Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Surely nothing can defeat the iPod?
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article, with lots of good statistics, on whether mobile phones with storage space will replace the iPod. Common sense says that yes, given high speed mobile internet access and plentiful storage space, mobile phones are the sensible choice of the future for portable digital music. Then again, paying up to £309 pounds for the same thing at the moment doesn't seem logical either, but lots of people don't agree.
Channels 4 everything
Channel 4 are apparently going to be offering content on every conceivable platform in the future, which is nice (but will probably cost). It's a useful example of how media institutions have to engage with technology if they are to ensure that some of the audience time and attention being lost to new entertainment sources (the internet, games consoles, mobile phones etc) is regained for the once mighty TV. Or, failing that, they make some money, even if no one watches their TV output.
So that's why they do it
3G looks like it might earn some money, even if it's nothing like the amounts paid for licences to operate the services. Even BT look like making money as a result of the massive recent expansion of broadband services. You didn't think these operators have invested heavily in high speed connectivity just so you could download music, films and TV programmes illegally, did you?
Now there's even less chance of escaping
If you thought switching off your TV, not using the internet and never going near a newsagents would protect you from Big Brother you were wrong: mobiles will have video content from the new series. Now you can indulge in stage-managed ennui wherever you go.
Podcasting goes mainstream
It looks like the service that finally brought legitimacy to music donloading is to bring podcasting firmly into the mainstream. Apple's iTunes will soon include podcasting support, enabling users to automatically have their favourite podcasts uploaded to their iPod. Is this big business finding ways to exploit the growth of a technology, or just a handy addition to the company's software?
Friday, May 13, 2005
Xbox 360
Lots of sites are covering the XBox 360 launch on MTV including the BBC. They also have video of the new console. You should be on the look out for lots of information in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Is this why girls aren't gamers?
The University of Derby are keen to recruit female programmers in order to help cater for a growing number of girls (and women!) who are fed up with boys' often brainless shooting games. You could use this as an illustration of the relationship between audiences and institutions: are girls less likely to be gamers because the games created at the moment favour boys?
Mobile TV
In an update to a previous post, there is further information about the testing of TV broadcasts to mobile phones on the BBC site and in an O2 press release.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
A 96% male activity
Maybe it the geeky association, but it seems that just 4% of legal downloads are made by women.
Is there anything Tesco don't offer?
Tesco look likely to offer films for download as soon as UK broadband capacity is adequate. The news that they have a 10% share of the music download business in the UK is also striking - just as book publishers have found difficulties with supermarket domination of sales, so too may record labels.
BBC on the go
TV broadcast on mobile devices - mainly mobiles - is in the news at the moment. Once again, the BBC is at the forefront of innovation with broadcast technology (as it has been with multichannel TV, digital TV, interactive TV, digital radio and the possible use of peer-to-peer technology). O2 are to trial TV on mobiles in the summer, so soon it may be impossible to escape TV. As with TV over the internet, it's a useful example of how new technologies are soon brought back to traditional media.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Radio 4 NMT programmes
BBC Radio 4 has some useful audio material on its website including programmes on digital radio, podcasting, profit on the internet, Google and e-bay. You see, the licence fee is a good idea.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Snocap
Snocap, a technology allowing the tracking of music swapped over peer-to-peer networks, is in the news at the moment. Ironically, Shawn Fanning is behind Snocap, creator of Napster, the software that started a lot of fuss (and arguably allowed Apple to take over the world). It's a useful indication that the industry is taking steps to exploit the popularity of p2p rather than making futile attempts to destroy the sharing networks.
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