Rupert Murdoch is quoted on the BBC News site today stating that search engines that index “news” are essentially stealing the right to reproduce that content within their own search results.
“There’s a doctrine called ‘fair use’, which we believe to be challenged in the courts and would bar it altogether,”
Is this someone who has fundamentally lost all grasp on reality? Has he, or none of his senior executives ever used the Internet? I ask these flippant questions on the basis that the majority of Internet users use a search engine when looking for something, may that be clothes, electronics or news! If News Corp go down the route of blocking search engines from accessing their site, that will mean less people read stories published on News Corp sites. Less page views means less revenue, but Murdoch has a plan for that.
Murdoch’s News Corp are already working on a model that will charge their users to access content within their websites by June 2010. In fact, News Corp are working very hard:
“No. We are working very, very hard at this but I wouldn’t promise that we’re going to meet that date.
I understand that a business needs to generate revenue to survive, I really do, but I don’t think News Corp (or Murdoch for that matter) understand that very few people will pay to access this type of content online. The exact business model is unknown, but it has been suggested that there could be a tiered approach with premium content made available to those paying a higher monthly fee, while micro-payments could be applied to those looking to read a single story.
In the UK we have the BBC paid for by the licence fee i.e. it is essentially free to use. The BBC News website already competes head to head with every news / media organisation out there, therefore if you introduce a subscription model who are your competitors and what will they charge? As a user I already spend more time on the BBC News site than any other, introducing a pay wall only restricts my access to your site and it certainly does not encourage me to pay to read content that I can get elsewhere for free.
“There’s not enough advertising in the world to make all the Websites profitable. We’d rather have fewer people coming to our Websites but paying.
This is fair enough, but if you compare it to other content industries like music and film how successful are they at this? In the UK I am not aware of any subscription model for watching films online, perhaps Love Film and iTunes can offer a similar service. In the music business Spotify offers unlimited listening both at your desk and on your mobile for £9.99 per month with no contract. This seems pretty good value as there are no adverts with this deal, but I wouldn’t pay £9.99 per month to read news.
For News Corp to win over customers they will have to charge less than £1 a week and offer some really exclusive content and HD quality video streaming otherwise I fear their plan could backfire on them
I recently added an Airport Express Base Station to my wireless network at home, with the primary aim of streaming music to the Hi-Fi in the kitchen, but I experienced mixed results.
My set-up comprises the following: Mac Mini and a Linksys WRT54GC
The initial set-up was complicated by the inclusion of an install cd and instruction booklet which as it turned out was only required by windows users. Instead of reading the instructions (as I did), all I needed to do was plug it in and activate multiple speakers in iTunes! Once this step was completed the Mac took over and automatically set-up AirTunes. I was able to hear immediate results and I was impressed by the sound quality.
However, music playback would stutter repeatedly to the point that I was beginning to think I had made a mistake in purchasing the router. I resorted to google. A quick search posed more questions and quickly pointed me to advanced settings in the airport utility where I was able to manually configure the router.
While the problem eased it wasn’t resolved, further investigation returned many users complaining about something called IPV6. This post: solved all of my problems using the following steps.
1. Open System Preferences
2. Open Network pane
3. Select Airport in the left list
4. Click the Advanced button
5. Go to the TCP/IP tab
6. Set the “Configure IPv6″ field to Off.
7. Click “OK”
8. Click “Apply”
9. Let iTunes connect to you’re Airtunes speakers
During the process of trial and error I came across a wifi utility called inSSider. This programme (windows only) scans your locality for other wifi users and provides detailed information like which channel they are using and if it’s likely they are causing interference on your network. I found another network using the same channel as me (6) so I therefore switched channels (11).
AirTunes is now working flawlessly and I am able to listen to my iTunes library throughout my house.
If like me, you have a collection of MP3 audio books and use itunes then you need to read the following.
There is a open source software called Audiobook Maker which will convert your MP3 audio books into itunes compatible M4B format allowing your to view these audio books in the ‘audio book’ section of your itunes or ipod.
This is particularly useful as it means audio books will no longer occupy your music section and inadvertently play when you are in shuffle mode.
The software itself is very easy to use. You simply add your MP3 files to the maker and hit ‘make audio book’. You get a couple of options, but I only use AAC bookmarked. This enables itunes or your ipod to remember the last position you last listened to.
It’s really that easy. Encoding time varies and depends on the length of the book and the original bitrate. I converted a 12 hour book in 45 mins on my mac mini.
I should point out that this is for OS X only.
You can download Audiobook Maker from sourceforce.
So Toshiba has withdrawn from the HD DVD format battle. I’m not surprised. Blu ray is a superior product and comes in a PS3, two very compelling arguments to any movie studio looking to get their product out to a mass audience.
But how long will blu ray last? I only ask as HD on demand services are growing all the time and these compete directly with HD DVD and blu ray discs. While blu ray may be superior to anything currently on the market, this does not in itself lead to market demand. Currently consumers are provided with the majority of their TV viewing in standard definition and so only dip in and out of the HD listings. The majority of homes do not have access to an HD TV which makes the market relatively small. Netflix and itunes have announced plans to offer HD through a broadband connection, cable and satellite companies already over HD services, so my point is that, as hardware, blu ray may only appeal to a few hardcore home theatre enthusiasts. As broadband speeds increase, net tv is going to become more reliable and more convenient, and thus will we really need another box under the tv?