Music Pricing – CD vs. Digital Download

Whilst browsing the suggested music albums on Amazon earlier, I noticed that the price of some digital downloads were significantly higher than the equivalent CD. This contradicted my expectations, because despite the convenience of an instant download, the quality is significantly less than that of a CD. It’s something that’s most apparent on a site like Amazon, as they list the price for the CD and digital download side-by-side.

The price of CDs could be justified by the costs involved with publishing, packaging and distributing. However, these costs aren’t as relevant for digital downloads. By comparison, the cost of hosting and bandwidth would be significantly less, particularly when the store is based on the Amazon infrastructure.

Perhaps this increased cost is a form of taxing honest customers to counter-balance the effects of piracy. Nonetheless, seeing the difference in prices is a factor which put me off impulse purchasing an album. To get the cheaper price, I’d have to wait for delivery, then rip the music into iTunes and sync, which takes a lot more time and effort compared to downloading. Not only that, but it defeats the object of an impulse purchase. Whilst I’m not advocating downloading music illegally, record labels need to realise that this is their biggest form of competition. It may not be as convenient as legal downloads, but it is free.

Apple Marketing and the iPad

Apple once prided itself on the secretive nature of their conferences. This didn’t stop people speculating about what the forthcoming product would be but over the past few years, that all seems to have changed. Products have a definitive life cycle. This predictability has meant that even the most casual consumer has become wary about when to purchase an Apple product for fear of the next generation being released soon after. Such predictability has arguably impacted the enigmatic approach Apple once prided itself on. As well as increasingly apparent product cycles, the interaction between Apple and third parties means that the flow of information is more widespread. Products like the iPhone need network providers to co-operate, and negotiate deals ahead of the launch. Similarly, content deals with media distributors increase the potential for news to leak from various sources. Just days before Steve Jobs was set to take to the stage, the CEO of McGraw-Hill leaked several key pieces of information; effectively confirming the iPad to viewers of CNBC.

This arguably leads to disappointment amongst fanboys, as it becomes apparent what the product will be, and even roughly what it’ll look like before the conference itself. Nonetheless, this doesn’t limit speculation, instead fanboys overhype the product to such an extent that the result can’t fulfil their ridiculous expectations. The majority of views about the iPad seem to be skewed toward the negative. This is nothing new, as the original iPod received a similar negative reaction from such fanboys back in 2001. Although having said that, I’ve come to expect the stereotypical Apple fanboy to defend Apple products to the hilt, proclaiming obvious flaws to be ‘features’.

Aside from being able to playback HD video on a slightly higher res (than a regular netbook), this is nothing more than a novelty iPod Touch that Apple seem to have overlooked the potential for the name to sound not dissimilar to a female sanitary product. I thought that the Macbook Air was an over-priced excuse of a netbook, but this is ridiculous. The whole point of netbooks is that they are cheap, portable and generally have the capability for light web surfing, emails and documents. I think that the inclusion of a productivity suite is limited by the lack of a decent keyboard. Since the screen is LCD rather than e-ink, I don’t think that reading would be desirable for lengthy periods, and for the same reason cannot possibly match the battery life of a dedicated e-book reader.

Whilst netbooks can’t playback/edit HD video, they’re underestimated in terms of capability. Mine runs Windows 7, runs fine with several apps simultaneously without any noticeable issues (including Photoshop). The iPad has an inferior processor, less storage capacity and the web browser doesn’t support Adobe Flash. It’s a contentious issue with the iPhone, but I believe it’s inexcusable for a device pretending to run a full operating system to not support it. The fact that there’s an app for YouTube/ BBC iPlayer is beside the point, as there’s a plethora of VoD/live streaming content that can’t be viewed on an iPad, but can on any other netbook.

OffiSync – Google Docs Meets Microsoft Office

OffiSync is an add-on for Microsoft Office, which allows you to open and save Google Docs through the Microsoft Office applications. Therefore, bringing together the excellent user interface of Microsoft Office, and the functionality of Google Docs, allowing documents to be shared between multiple users across different computers.

The add-on adds another tab to the Office ribbon, offering options to open, save, collaborate and share documents, and a quick access to a Google search for images and web searches.

