iTunes DJ

At the launch of the Apple's iTunes Music Store (iTMS) in 2003, Steve Jobs said it would bring an end to the illegal downloading of music. Well it certainly has put a big dent in this "problem" and has put some extra pennies in the pockets of the poor downtrodden multi-national music companies, but one thing the music industry forgets is that the way we, the public, get to find great new music is by sharing. Just do this little test: the last album you bought from an artist that's new to your collection, where did you hear it first? I bet a friend lent it (even copied it) or played it to you! And if you really like this new great find you'll go out and buy everything else the artist has made (plus replacing the illegal copy) eventually. We love to share music, either as musicians or listeners: music is a social thing. So the attempt to DRM everything and stop us sharing music with our friends, will actually kill sales.

This is a problem that Robert Sharl & I have discussed on and off for a while now. There has been a move to mass journal-ism through blogging and the opportunity for any one to become a 'radio' journalist thanks to podcasting. What we think could replace P2P music file sharing is the opportunity for anyone to become a radio DJ and broadcast their own radio station.

iTunes, the most widely used computer based music player, already lets you share your library of music on your local network, and originally across the Internet - until the music industry complained. So why not have a version of iTunes in which you can create a streaming playlist with the opportunity to mix tracks and create your own intros & links - perhaps through integration with GarageBand. As this is really for sharing with your friends, then the number of concurrent users could be limited - upload bandwidth on most broadband connections would also be a limiting factor.

To stop the record industry from complaining that this is the same as P2P file sharing, this software should not be a free upgrade and should include a limited broadcast license fee that Apple could forward to the appropriate local authority or organisation that redistributes the monies collected to the artists - Apple already make payments to record companies for songs sold on iTMS . Playlist details can be gathered to aid the redistribution of the fees to the artists who's music has been played. If you are creating your own music and broadcasting it you could make money as well!

So. what does iTunes DJ do for the interested parties:

• Anyone can creatively mix, programme and broadcast music.
• Apple can monetize an upgrade path for a product that currently has no upgrade options.
• A license fee (perhaps annually) will ensure that the songwriters and performers are duly compensated for the use of their work
• This could be a easy route for unsigned individuals & bands to broadcast their own music.

As ever, the fly in the ointment will be the music executives of the large companies and what fee they will demand, but Apple is probably the only company that could convince them that this is a good idea.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blogging, Digital Rights Management, Digital_rights_management, DRM, iTunes, music broadcasting, Podcasting, Apple

Excuse me my dear, but are you BLOTO tonight?

BLOTO (Buying Loads of Tat Online), according to the experience experts at Conchango, is something that the British suffer from after partaking in a few too many G&Ts

“In the past, experts have said that consumers are often put off shopping online through security fears,” said Paul Dawson, head of customer experience at Conchango. “But it would appear that all caution is going out of the window following a drunken session.”

I wonder if this is from the personal experiences of Conchango staffers, they are experts after all - unfortunately there are no webcams on their site to prove it, or otherwise.

Bird 'flu can infect your computer!

Sometimes a headline just catches your eye, and sense of humour. In Computer Weekly this week there's an 'in brief' article about a bird 'flu computer virus (a Trojan in this case). Could this be the first case of a virus mutating in to the virtual world? Could we see computer viruses jumping the technology/species boundary and infecting humans? Would geeks be more susceptible? Will NAV fit in a syringe? And would Mac users maintain their smug expression with their usual mantra - "PC viruses don't worry us".

p.s. I'm a Mac user - with anti-virus software of course!

And now for something completely different

In an ever increasingly competitive digital compact camera market it is actually difficult to find something that stands out from the crowd. In the early days there were diverse and creative camera designs with differing feature sets. Now nearly every camera has a small maximum aperture 3x zoom, a high pixel count small CCD, colour fringing, barrelling & pincushioning, power-hungry extra-large LCDs, and ever-more bewildering menus. So it was nice to see Ricoh come up with a camera with a prime wide-angle lens and a commitment to image quality: the GR Digital.

When I moved from film to digital I tried to replicate my range of film cameras with digital equivalents and found it impossible to to replace my high quality compact - a Nikon 35Ti - with anything that approached its quality of image, build or usability. In the end I purchased a Fujifilm F810 as it gave me some control over exposure, but it never matched my Nikon D70 or my 35mm cameras for image quality.

At a similar time that Nikon was producing the 35Ti (& 28Ti) Ricoh launched their GR1 family, and with no compromise on image quality in such a small form-factor, this camera became a firm favourite with landscape & stock photographers. Now Ricoh have dared to stand out from the crowd and have launched a camera that hopefully will be a firm favourite again. The GR Digital has a similar look to the old 35mm film-based range, except for the usual rear LCD and controls we have come to expect from digital cameras.

What makes the GR Digital interesting is the newly designed fixed focal-length f=5.9mm (28mm on 35mm format equivalent) lens with a maximum aperture of F2.4. Of course it has the now obligatory 8+ megapixel CCD and a large LCD on the back. Ricoh state in their blurb that they have developed a completely new image processing system, which is about time too, as there previous engines have not been anywhere near best in class. One thing missing from this camera, like so many others at the moment, is an optical view finder, however there is an optional accessory view finder that can be attached to the accessory (hot)shoe, which is also a rare find on pocketable compact camera. Other useful features is a selectable 3:2 image ratio (the same as 35mm film & most DSLRs) and ultra-wide angle lens attachment (21mm equivalent - like the GR21), however this (as well as lens hood & filters) sits on the end of an extension tube which reduces the compact nature of the camera.

Other interesting features include:

• RAW capture mode (Adobe's DNG format)
• magnesium alloy body
• 7 blade aperture & a neutral density filter
• DSLR-like twin input dials
• Aperture priority and manual exposure modes
• Ricoh's usual ultra-close macro mode

.

RAW file format is disappearing fast from compact cameras so it is nice to see it here. This helps to convince me that this camera is aimed at photographers that already own a DSLR and are looking for a carry everywhere compact - at last! Let's hope that the image quality (at all ISO speeds) holds up to the promise that the specifications tantalising dangle before us.

[update] There is a review of the GR Digital on Digicam Review.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, Nikon, photography, Ricoh, technology