Joey 6.0

Second Life

2006-05-01T22:31:25Z

I found this article to be absolutely fascinating. The amount of money that can be made on this video game is astounding. I knew that there was a large black market for video game pieces, but had never heard of an entirely legitimate market such as this one. I actually found it a little disturbing to hear about this game at first, but after thinking about it, it isn’t that different than paying $50 for the Sims (only your paying a per/item rate instead of a one time fee).
This game raises a lot of possible business opportunities. Building a casino in real life would require a lot of capital, whereas if you know how to program a little bit you could build an entire gambling computer program, which would be like a casino that would allow avatars to gamble with their Linden dollars. This could be a very successful business if it caught on, although I’m guessing you would probably need some sort of license to run any kind of an online gambling service. Still, the idea of working entirely on Second Life instead of your first life is a real world possibility.
Another thing I found interesting was the question raised by the other about Second Life possibly being a gateway for criminals to launder their dirty money. I’m sure almost every sight that transfers money from one person to the next has to worry about this, but it is still an interesting idea.

TiVo (and other information goods)

2006-04-19T04:27:36Z

Satellite TV was cool. DVD's are really nice. HDTV is really sweet. But none of these things has changed the way I use my TV more than digital video recorders (DVRs). No longer to I have to wait for ESPN to run the replay of the close play. I just rewind my TV myself, watch it again at my own pace, then fast forward to get back to live TV. No longer to I have to worry about missing my favorite show (Pardon the Interruption) because of football practice. Instead I have set my DVR to record PTI every time it ever appears on ESPN. Well, my hard drive must be filled entirely with episodes of PTI, right? Wrong. My DVR only saves an episode for three days, meaning I never have any more than three episodes on my hard drive at once. And the best part of all, when I do watch my favorite shows, I don’t have to watch the commercials. Instead I fast forward through them and am able to watch a 30 minute show in about 22 minutes. All this, and I (well, technically my mom) pay(s) under ten dollars a month.

Helios Health

2006-04-12T04:27:35Z

For me, this article shows just how far technology has come over the last couple years...TOO FAR! Although I understand the benefits of being able to research possible illnesses before visiting a doctor so that you can have a knowledgeable conversation, I didn't know that people were in such a hurry that they couldn't do that from the comfort of their own home, but instead had to do it while waiting for the doctor to see them. I would imagine these machines are less useful for internet savvy consumers that are able to look up this information at their homes before visiting the doctor’s office.
One thing that I did think sounded beneficial about the Helios Health eStations was the fact that businesses that bought eStations were able to customize the content on the machines, making them more personal and helpful. I also think it is a relatively good idea to put them in pharmacies, being that is were prescriptions are bought and then they would have a better chance of reaching the people advertisers are trying to reach.

EA Sports

2006-04-05T03:19:12Z

I think the Online Gaming industry is very interesting and has the potential to be the next revolution in gaming. When EA first announced it was launching online gaming, I was extreamly excited. With my brother and my best friends already at college, I was entriueged by the opportunity to play Madden or NBA Live against them online. I especially liked the fact that it was free (at that time, I was playing on PS2).
The first time I tried out Madden Online, I was pumped to finally be able to renew my rivalry with my older brother. We started a game and found each other easily, and we were off. As soon as we started, I found what is online gaming’s biggest flaw to this day: lag. Most games require a large amount of timing, and with my weak wireless router sending my slow DSL internet to my PS2, I was unable to play with any consistency. The game was lagging almost an entire second, causing an unusual amount of sacks, missed tackles, and interceptions.
We have since switched to a cable internet connection, but my bad experience with online gaming has turned me off to the idea. Until cable internet is widespread enough that the entire network has a strong connection, I don’t think online gaming can rival the classic head-to-head gaming that so many gamers love.

Triumph of the Nerds

2006-03-23T06:36:55Z

There were two things that I found very interesting in the video we watched in class, “Triumph of the Nerds�?.