Once logged in, opening a file brings up a dialogue window allowing you to choose documents that you’ve already stored in your Google Docs account. Whilst the majority of the features are free, there’s a premium option that allows you to use Google Sites.

After a brief moment whilst the file is downloaded, you’re free to edit the document as you would any other. Unfortunately, there’s no support to automatically periodically save the file online, which is one of the advantages of editing documents within Google Docs. It also takes a moment or two to reupload the file, and occasionally it warns you that you could overwrite any modifications which may have been made by other collaborators.

If you’re used to the print view in Word, then it is rather irritating for the view to revert to ‘draft’’ view each time you download a document. However, this is a personal preference, and isn’t a big deal. Nonetheless, due to the limitations of the free version of OffiSync and Google Docs, any special formatting which has been applied using Word can sometimes be lost when uploaded to Google Docs. Therefore, I tend to draft out documents over time, before I make final revisions locally before printing from Word.

The service allows you to save documents locally, as well as online. Whilst this can be an effective method of backup, it doesn’t simultaneously save online and locally. Therefore, once saved locally, saving from then on is local only until specified otherwise. This could potentially lead to online documents not being as up to date as they should, for instance if the user forgot to resave the document online. This is a rather pedantic point, as Google Docs is generally reliable.

I’ve only tried out the Microsoft Word components of the application, there are also options to do the same in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. I definitely recommend OffiSync if you like the functionality of Google Docs, but prefer the interface of Microsoft Office.

OffiSync Website

Snaptu – London Underground App

I was in London yesterday to visit a few of the museums. Whilst using the London Underground can be an overwhelming experience for infrequent users like myself, I made use of the underground features of Snaptu to make the process a lot easier. Despite a few network issues, I found the app simple and intuitive to use. It allows you to enter the name of tube stations or common landmarks, then it’ll calculate the best route from the selected station/landmark making use of walking/buses/underground services (depending on set preferences). The app was a welcome relief compared to working out the connections/correct destination station myself, making the process of selecting the right trains a lot quicker, and simpler. 

Snaptu’s a free Java app, so it’s compatible with a wide range of non-smart phones. The app also features Twitter and Facebook clients, Fancy a Pint, Google Calendar, cinema listings and a TV Guide amongst other features. Since most features require Internet access, it’s recommended to have a sufficient data plan.

iTunes 9 Home Sharing and Future Features

Since Spotify launched, I’ve been using iTunes less and less, and really only resorting to opening it to sync my iPod with new podcasts. However, with the recent launch of iTunes 9,  I was more than a little tempted to try it out, if only for the Home Sharing feature. Sharing iTunes libraries between multiple computers has often been hindered due to concerns over copyright infringement, but with third party applications such as Simplify Media being able to share the iTunes library it seems that it should have only been a matter of time before iTunes incorporated this feature.

Just like Simplify Media, Home Sharing allows you to share your whole library including play lists, rather than being restricted to purchases made through iTunes. This is basically what I’ve used Simplify Media to do for some time, however required the computer that hosted the source library to be turned on to serve the media. As well as streaming media, Home Sharing excels over Simplify Media as it is able to sync items between authorised libraries on multiple computer for offline listening. A small niggle that I do have is that podcasts aren’t categorised by show, instead every episode of every podcast is shown in an unorganised list.

I’m surprised that Home Sharing has been developed by Apple, considering their apparent concerns for potential copyright infringement. However, the service is limited to 5 authorised computers and restricted to use on the same network, whereas Simplify Media allows up to 30 users to share libraries across the Internet. Surely, the next step is for Apple to add the ability to sync the iPhone and iPod Touch over wi-fi, rather than connecting via USB.

Compare Music Downloads

iTunes has long since dominated the music download market, superseding Wal-Mart to become the most popular music retailer. It’s not surprising either considering the process has been purposefully constructed to be as simple as possible for impulse purchases. However, this convenience often comes at a cost, as alternative download sites are frequently cheaper, available in a more universal format and sometimes even a higher bit rate than what Apple offer. Therefore, the frugal music lover still wants music quickly, conveniently, and legally but most importantly, cheaply. Comparing the price between multiple music download sites may be considered a laborious task and seem too much like hard work for some, but help is finally at hand.

