Archive for June, 2008

The Long Arm of DRM

Friday, June 13th, 2008

Recently I bought a digital video camera and I have been taking it to public meetings, particularly to capture slides and presenter’s comments on same. Last night I was a bit shocked to be called out publically to not record a presentation. I had no problem complying but, of course, I became more interested in the presentation.

I tried to imagine what hands a recording could fall into and what foul deeds could be done. I was at a public venue open to anyone with $25 (Hispanic-Net June Meeting). No surprise, the presentation was by a lawyer and the subject was DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues. I don’t think I learned any secrets. One thing was very clear. Trying to track various rights claims on a property like a Hollywood film is unbelievably complex in the new world of today. And why is that? –Because it was designed for another era. So we are stuck with a phalanx of attorneys trying to preserve an image of the past that simply does not exist. –A very complicated mess. –A business at war with its customers. How out of touch can you get?

I think it is time for the messy part to end. DRM is a lawyer full-employment initiative. (Not that there no other such initiatives) The fat lady is singing. The lawyers are lined up adding more verses to be sung to extend the singing, but it needs to end. Some among the legal profession should tackle the challenge of revising the practice for what the new world has become. If some insist on old rules, they must be left behind. If some artistic work can only be heard on an original 78 rpm record, just leave it there. Put it in a museum. Lock it up and leave a couple of lawyers to guard it.

P.S. I mean no harm to the lawyer who in conscience had to ask me to hide my camera.

Posted in Product, Social Networking, Tech Life | 1,480 Comments »

How Many Monkeys Does It Take?

Monday, June 9th, 2008

I had to chuckle when I first read on Skype Journal that 3 Monkeys were going to do press work for Skype. That may be a clever name for a firm– even I am not sure about that, but when one could ask how many monkeys has Skype had working on PR and marketing in general it ceases to be too funny.

While Skype has been largely wildly successful and a great business story, it is hard to complain much. There is a lot more to Skype’s “problems” than PR. (“Problems” meaning ones that many would love to have!) It may be that 3 monkeys can help get the word out, whatever it is, but that is more the issue.

What is the strategic vision at Skype? Most have gotten tired of thinking that it may come from eBay, but it must come before the tank is too close to empty. It is a difficult problem in my view. This is a paradigm shift, but has to keep connecting with the old paradigm of telephone service. So now users and Skype think it is some phone service, but what is it?

My view is that Skype very quickly got confused about being a phone service or what it was. First the use of VoIP was verboten, yet it was built completely on VoIP. Fair enough because VoIP was such a confusing moniker in the marketplace. It is not a phone service because then 911/emergency services become an issue. In the meantime alternately partnering or terrorizing phone providers in various markets seems like a phone competitor. And in the end are users who are still thinking of phone service as they know it.

I think it will take more than 3 Monkeys or any number of monkeys to figure this out. Paradigm shifting is exciting and non-trivial. Embracing the old helps the transition. Yet if you partner with the walking dead, where will you be? We knew the Internet would change everything, but no one provided directions.

Posted in NextGen Telephony, Skype, Tech Life, VoIP | 91 Comments »

Microsoft Continues to Boost Apple Sales

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

The Vista clock is ticking, counting the days to have Windows XP mothballed. This has not been a development that I welcome. Most have been concerned about the inefficiencies and various expected challenges associated with a new operating system. My concerns have been with the audio system since TeleVoce is all about exploits of PC audio. We have built our software on utilizing the Windows audio system that has been in place for over 10 years. After early PC proprietary solutions made audio problematic for users, the core standardization was a great concept. Then along came Hollywood and the recording industry. The old school found friends in Washington—a great place for the old school to hangout. Now we are all hamstrung by the outdated concerns of the past. Re-architecting for proprietary interests got us a Vista mucked up. There may have been many hands in this committee design but digital rights issues have left us without fair use of PC media.

For my comedy break today I got the update Microsoft Partner email today.

Windows XP End-of-Sales Date Announced
Sales of Windows XP will end June 30. Prepare now to advise customers and maintain relationships while promoting upgrades to the Windows Vista operating system. Access resources to help you learn, sell, and deploy Windows Vista solutions–and get complete Windows XP end-of-sale details.

So I clicked the link for the details:

Page Not Found
HTTP Error 404 – File or directory not found

There must be some embarrassment that we should not see. Then maybe I can find out at the End-of-Sale announcement link:

We
listened.
Now
you
can
act.
The
Windows
Vista
operating
system—the
most
innovative,
large-scale
technology
release
from
Microsoft
in
a
decade—has
been
improved,
thanks
in
part
to
your
feedback.
Strengthen
your
case
for
Windows
Vista
upgrades.
Show
your
customers
how
improvements
to
the
initial
release
address
reliability,
security,
performance,
administration,
and
support
for
emerging
hardware
and
new
standards.

That must have been formatted in Vista and my XP machine could not render correctly. But now that I read it, it says nothing about Windows XP. Maybe that is the new policy.

After further searching I did find this:

After careful consultation with customers and the partner community, Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP, effective June 30, 2008. Extended support will continue until 2014. This presents a great opportunity for you to consult with your customers and grow your business. With higher levels of reliability, security, performance, administration, and support offered by Windows Vista, you can make a strong business case for Windows Vista upgrades.

What an ugly story. The downgrading game I think gets to the heart of the matter. PC vendors can sell a Windows XP machine only after it was registered as a Vista sale. This is no way to treat customers or manufacturing partners. I don’t enjoy abusing Microsoft. Where would we have been without them, but this bytes.

Posted in Product, Tech Life | 72 Comments »