Ranting & Raging

So a week ago, Radiohead launched their latest album to the masses sans-label.  They are offering it directly to their fans.  That in itself is something pretty rare.  But what makes them even better is that they are offering their music to you for whatever you feel like paying them.  That’s right, you decide. $0.01 or $30.00 (or more), its your decision.

Some industry people were wondering if the gamble would pay off.  Apparently, it has.  It is rumored that Radiohead sold somewhere around 1.2 million albums in the first day alone, speculation is that they probably made $10 million in the single day.  The best part? Its all theirs, no cut for labels, no cut for stores.

Soon after Radiohead’s announcement, Trent Renzor of Nine Inch Nails fame followed suit.  He’s going to offer his next album online in digital form.  This comes not long after his giving permission to fans to steal his music.  He is/was annoyed that the labels & stores are ripping off his fans by charging more for his albums than for most anyone else’s knowing his fans will pay it.

I have no doubt that if he does indeed go the digital route, that he too will reap the rewards of going label free (apparently he has already dropped his label).  I wonder how many others will deem to follow suite?  How many other smaller bands may band together to offer their music on "private" labels, amounting to hosted sites that take care of the distribution and payment processes.

My buddy John asked a good question:  "What will this mean for the Record Stores?"

Well, frankly.  Times are changing.  Music Store chains are feeling the pinch.  Those who see what is coming and adapt will survive in at least a fashion.

Personally, I see these stores turning into more of a media boutique, offering their patrons access to media lounges and offering terminals that allow users to brows music, listen to new artists or artists similar to what they have on their devices, the terminals would scan an attached media player, see what that user likes and suggest similar artist or even highlight local artists & shows/events.  The user could then download new songs (paying for them, unless they are promotional or paid for my the user watching a brief ad or two).  These stores could also offer traditional media (CDs, DVDs, Records, etc) as well as specialized or collector box sets, (similar to Radiohead’s offering on their site).

Stores that adapt in this or similar ways will survive, those that don’t will frankly perish as many have already. 

Locally, our Sam’s closed down last year blaming Music Piracy (which I believe was a bullshit accusation).  There has been news of others shutting down or down sizing as well.

I don’t believe it will happen overnight, but it will happen in the next few years.  People don’t want to buy CDs anymore, especially since they only use the cd as a method of getting the music on their MP3 player.  many more are buying their music from online stores such as iTunes or Amazon. 

This leads to another beautiful change, one that both Radiohead & NIN are embracing: DRM free media.  Those in know are realizing that DRM only slows pirates down, it doesn’t stop them.  DRM only annoys your paying user.  You have no right to tell me that the music I PAID FOR can’t be played on my MP3 player, and my home computer/media center.  I should be able to listen to it where ever and whenever I want. 

The recent changes we are seeing in the online marketplace shows that end users want DRM free music and are willing to pay for it.  Apple recently (today I believe) reduced their DRM tracks in price to be equal to DRM music.  Amazon I think has been DRM free from the go, and others as well.  Give me a choice & I’ll get DRM free or crack the DRM with tools like fairPlay4WM.

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My friend Kelley posted a bit about cell phones on her new blog today.  I originally started a reply their, but it got long & ranty.. so it’s here now.

Cell phone users piss me off to no end.  You know what people? Cell phone were meant so that you could be reached in case of emergency or so that you could call someone if you needed them and there was no payphone/land line around.  That doesn’t mean you have to be an ass-hat.

Here’s some simple rules for cell phone usage:

1. Don’t talk on the cell phone while driving.  Most of you are too stupid to drive without the added complexity of cell phone usage.
2. Don’t talk on the cell phone when you are on the bus.  In order to be heard by the other person you have to yell and no one else on the bus gives a flying fuck about your life.  It’s bad enough we have to hear your MP3 player.
3. Don’t talk on the cell phone when you are in the elevator.  Again.  no one cares about your life.  Tell the other person that you will call them back when you get off the elevator, or ask them to wait a few seconds while you are on the elevator.  If it is that important that you need to talk to the right now, then wait a few minutes and finish your conversation.
4. Little Jimmy and Bobby-Sue most certainly do not need cell phones.  At least until they are old enough to get a job and help/completely pay for them.  The most certainly should not be taking them to school.  If they do, they should be left in their lockers until school is out.

