Jeff Stuart - Memoirs of a CPUNERD

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/should-youtube-pay-more-154-million-rickrolls-11.ars

The main argument being presented is this: Youtube (owned and operated by Google) is now a near-monopoly for video sharing. The music labels wanted more money for showing videos, and thus Google decided not to renew contracts in fear of losing too much money (in case you’re wondering, Google supposedly loses half a billion USD per year with Youtube). The record companies feel that Google must accept their terms and anything else is unfair.

So that’s the argument. Here’s the question for the music labels. If you think that people really want to see your videos, and they want it so bad that you (the labels) should be getting paid everytime someone views them, then why not either just use iTunes to sell videos (which you’re doing), or band together and create a site similar to Youtube. You can then charge per view or per video (unlimited views).

The answer: BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD PAY! iTunes makes the overwhelming majority of its music revenue from songs and albums, not videos. Youtube doesn’t charge to view their videos. People wouldn’t pay to watch them (at least not enough to finance an operation as demanding as Youtube).

Some might say “but it works on TV!” And you know what, they’re right. Because TV is a different model. People watch an entire show, and if a video happens to be on that show, then royalties are paid. However Youtube and the internet allow one to skip the fluff and get at what they really want, and only what they really want. The record labels refuse to face reality, that the internet and all the innovations thereby created have condemned their old model to death. The record labels need to change and figure out new revenue models (trying to milk Google and Youtube is not the answer), or they will die.

Trent Reznor, creator, founder, and artist under Nothing Records, realized this a long time ago. With one of his most recent albums, Ghosts I-IV, he offered a scheme where one ould get the music for free, or one could pay for higher quality versions, versions with extra media, and physical media as well. This worked! Radiohead tried something simila with a pay as much as you want approach. This didn’t work as well… But the point here is that bands and a few labels are trying new things.

The modern world of the internet is a fast-changing and unforgiving place for businesses. You either innovate or die. If all a record label chooses to do is try to prolong its dying breath by milking money from other businesses, may they rest in piece.

I was playing around with Google Reader the other day, looking for more ways to stay current on all things nerdy. The Reader team recently unveiled what they call “bundles.” Bundles are a group of feeds with a common theme, and these are automatically generated. There are no people sitting behind a machine, grouping like feeds together. Google found a way to do this automatically.

An easy bundle to guess is “sports”; this contained roughly ten feeds such as “Top ESPN Stories” and “Sports Illustrated.” I found several bundles of interest, one was “iPhone/Android”, another was “Soccer”, I found a few on various programming languages, but one, when expanded, surprised me: “Web Comics.”

I already have a few in my collection. PBF, XKCD,  PHD, etc., etc. But one that I didn’t have is called Questionable Content. The basic gist that I’ve gathered so far is that it’s about an “Indie” boy and his group of friends. I went back and started reading the archives. Most comics tend to have a slow start. I remember going back through the first thirty or fourty XKCD strips, and it was pretty hit or miss. Questionable Content though… I’m not sure why I’m still reading it. I think I must have at least a slight case of OCD. The ten or so newest strips are interesting, but it’s more of a relationship-drama comic then a comedy. More than half of the strips aren’t meant to be funny, they’re more expositive than humurours. I’m on comic #266 now. Perhaps the author had a really long story to tell, or perhaps not. I think I’ll finish reading the other thousand strips over the next few weeks and determine if I really like it, or if it was just that I committed so much that I needed to finish it.

I’m probably just used to my funny, niche comics. XKCD focuses on science and tech, PHD focuses on my school life, Penny Arcade is about games, and PBF… well PBF is just freaking weird. But they are all amusing with virtually every strip. QC does have its moments, but they, so far, much sparser than these others.

P.S. The manner in which QC has a lot of longer, intertwined stories reminds me of CAD. I actually am not the biggest fan of CAD. It can be very funny every now and then, but the recent “Mesocron of Knowledge” that lasted twenty strips, didn’t have an ending, wasn’t funny, and in fact just plain sucked. Don’t disappoint me QC!

Funny, I just got my first recruiting email ever. A company called IMO asked if I was interested. I’d never actually heard of them, but after visiting their site, maybe they offer a better product than Pidgin or Meebo. Anyone else tried IMO before? If only they could take care of randomly-targeted IM spam…

My friend Brian released his first app for the iPhone today and it’s pretty nifty.  It’s a color picker and conversion tool called Colors, and it’s surprisingly useful, especially for anyone in web design. It’s also really easy to use. Also, he was telling me about some of the stuff that’s gonna be released in a couple weeks and it sounded intriguing. Right now it’s probably an app that’s suited for web designers and developers, but I think eventually more people will find some use from it. And if you couldn’t guess from the title, Brian’s company is called cliqcliq You can check out Colors on iTunes. Good job Brian, now just port my thesis to the iPhone.

In order to get properly prepared for the new Indiana Jones movie, Ciderman, Shakeh, Sean, and I decided to have a little marathon. This alone would’ve been great, but the bad person among *cough*Sean*cough* decided to coax Shakeh into a Jack and Coke contest. Ish joined us halfway through the second movie, and she decided to play catch up  with those two. Result: Three drunk people seeing the new movie, huzzah! In all fairness, I think they were sober by the time we actually got to the theatre.

I personally enjoyed 99% of the movie. (Spoiler warning, stop here) The spaceship in the end though, come on. Really? Was it necessary? Also, I agree with others about the rampant CGI. But you have to understand, it’s George Lucas. Will there really ever be another Lucasarts film that isn’t a blatant advertisement for ILM? I think not. Just my $0.02.

PS: On an unrelated note, we also lost our football match in the playoffs in sudden death while I was out because I was screaming so much at the Champion’s League game and I couldn’t run due to my throat. Yes, all my fault, I know.