Wired for Sound

OMG! Napster has finally gone apple here in the UK.

I do believe it was way back in September last year that napster announced it's iPhone app was coming to the UK. Blogs went crazy, tech magazines went into overdrive - the granddaddy of music downloading was back in the game. OK, so I'm exaggerating slightly but I think you catch my drift.

Unfortunately there was then a pregnant pause, of about 9 months, until the thing finally went live last month. The fanfare seems to have been scaled back so much this time around that I actually heard nothing, nada. I just happened to be telling my sister how I couldn't wait to get rid of my spotify subscription when the napster app finally arrived, and managed to stumble on it. I guess the napster marketing team were scared of another disappointment so muffled the fanfare.

Anyway, no use crying over spilt milk it's here now and that's all that matters. Now people will see how second-rate spotify really is. Napster wins hands down in terms of back catalogue, user interface and functionality. And all this just in time for my latest favourite purchase, my ipad2. Whoop whoop!!!!

The thing about Skype

We've all heard of Skype.  It's a great idea, and its free - mostly. So why hasn't it taken over the world? Years after launching, why isn't everyone laughing all the way to the bank.  And why haven't call providers revenues been dented?  In short, why hasn't Skype tipped?

I'm not sure what the business text books are saying, but my experience is this, and I suspect it to be typical of many users.  I heard of Skype about 5 years ago.  Didn't really get it.  Thought that perhaps some people were joining a secret cult where you had to scratch your left ear to gain entry.  You would see certain 'types' add it to the bottom of their email signature, or websites - Hmmm.  Anyway, after an advertising campaign a couple of years ago, and after visiting some faraway relatives I revisited Skype.  Set up a username and hey presto, I made 2 or 3 calls - maximum - grainy webcam, patchy sound quality etc.  I then did nothing.  Until this week.

My brother has recently moved to the US, so my sister was teaching my Mother to use Skype (again!).  Now here is the first thing about Skype.  People aren't always on.  They couldn't get hold of him because he was showing as offline.  I used my nifty, free, WhatsApp app to message him, and within a few seconds he was on.  But here for me is the crux with Skype.  The quality was so abysmal they had to abandon.  I called them on my iphone's Skype app, but again the quality was awful.  They could barely hear me at all - just the odd syllable.

If the stats are to be believed they reckon Skype is taking 13% of the international call share of minutes.  Really???  Based on my experience I would rather use my landline, mobile or a prepaid phone card.  Surely you need to be able to hear someone to have a conversation with them, rather than spend the entire duration saying "what was that?"  Perhaps this is why the share of minutes is so high.

What I love about Skype is that it truly epitomises the Scandinavian sense of fairness and egality.  Spotify and Ikea - same thing.  But I think I'll wait another few years until the next marketing campaign announces that you can actually now hold a decent conversation.

Wanted: iphone music subscription

I'm not the first, and I won't be the last, but when will we get more choice around downloadable music on a subscription basis, for iphone??!!

For me, this is currently the biggest drawback with iphone, and was almost a reason for me going with nokia over Apple. I simply must have my music collection with me wherever I am, and I need to limit the number of devices I'm carrying, hence phone must double as an mp3 player.

I chose iphone because I eventually decided all of the other functionality outweighed the music thing (!) But I was ecstatic when I discovered the spotify subscription. My initial take on spotify was that it wouldn't fly unless it could go mobile and I think I have been proved right. That is, assuming they are making money out of this of course. It could not have been cheap to get Apple to agree to an itune 'competitor' on its devices, but then I guess Apple's main thing is not content, because as we all know all digital content will soon be 'free' of sorts (discuss)

So where are the others? I thought they would be piling in? I really don't get it. Perhaps napster have lost the spunk they first started with back in the pirate days, and the new Swedish kids on the block are now the ones pushing the boundaries, even securing the offline access before Rhapsody - the only other (as far as I know) iphone subscription service, in the US.

Now we just need films and books on the same basis...

i-hooked

Yes, indeedy. i have had my new gadget for just a few weeks now and i am converted.

Although my Wired subscription might suggest otherwise, i am no techie, neither am i a geek, or a typical early adopter. But this iphone is completely revolutionising my sh*t! To an unprecedented level. i mean i am all over it. The functionality and accessibility is absolutely mind-blowing, unlike any other phone, gadget or gizmo i have ever had.

Where do i start? firstly it is like having a personal computer on hand at all times, so i can do pretty much everything i would do on my laptop, on my iphone - wherever, whenever. Secondly, thanks to spotify - the only decent music subscription service for iphone (come on napster!) i pretty much have my entire music collection, plus new music i recently discovered on last.fm, right at the tips of my fingers...Marc Broussard and Colbie Caillat in case you were wondering.

i am now in the process of pulling together my online shopping list after watching Jamie's top cooking tips (Jamie's 20 min meals iphone app), which includes essential larder ingredients. A-ma-zing! And then there is catchup tv.... 20 seconds behind BBC, ITV etc - cant be bad. AND ALL THIS ON MY PHONE!!!!

Personally i think other phone manufacturers should just call it a day, or at least, focus entirely on the corporate market - iphone have this sewn up. Should Apple ever find a way of making it affordable for PAYG customers, i seriously believe it would be curtains for others. I predict that unless there is a major game changer in the next 5 years, iphone will become the verb for mobile calling. Steve Jobs i salute u

What will Spotify do for music?

Wow, either the Spotify marketing team have been doing a lot of schmoozing, or someone very hip, trendy and cutting edge has suddenly declared them as the next best thing. The Sunday Times has dedicated some serious column inches to how Spotfiy might spell the end of ownership (something about clouds), and Sean Adams chips in by recommending Spotify as your music service provider. Hello!!!??? Am I the only person that finds this a bit odd? Unless I am really the technophobic laggard of all of Shropshire and the modern World, I cannot see how I can use Spotify to listen to music in the car, out for a run, or basically without being HOOKED UP TO MY COMPUTER.
Now, I think I'm fairly progressive, as I now use my mobile phone as my only mp3 player (ever since my Creative Zen was stolen from my car!) and I do actually watch programs on demand via my laptop. But... computer, stream, listen, music - i just do not get it one bit.
The Sunday Times pics and Spotify ads showing real people, with headphones on, sitting plugged into their computers is absolutely ridiculous - laughable even.
Here's where I agree with the article - until Spotify goes mobile eg. I can stream it on my mobile phone, and until broadband and wireless connections make streaming seamlessly easy and of the right quality, this will be just another Twitter - totally pointless.
And if anyone thinks this sort of commercial arrangement, in its current form, is going to save the music industry's butt, think again. Just look at the market for illegal TV and movie downloads. Digital accessibility has opened up new markets and uses for music. Unfortunately, like 7 yr old school boys playing football, everyone is rushing after the ball, all going in the same direction, until the ball is kicked somewhere else. At the moment, that direction is big digital music libraries, as the industry tries to tap into revenues from the 'digital generation' and illegal file sharers, thus ignoring the oldies, technologically speaking, like me, who will pay good money for more than just an mp3 file. Or do I just need to get with the program and give Spotify their dues?