The first thing was that there were as many people that missed out on enormous profits as there were that started their own companies and became multi-millionaires. I found it very depressing to hear about the guy that created the first personal company, MITS, has been working the last 20 years as a doctor instead of retiring incredibly rich. Likewise, the two men that wrote the software for the first spreadsheet totally missed out on huge profits when they decided not to patent VisiCalc. These two stories made it quite clear to me that, even with the write ideas and the right products, you can not always win in the technology field.

The other thing I started to realized was the similarities between Apple’s early dominance of the PC market and their current domination of the digital music player and distribution market. This video really reinforced my belief that, although Apple currently seems to have a stranglehold on this market, they may not hold on to it for too long. Apple seems to be great at innovation, but seem to like the correct business plans to continue to dominate markets over an extended period of time.

Microsoft

2006-03-20T05:54:00Z

The thing I found most interesting in this Microsoft article was their exploration of the video game market. As an avid video game player, I always enjoy reading about Xbox and Xbox 360 for classes. One thing that really surprised me was the stronghold Sony had in this market with the PS2. Having owned both consoles, as well as the Nintendo Gamecube, I have always felt Xbox was the superior video gaming console. Being Playstation 2 came out long before Xbox, I would have expected them to establish a strong user base, but I did not expect them to outsell Xbox three to one.
It doesn’t seem to be getting any better either. Although Microsoft fired out of the gates first with the Xbox 360, most reviews speculate that the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Revolution will both be superior consoles. Unfortunately, it looks like the only bright spot Xbox has on the horizon after PS3 and Revolution are released is the release of Halo 3 (Not surprisingly, Gates has said that Halo 3 will drop the same day as PS3).

P.S. For some weird reason, Gamecube and Playstation are being caught as misspelled words on Microsoft Works but Xbox isn’t. Hmmm…I wonder why?

Instant Messaging

2006-03-06T07:16:36Z

Personally, I don’t really understand why all these companies can not agree on a way to get all their systems to be compatible. As this article pointed out, none of the three major instant message services, AOL, Yahoo!, and MSN, made any substantial profit of their instant messaging service. It seems stupid that AOL would continually switch their protocols in order to prevent other IM services from being compatible with their software, especially if it is not costing them any money.
I think it would be a really big step if these companies could someone reach an agreement to link their services together. I have MSN Messenger on my computer, but I hardly use it, so it really does not make any difference to me. I do know a lot of people though that use both MSN Messenger and AIM. I see them constantly flipping back and forth between one and the other because people are talking to them on both networks. It just seems silly, and if there is no money at stake, I just don’t think its necessary.

audible.com

2006-02-27T06:53:06Z

I thought the audible article was pretty interesting. I didn't realize that audiobooks was such a large market. I personally never thought the idea of having a book read to me on tape never seemed to appealing, but I never thought about people who wanted to have stuff read to them while they were driving. I think it is a good idea to have daily updating content. I would like if your trying to appeal to people who are driving to and from work, then having the news available would be pretty appealing. The only problem I see with that part of their business is that I would think that a lot of people would just turn on the radio and listen to talk radio for free if they wanted to get their news. I think they could be pretty sucessful if they were able to somehow get the rights to the Harry Potter series. It would be hard for iTunes to survive if they didn't have the most popular artists, so I guess I understand how that can be a huge problem for Audible. Overal, its pretty easy to understand how they are struggling to stay in business.

Napster

2006-02-20T05:57:55Z

This article brought up a lot of issues that are very important when you are looking at some of the problems the music industry must address. First and foremost, record labels need to find a way to control the amount of music that is pirated from peer-to-peer networks. This is a very complicated process, since these networks are nearly impossible to eliminate because they do not require a central server [Moon, 10]. Until these can be eliminated, it will be very hard to convince many consumers that it is necessary to pay for music downloads.
Once these P2P networks have been either eliminated or reduced, the music industry must then decided on how music will be sold over the internet. Currently, it looks as if the per-song payment method is the early leader, as nearly one billion songs have already been purchase of Apple’s iTunes at 99 cents a piece [Digital Music News, 2006]. Another model that has enjoyed some success is the subscription model, where consumers pay a per-month subscription fee. This model has not been as popular though because these services, such as Napster and RealNetworks, place a lot of restrictions on how songs can be used [Moon, 11].

