Oct 11, 2006 | blog
Ok, I’ve not talked about the Google “Office” lately, but it sure has gotten coverage lately. Its good to see that Google has paid more attention to some of their ongoing projects. With the level of quality Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Reader are approaching, I really have to think about going all-web again.
I’ve been using Writely, the service that became the docs part of Docs & Spreadsheets, since about March of this year and am very impressed with the capabilities of online software. With Writely, I wrote letters, blog posts, reviews, a resume draft, taken notes, and many other documents. Some I saved as .DOC files, some I printed directly from the service – the point is that the service did everything I needed in a basic word processor, and stored the file for me!
Good stuff, if your looking for simple online tools, check this out. But also take a good long look at ZoHo Office, which offers docs, spreadsheets, presentations, collaboration and much more.
Google Blog: Better together: Docs & Spreadsheets
Oct 10, 2006 | blog
Obviously the news of the day is the Google YouTube deal. For a paltry $1.65Billion, Google now owns the most popular video site on the web. Not a bad deal for the 67 person firm from San Bruno.
BetaNews: Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion
Oct 8, 2006 | blog
Looking for a brief technical overview of how UMA works? Oliver over at MobileCrunch has a nice post on the topic.
MobileCrunch: A Quick and Dirty UMA Primer
Oct 8, 2006 | blog
Since installing Vista RC1, I decided to check out URGE, the new online media service from MTV. Since I’ve always been an “I need to own the CD” kind of guy, this is a bit of a change. Also, I’m not a real big music person – that’s my wife though!
The recurring monthly charge makes me think a bit as well – again, mostly because I’m not into music in a big way. I like what I have, a few dozen CDs from my favorite groups so I have my favorite tunes. By the way, they’re called “oldies” now – I’m not that old am I? Guess that makes my dad’s Beach Boys and such “classics”; which sounds more, …well, classy – guess I can’t poke fun at dad’s oldies any more.
Anyway, being the frugal fellow I am (read: cheap), I signed up for the 14 day free trial.
I have to admit right now that I’m impressed. The full URGE library is available, along with numerous videos, many I haven’t seen in over a decade, and other great music-related info and services.
As far as price goes, I’m on the fence. Its $10/mo. and $15/mo. for the ability to sync every track to a MS-based media player. They’ve got annual fees that end up giving you a 2-month freebie. I’m going to look into a subscription – mainly because Amy would make huge use of it.
I’m warming to the idea of a subscription-based model for media consumption, as long as I can really use it without running into the DRM enforced walls. As I don’t intend to pirate the music, I’ll be disappointed to find the limits, unless MTV and MS have done their homework on this area.
Technorati tags: URGE, Windows Media Player, WMP11
Oct 6, 2006 | blog
I have to agree with Lucas, the future of all media will be as downloadable files or streaming media. The concept that any of us owns the music on a CD or movie on a DVD is of course incorrect.
We purchased a license to enjoy whatever recording, and according to fair use clauses in the license, can enjoy that media either in a traditional player or a digital player. Of course there is examples of media companies and the RIAA ridiculously going after their customers 
, and individuals engaging in media piracy 
.
Now the key to all this is a common “fair use” policy that allows us to enjoy any media in a venue we prefer, using a player or format that we choose. In return, we consumers need to agree that there is some type of accommodating digital rights management (DRM) technology to thwart piracy.
In the future, George is right on the money. Whether its a computer, wireless media player (Zune or future iPods), home media center, etc… we will likely not have to worry about where the movie/song is located, we’ll simply select it from a catalog of our preferred online media service and enjoy.
With a mass market, the scale of economies kicks in and for some reasonable charge per month, we’ll have access to huge volumes of recorded works. The differences in these online media services is their pricing, and the type and quality of value-added services they offer. That may simply be an extended library, or maybe conversion of a DVD to an old Beta videocassette that is mailed to you (who knows).
This will be the next generation of media enjoyment.
Neowin.net – George Lucas Sees Movie Downloading as the Future
Ok, I’ve not talked about the Google “Office” lately, but it sure has gotten coverage lately. Its good to see that Google has paid more attention to some of their ongoing projects. With the level of quality Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Reader are approaching, I really have to think about going all-web again.
