://thomashawk.com/2004/12/couple-of-thoughts-and-questions-on.html

Hi Robert Scoble: Why is the iPod cool?

One reason: No FUCKING WMA. Sometimes less is more.

PCWorld: Risk Your PC's Health for a Song?

Ads and adware have a new way to get on your computer--through files that appear to be music and video.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119016,00.asp

Indeed.com - A search engine for jobs

http://www.indeed.com/

Sometimes you just should press buttons...

I just hit the block quote button.

I can now do this.

The button seemed, like, gray, so I didn't try to press it yet...

Fucking cool.

ps.: blogger.com could you change the color of this button. Make it like NOT gray?

In the beginning, there was Google

I am a Googlevangelist

http://www.br1an.net/2004/09/what-would-jesus-google_03.html

Somebody hits the nail on the head.

I wish I could write like that:

Suburban users cannot effectively listen to their music in a simple and seamless manner as they move throughout their day. This class of customers prefers the simplicity of FM radio, but yearns for the depth and personal involvement that comes from listening to their own music. A device that;

1) Makes it easy to listen to an entire CD collection at home, in the car and at the office;
2) untethers people from specific listening devices;
3) has great battery life (10+ hours);
4) has tons of storage (40+gb);
5) is small enough to fit into a purse, glove compartment, briefcase or suitjacket pocket.

...would make it much easier for suburban dwellers to listen to the music they enjoy throughout their entire day.

It basicly comes down to: "Find something that sucks, and make it better." And there is enough potential for this. Maybe not if you try to make a rip-off iPod product. But take a look where and how poeple want to listen to their music and what is currently available. You will find there is room for improvment and that the iPod is NOT the solution to everybodys music listening demands.

http://www.byte.org/blog/_archives/2004/12/21/211420.html

Apple Store of the future

http://www.davidmccandless.com/funny/applestore.htm
(Via Scoble)

MPAAs Arms Race

And, today, the MPAA has blundered into this arms race. This was, as will soon be seen, a Very Bad Idea.

http://susanmernit.blogspot.com/2004/12/mark-pesce-on-bittorrent.html
(Via Silent Penguin)

Mappr

[Mappr] takes photos you've uploaded into Flickr, looks to see if you've tagged them with place names (like "Omaha" and "Nebraska," or "San Francisco" and "California") and places them on a map of the US.

http://blog.flickr.com/flickrblog/2004/12/mappr.html http://blog.flickr.com/flickrblog/2004/12/mappr.html
http://mappr.com/

Yamaha buys Steinberg

Will Steinberg now move to Rellingen?

http://www.steinberg.de/aboutus/PR/News.asp?NewsID=3753&Langue_ID=4

I think Robert Scoble has this one wrong

Yeah, the blog about the making of King King is cool.

But Microsoft will need a lot more than good marketing to pull of a stunt like finishing in front of the iPod.

Here is what I think the problems are (it comes basically down to "Make a better product"):

• Windows Media is evil. It is from Microsoft and it has DRM. It might have a better sound quality than MP3. But someday, somebody can take away my music. While this may or may not be true, people still think this. You will need to convince people, that they can hear the music they bought until the earth crumbles. In this area, a blog might help. Letting people know, what really is inside WMA, might help. But it will not help you to win this. You will still come in second. You will need to make the message, that there is no way, that they ever loose their music. Make them a promise, that they can download their music again, if they loose their computer. Make it as easy as possible. Just enter your account, and you re-download your music library. No need for you to keep a backup. We can do this all for you. No problem, no extra charge. People will understand that.
  
• Windows Media is insecure. How many exploits are there with WMV? You fix them, right, but people remember not to click on anything ending in .wmv, right?
  
• You don't have a one stop solution. I love iTunes. I will buy a an iPod. I love the iPod. I will buy music in the iTMS. I love the iTMS, I will buy an iPod. Simple. I think you don't need to write this down. You already know this.
  
• But with Windows Media, I have TOO MUCH CHOICE. Yes, by giving the people to many choices, from junk to high-end, you confuse the people. Just give them one player: The only one you need. The one that does everything you need. Not more, not less.
  
• No other player is as cool as the iPod. Sorry. No other music software is as much fun to use as iTunes. Sorry. And iTMS is the best store. Sorry. If you want to beat the iPod, be better. Be better in each point. Thats what Apple did. What they made, was better than what was available. You can do the same. It has only become harder, to be better. But there is still margin to be better.
  
