Tomi and I are working on a white paper about mobile being the 7th Mass Media.
Analogue and vinyl were in fact the second mass media, with a few hundred years seperating that innovation from Gutenberg.
And what we do know, rather than, unkown unknowns (ahem) is that progress in technlogy is relentless.
Every revolution combines truly new industries and products and redefines others. It is when these critical technological breakthroughs become interlocking that their joint and collective influence can have a dramatic effect on economies and culture. Indeed
In Death to the CD... digital freedom is here at last , Caspar Llewellyn Smith writes
If the rumours are true, the antiquarian bookseller Amazon (est. 1995) will finally launch its own music download service within weeks. Hold tight, because this is going to be like Godzilla versus King Kong, although it's not quite clear whether Amazon founder Jeff Bezos or Apple and iTunes chief exec Steve Jobs will get to wear the gorilla outfit.
Old business practices are hard to shake off, read on
Events have changed swiftly since EMI announced in January that it would service digital stores like iTunes with digital-rights management (DRM)-free tracks. For those who haven't been paying attention, the nub of it is that, at the moment, tracks bought from iTunes can only be played on an iPod when you're out and about - which is why that other fancy-dan MP3 player you were once given immediately joined your own private museum of obsolescent electronic devices.Steve Jobs at Apple has blamed this state of affairs on the record companies, citing their zealous insistence on DRM systems in order to prevent piracy. But from next month Apple will sell music from artists signed to the ailing EMI without any kind of protection, albeit at a 30 per cent higher price. (If that makes the whole business sound a little sleazy, you wouldn't be far wrong.)
But we still love our CD's, The Arctic Monkeys sold 85,000 CDs on Monday. And globally, downloads still account for only 10 per cent of the market.
I wonder what Tomi think s about this? Tomi?
But what about Vinyl? Funnily enough this came up in conversation last week. It is the story of a guy called Andy Jupp that has since 2005 been touring charity shops, care homes and libraries with a turntable, entertaining those he finds with tunes from his variously acquired collection of obscure albums. Whoa
What's in the Charity Top 10 this week? Paul Young apprently does make the top 10 quite often I am told.
And this is such a lovely, and in my view, a romantic adieu to the vinyl record.
It seems a kitsch enterprise but the project is meant sincerely as a celebration of 'some of the defeated tribes from the cultural wars of the twentieth century'. If nothing else, it's a reminder that while iTunes has sold more than 2.5 billion songs, it doesn't stock The Best of the Olde Tyme Dancing. Neither does the beast that is Amazon, for all the talk of its long tail. I've checked. At least not yet, it doesn't. It is clear from the smiling faces of Jupp's subjects - and they're not all crumblies - that vinyl has a future; as a cultural artefact, it can't be beaten as a repository of memories and dreams.
Perhaps he would like to transfer his Vinyl onto CD. There is a 'How To' step by step guide on the website www.soundabout.net You can do it for nothing, it's great fun. Bring back the golden oldies! that's what I say.... thanks for listening : )
Posted by: David | January 18, 2008 at 10:03 AM