Thursday, February 5, 2004

Consumer Electronics 2.0

Deja View is my latest SuitWatch at Linux Journal. In it I compare the advent of the iPod to that of the transistor radio in the 1950s. The intro:

It's the Fifties all over again.

I'm not talking about the conformist Eisenhower Fifties, with its poodle skirts and tail fins. I'm talking about the rock & roll Fifties, when the music business got blown up and consumer electronics was born. Now, almost five decades later, we're seeing the music business getting blown up again, and the consumer electronics business right along with it. Except the first explosion is obvious while the second one isn't.

The music biz got blown up when Napster came along in 1999. Suddenly the whole world could start sharing their music over the Net, and the industry hardly knew what to do, other than sue the crap out of everybody (and thank their lobbyists for pounding the DMCA through Congress in 1998).

The consumer electronics biz got blown up with the introduction of the iPod. The difference, of course, is that the consumer electronics industry doesn't know what's happened yet. They think the iPod is just another device.

DRuMming a new tune?

Phil Windley asks a tough real-world question. Or a pile of them:

I need a little help. Suppose you'd been asked to address the CTO organization of a major (over 125,000 employees) company on digital rights management. What would you tell them? There's the usual, technical talk stuff:

What is DRM, why are we talking about it?
The current state of DRM from a technical standpoint
Issues and challenges for IT organizations
Challenges or consequences of public policy issues surrounding DRM
How and what should we do as best practice with respect to DRM
Challenges and opportunities for information management

Is there a policy paper from the EFF on this, I wonder? There should be, from somebody, on the need to reconcile individual liberty, sensible property law and the Nature of the Networked world. Tall order.

The short answer, of course, is Sergey's famous Don't be evil. The longer answer is, Don't leave the definition of evil up to your lawyers.

Same name, new place

Just discovered Gretchen has a new blog. Here's her map. Mine looks like this:

Make your own here.

Party Pointer

The message from Marc: The Party is happening 10pm next Tuesday, first night of eTech, the night after eDem. Context from Lazlo.

Sleep your way to stardom

Thanks to Kevin for pointing out Blogs To Riches! I had no idea.

For those who find the mammonization of blogspace frighening or offensive (or encouraging), K also re-acquaints us with Douglas Adams' How to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet.

Full press court

Mary blogs Ken Auletta's talk at the UC-Berkeley Journalism school. A sample:

Objectivity is a false God. Instead we should strive for fairness and transparency.

I like this one:

-Thinks it would be really great if Dan Okrent (Ombudsman at the NY Times) and Bill Keller should sit down every week and blog together.

Q (from me): is there a way to have conversation with your readers and still maintain journalistic integrity?

KA: that's the question! (but no one, including Clay Felker or Orville Schell provided an answer, though they looked around searching for something.) But he doesn't have time to do tons of email...

Although Auletta appears to publish a great deal of editorial, I think it would make sense for him to blog, too. Hey, Jay does.

Knowster

I like the name "Fiendster." Aw shit, it's already taken.

Anyway, I just got an email from Michael O'Connor Clarke titled "Get out of Orkut free!" So I had to visit his latest post, An end to unsolicited invitation embarrassment! Good 'n funny stuff.

The problem with Orkut is simple: it lets you label as friends anybody you know. The choice is too damn binary. Is Anita Hooker your friend or not? Yes or no? Since the answer usually falls into the large gray neither zone between those two extremes, I have a simple suggestion: add a new variable: "know." As in, Do you know Anita Hooker? Yes or No? If yes, is she a friend? That's it. Hate to buck 100-some friends down to acquiantences, but it would make a lot more sense. Doncha think?

[Later...] One effect of this post is the withdrawal of Orkiated offers of friendship. Meanwhile, Marc is successfully out-friending everybody.

MO'CC has it right when he points to Monkeon: The Art of Orking. Lighten out, everybody.

Bonus link: Christopher Allen's Advice to Social Networking Services. Huge, thorough and excellent.