Work Experience // Day 1

Today was the first day of my work experience with Sort Of.. Films; a film and video production company in Sheffield. Since we were shooting today, we begun at 8.30am, with enough time to drive over to Catcliffe where we were capturing shots for several short films to showcase the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. The centre is involved with Rolls Royce and Boeing, so a number of innovative products are manufactured there. As well as this, the centre also use robotics and virtual reality which were interesting demos to watch. I was tasked with logging the time codes for each of the shots as Ed shot the footage we needed.

We’d done by lunchtime, so headed back into Sheffield city centre, where the office is based. Whilst capturing the footage into Final Cut, I helped archive a collection of Mini DV tapes in the store room, and backup some older render files to DVD. Without the graphics for the project, I assembled rough cuts for a couple of the films, ready to be completed tomorrow.

3D Film, What’s the Point?

I’ve seen a lot of the Real D 3D digital presentations of films since they launched in 2007 with Beowulf, and since then I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts. Having seen a range of remakes, real life and animated 3D movies now, I’ve come to the conclusion that 3D can compliment a film experience if it’s immersive and worked into the story rather than the shameful pointy gimmickry that many seem to crave from 3D films. The best case in point being My Bloody Valentine 3D, which used a pick axe as the antagonist’s weapon of choice; possibly the pointiest of all weapons used in a horror movie.

Remakes don’t tend to work that well either, as little seems to stand out, other than the initial title graphics and text credits, such as the snow effect used in Nightmare Before Christmas. Sadly, whilst it sort of works in ordinary cinemas, unlike IMAX, the screen isn’t even wide enough to fill your peripheral vision enough to justify the effect. I have no idea how consumer electronics manufacturers believe that they can achieve similar effects in TV services such as Sky 3D.

Ultimately though, I’ll continue to see 3D movies for the digital presentation, particularly movies like Bolt and Ice Age. They’ve been digital throughout production, and I believe deserve to be shown in digital. To me, digital presentation in the cinema highlights detail, which even works in live action movies such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (incidentally the first film I saw digitally screened at the cinema).

It’s a shame then that Cineworld recently decided to begin charging to see 3D movies, to justify the costs to them. I believe that they have to pay a license fee to Real D, as well as the glasses, and digital projectors, as well as the cost for the movies themselves. But then, I don’t really care for the 3D, but prefer digital screenings over film. Digital films should also be theoretically cheaper to produce and distribute than film, as essentially it’s a hard drive, and has the added benefit of always looking just as pristine over and over again.

Would you pay for Spotify?

Interestingly, as I started to write this, an ad just played for Sky Player, so it’s sort of ironic to say that there’s not any big names backing the music streaming service that millions have fallen in love with. However, ads are few and far between, and it’s hard to see it paying off in the long term. This is reflected by the lack of interest for the paid version, as the ads aren’t annoying enough to justify £10/month.

It’s a shame that the main interest for the advertising comes from small companies/charity organisations, as it has the potential to target a relatively select audience. That’s why I thought that the adverts promoting artist albums would be successful. In practice however, it just leads me to play the album on Spotify itself, or if it’s not available I’ll go to YouTube. It’s little wonder that Spotify are struggling, since they reportedly pay royalties per song rather than a long term licensing deal. At least using P2P, the service isn’t subject to the same kind of costs the likes of YouTube have for hosting/bandwidth. 

Windows 7 Pre-Order Pricing

Windows 7 is already proving to be a success, as Amazon and Play sold out of their allocated pre-orders after only hours of being on sale, and before I could bag myself at least one copy. Or more specifically, they’re not allowed to sell any more for the bargain price of £50, instead upping the price to £75. So, I’ve turned to the less popular electronics retailer Comet where it’s still available for £45. I picked up two copies as it’s likely that each disc ships with a license for only a single machine. Still, £45 per license is still freaking good value, it’s just a shame Microsoft can’t keep the price this low, as I’m sure most people would rather wait until they buy their next computer than paying nearly £200 for an operating system.

Looks like I’ve seen the back of Windows XP and Vista, and Windows 7 will probably never see Internet Explorer, since it’s been banned from being installed as standard in Europe. Many distros will be shipping with IE8 on a CD-ROM, quite retro really but without a browser on board it’s a bit of a chicken and egg; unless you happen to have a copy of Firefox lying around on a flash drive.

I’m curious to see actual figures of how many copies have been pre-ordered.