I’m going to be honest with you. I’m a gadget freak. My friends know this. My colleagues know this. I know this. For example, I am one of the assholes who has bought all three Nintendo DS SKU’s on consecutive launch dates. That’s right, despite owning perfectly functional DS phat and lites, I’ve also managed to also buy a DSi.
Knowing my weakness for cool new revisions of handhelds, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Sony has accomplished something extraordinary with their recently released PSP Go. They have, in fact, created a product that I have no desire to purchase.
I just got an email from Goldstar Events telling me that I could have “comped” tickets to a KT Tunstall show at the Wiltern in LA, presumably because no one bought tickets to the show.
The sad thing is, the Wiltern is only about a mid-sized theater venue, seating roughly 2,500 people. It’s not as if she was trying to play a large arena way over her head.
It just goes to show that being a successful touring artist has nothing to do with your Grammy nominations, Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack appearances, or Billboard Hot 100 single entries.
A shame, though, I kinda liked “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” But not enough to take free tickets to a local show. Gas is expensive these days, you know.
A quick search for The Decemberists yielded a disappointing result of only two tracks. If Limewire is not offering anything new in terms of music availability or price, what’s the point of even investing the capital to launch the store?
P2P blog reports:
the company has plans to integrate context-based links into the client itself so that people who are searching for a certain song will have the option to buy it legally.
If I’m pirating music and I feel guilty about doing it, I guess I could see how this could theoretically be a convenient way to “go legit.” However, in reality, I just don’t see this being practical. Most of the music that is pirated (read: music people have heard of) isn’t even available for sale on the Limewire store. Discerning users would rather buy from an established store with greater selection or just buy the CD.
Also, if this is Limewire’s main differentiating feature from the competitive digital music retailing market, they’ve got a lot more problems than worrying about the generosity of music pirates.
Read more about Limewire’s store launch [p2p-blog.com]
The computer – equipped with two hard drives, seven fans, high-end video and audio cards, a wireless Internet connection and cables that glow under ultraviolet light
Give the guy a break! It must get awful boring down there in Rockwall County, why not flaunt your e-penis a little? Next to $4,300 hookers, this might even sound… wholesome.
ACTIVISION, PLEASE STOP MILKING GUITAR HERO BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO SHORT SIGHTED TO SEE WHAT AN AWESOME BRAND YOU HAVE.
Activision’s already run the once venerable Tony Hawk franchise into the ground with yearly sequels that have diluted the game so much that no one gives a shit anymore. Now it looks like they’re about to do the same with the Guitar Hero franchise in half the time. (Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is scheduled to come roughly six months after Guitar Hero 3) Take a look at Microsoft’s Halo if you want to see a franchise done right. There’s been two sequels since 2001′s Halo: Combat Evolved and each one has been a megaton event game of the year selling record numbers. Do you think the Halo brand would be nearly as strong if they cranked one out every 6 months with new levels being the only difference?
Yes, Activision should do what it can to keep the momentum of the sudden Guitar Hero craze, but they should do it with tactics similar to how Harmonix or Bungie are supporting their games – affordable and regularly available new downloadable content or, in the case of Bungie, listening to the community and tweaking/refreshing/adding game playlists. You could even figure out something new!
Whatever you do, just don’t bombard us with $60 “new” games that simultaneously insult and revolt a big part of your core audience.
In a move that even our British internet video friend would not accept, the RIAA is now claiming that MP3s that you have ripped from CDs you have purchased are unauthorized copies. That’s right, the very existence of digital music in the-file-format-which-must-not-be-named is an affront to all that is lawful and just. Forget about the fact that RIAA lawyers have already admitted ripping CDs for personal use is legal. Hypocrisy is only a speed bump on the path to oblivion.
I know I said I would not be surprised at anything the record labels do anymore, but come on. Really? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the real record labels have anything to do with the RIAA anymore other than in name. As clueless as the major record label heads are, there is no way any sane person can fail to see what a detriment to health of the music industry the RIAA is. What exactly is it trying to do here? Even if they win every pending lawsuit, do they really think people are going back to buying cartloads of $18 CDs just like the good ol’ days?
Nay, the RIAA is a monster that is out of the control of those who have created it. But unlike horrific human creations such as the Cylons or Terminators, the RIAA becomes less terrifying and more cuddly with each action it takes.
via [gizmodo]