Apple 2005

2006-02-15T07:14:17Z

I think this article brings up a lot of interesting points that have growing importance when you think about where digital music distributors are going in the future. As this article noted, iTune songs can only be put on iPods, and only iTunes can be used to put songs onto iPods. This seems like a good idea right now, because Apple dominates both the digital music player market (with their iPods) and the online music distribution market (with iTunes). But, as we’ve seen in the past, this might not be the case forever. Many companies, most notably Microsoft, are desperately trying to cut into Apples share of this market. Microsoft has been talking a lot about introducing a digital music player of their own which could rival Apple’s iPod. As popular as iPods are now, I think it’s a good possibility that, eventually, someone else will be able to take over this market. If Microsoft and their partners are successful in this attempt, people will start straying away from iTunes, in order to be able to put their songs on their devices. At that point, I think Apple will have to start making their iPods and iTunes compatible with formats other than ACC.

Sweet Deal, Besy Buy (Varian)

2006-02-08T05:56:13Z

Well I learned something very interesting in this paper: an interesting topic (technology) cannot make a boring subject (economics) any more exciting. I found this paper very easy to put down, and did so on many occasions. Despite my boredom, I was able to find a few interesting points in this paper.
I thought it was somewhat interesting reading the part about switching costs. I thought the ink-jet printer example was very insightful. Thinking back, I remember when I bought my computer and Best Buy was nice enough to add a printer to my “bundle�? for only fifty bucks more. The sales clerk was even nice enough to suggest I upgrade to the HP printer, which, for no more money, will be a much better printer than the Lexmark that was supposed to come with my printer. Next thing I know, three months later I’m buying my first round of replacement cartridges for thirty bucks a piece. I never realized the power of a lock-in purchase like this, but I did notice that the Lexmark cartridges would have been ten dollars cheaper a piece. Thanks a lot, valuable Best Buy salesman!

Joey 6.0?

2006-01-30T07:35:14Z

Wondering whats up with the name? If so, you obviously havn't seen episode six of the first seen of the Office (which, by the way, is the funniest new comedy I've seen in YEARS). If you havn't seen it yet, go to wherever dvds are bought or rented, and buy or rent it.

RealNetworks Rhapsody

2006-01-30T07:04:12Z

I think the main question that should be looked at when discussing this paper is whether or not the music industry is able to thrive as a subscription based service. I personally feel it is a far ways away from switching entirely to subscription based services. When I saw adds for Napster’s subscription service, I did not even think about maybe switching to a subscription service. Why would I pay for music anyway? The original Napster programmed so many kids to think that they should not have to pay for music anymore.
I think With iPods flying off the shelves the way they are, I think Apple is in the driver seat as far as what happens with the music industry as it moves towards online distribution. For the music industry to turn into a subscription based market, I think it is essential that music is available on portable devices. If high school and college kids are going to spend $300 on an iPod, they want to have all their music on it. As mp3 players continue to gain popularity, they will be compatible with so many products the demand for burning CDs will be low, because people will be able to listen to their iPods everywhere.

Digital Music Market

2006-01-25T04:34:55Z

One thing that really excited me when reading this article was the idea of musicians being able to record and distribute an album without the help of a record label. As a business student with many friends with instruments and the proper equipment to record, a lot of things that would not have been possible five years ago are becoming possibilities today. The idea of starting a company that focused exclusively on the marketing and promotion of a band and did not have to worry about the large costs of distributing a physical product is an interesting and exciting idea.
Another idea outlined in this article was the idea of Warner starting an e-label. There have always been artists that do not possess the skills to create an entire album of worthwhile songs. This may not be Warner’s thought process, but I would imagine they would look for single-based musicians to fill the roster for this new e-label. I think its an idea that could be very popular with the rise of digital music players. Even before I had an iPod, I had a CD player in my car that played mp3s, which allowed me to put as many as ten CDs on a single disk. As these devices become more and more popular, the market for physical CDs seems to be dying.

Welcome to the Blog

2006-01-23T17:38:33Z

Welcome everybody to the coolest blog I have even created.