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According to an article on MSN Autos, we may not necessarily need to switch to Hybrids or alternative fueled vehicles to save the planet.  Instead, we could just drive PZEVs (Partial Zero Emission Vehicles).  These vehicles are often just derivatives of regular cars that have extra equipment that reduce the bad emissions of a vehicle.  Some by over 90%. (FYI: Many of these vehicles are actually classifies as SULEV, or Super Low Emission Vehicles, for more information on Vehicle Emission classes, click here.)

Why haven’t you heard of this? (Maybe you have, I’ve heard of LEV & ULEV, but not PZEV), well, it’s not like auto makers want you to know about it.  They’ve been spending billions of dollars or research, development and manufacturing to make Hybrid Cars the next big thing.  I mean, if they offered you a car that used the same fuel you get now, for say $150-$400 more on the sticker price, that had lower emissions than many hybrids, what would you buy?

Most would probably by the non-hybrid, they can cost thousands more than the PZEV variety, even with the tax incentives.

Also, for some reason it seems it is illegal for car companies, dealers & even consumers to sell a PZEV car outside of certain states in the US (Notably, California, New York, etc..), you can be fined up to $27,500 says the MSN Autos article for doing so.

I’m not sure what the deal is here in Canada, but I don’t think I’ve seen a PZEV car here.

I’m also not sure of how the technology in these cars works, do they have scrubbers that remove the bad emissions, is it specialized engine parts?  better seals, etc?

Anyway, good stuff to know if your looking for a car…

My buddy, Izaak, also sent me information on a technology that uses a technique to turn water (and other liquids) into plasma to help reduce fuel consumption by 2/3, while increasing the power output of the engine. Its mostly being targeted for now at Marine engines.

Links:

• MSN Autos Article: “Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won’t Sell you“
• McGowan Marine Design - Alternative Energies

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From the Engadget wire:

DualCor Technologies may be using some Intel hardware in its cPC handheld, but that apparently doesn’t mean the two see eye to eye all the time, with the former company now suing the latter over its use of (you guessed it) the “Dual Core” name.

Full Article: DualCor sues Intel over Dual Core name - Engadget

People really, really need to get a life when they sue for this shit.  It’s even worse that:

a) Intel doesn’t even really sell “Dual Core” processors anymore, they sell “Core2 Duo”

b) Why wait like a year to launch your suit?  What, the months of Intel gabbing on about it before the processors were even available wasn’t soon enough?  Had to wait until they made a tidy profit you could leech off of?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more or less an AMD guy all the way, but this reeks of lawyer stink.

Yeah, this just struck me the wrong way… Its just about every day now that you hear about some pathetic lawsuit like this…

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Drive throughs.  I get it, your in a rush and you just want to pickup a coffee on the way to work or some McD’s on the way home.  Great, I have little issue with that.  However. Drive through ATMs?  Are you FUCKING SERIOUS? How lazy are you that you can’t get your fat ass out of your car for 2 minutes to get some cash.  Hell, I’ve watched people try and use these damn things too, they end up hanging half their body out of the window to try and use it, will end up dropping their card, cash, receipt on the ground, have to get out of the car & pick it up…  Come one now.  If you use these things you deserve a heart attack.

They even have a drive through cold beer store in Dartmouth.  Now that’s fucking retarded, you just have to get out of the car to put the beer in the trunk anyway.. you can’t carry it in the front seat.  That’s illegal…

Society really is getting lazier & lazier, no wonder we are all getting fat & diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, etc…

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