• Make a audio only software. Seriously. You make fun of Steve Jobs kids not wanting to watch movies in the car, BUT FOCUS! Make ONE solution for music and ANOTHER for video. Even if it is the same Windows player underneath. But make one software ONLY FOR AUDIO. With the easiest UI for audio. And no gimmick features. Maybe this software is similar to your video software, but still it has only audio features. And get these features right.
  
• By trying to please everybody, Microsoft pleases nobody. The DRM scares away customers, yet doesn't satisfy the major labels. DRM will never satisfy them, because it doesn't work. It's a placebo. By trying to get many player manufacturers on board, you dilute the message. "What can I do with this? Oh, everything. Sorry, I only need a iPod." FOCUS. Music on my computer. Music on the go. My music. No gimmicks, just music.
  

It is not in with a marketing war, that you will win this. It is and always will be a product war.

• Good software player
• Good hardware player
• Good music store

Once you have good products, people will trust you. Once you have these, you can let other gimmicks follow, like Apple does with its AirTunes. Build it one by one. Don't try to reach all goals at once.

A blog might change which player Robert Scoble wants. It might change which player most Microsoft employees want. It might change which player some other people want. But it will be impossible to change what most people want, only with a blog and a worse product.

Make good products and the customers will come.

http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2004/12/19.html#a8932

God and his brother now have a blog

Yeah. Seriously. And God's brother currently blogs from a internetcafe in Tijuana.

But that is not what I wanted to tell you.

Peter Jackson has "Production Diary" for King Kong, but it f**king looks like a blog to me. Well, Peter uses Video (well, its his medium of choice, and he is good with it), but it is still a blog to me. Does he offer a podcast? Don't know.

But it's a f**king live "making of". I love the internet and what it makes possible. And I like people who now how to use it.

Rock on, Peter!

http://www.kongisking.net/kong2005/proddiary/

And Kay, on Day 62 there is a feature with some ARRIs in it.

XML HTTP Request

The technology behind Google Suggest. With examples.

http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html

The Mouse

Pictures of the very first mouse.

http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/the_mouse.html

By the way: My OPML file

http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/svc/opml.aspx?uid=10951&mid=1

I hearby surrender my soul

I hearby surrender my soul for all eternity to the clerks at I Luv Video and will become part of their legion of zombies.

Please sign below..............................................

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/19/video_store_agreemen.html

Organizing my blogs ...

... that is, the blogs I write.

My blogs serve a lot of functions:

• I post links, thus the blogs I have serve as a sort of bookmark collection.
• I want to practice English in this blog.
• I want to see what I can do with the technology, that is available, like blogs and feeds.
  
• I don't know, if I want to attract readers, but I wouldn't mind. I do this mainly for me. I don't even know any statistics from this blog. I got three comments from people not known to me personally, so some people stopped by. But I don't know if there are any regulars already :-)
  

I already made some observations so far.

• You shouldn't mix languages in a blog. If you post once every while in the wrong language, its okay. But choose a language and stick with it. It might be no problem for you, but you will fail to attract any readers, if you mix languages constantly in one blog. The blog will become unreadable, even if you speak all the languages.
  
• I think you should have one blog with content, and one blog with links, if you post a lot of links.
  

I am starting to read more German blogs and I want to post in German as well. This will leave me with at least four blogs... But wait I have three more:

I have one blog, which is quite clearly cut: The topic is cars and the language is German. The intended reader is only myself and maybe one or two friends. If it is any useful to anybody else, I would be glad. But I'm not counting on it. But still I hope, that anybody searching for a self-service car repair shops in Hamburg might be helped by me (As google is very thin on this topic). But google knows nothing about that blog and I don't have time to change this. If it should be indexed by google by accident, I would be glad, but I am not holding my breath. (I managed to get partially into google with this blog, but it wasn't a coordinated effort)

I am currently trying to find out, if I can use a blog to communicate with a friend in Brazil. Lets see how well this goes. It will be something that MSN Spaces is intended for. But I don't want to manage more accounts. I could go .NET passport and get everything from MSN, but I don't want a MSN Mail account. It would be nice to have something like .NET passport from google (wink, wink!) to manage blogger and GMail.

And than I have one private blog, which I haven't used lately, which is more like a scratch book.

So, you don't need to be Robert Scoble, to have several blogs.

p.s.: I even have some feeds from none blog sources. From flickr http://www.flickr. com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=95589137@N00&format=atom_03 and I could give you a feed from my newsgator account...