Disqus - Latest Comments for mspoke

Re: Did Royals force Di off her Raleigh?

mspoke — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:55:21 -0000

Is this story something to do with the village bike? (Ouch)

Re: project pedal (blog): We're #11 :)

mspoke — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:17:37 -0000

Done. 5 stars. Good Luck.

Re: Time to drop the “Beta”?

mspoke — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:48:43 -0000

Beta for me means that organisations can say:-

"If it breaks, don't blame us, it's only in beta'

Re: World or Warcraft - more real world/alternate world crossover

mspoke — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 07:54:24 -0000

Problem with Second Life is that inflation is rampant and there seems to be no correction to this in the foreseeable future. Making any kind of money out of it becomes harder and harder...oh and the fact that Duran Duran are doing something in Second Life makes it all but over for me.

Re: Microsoft going after the internet

mspoke — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 09:56:01 -0000

In Search - Google won, Microsoft lost, rarely do people change search engines, unelss they come up with something which is easoer to use then people will not change. How can you make it easier than having pretty much a blank page and a button which says 'search'? Go and ask your friends how many of them use MSN for searching, the answer will be around the 0 mark. They are just not interested in changing, even for those using MS's hotmail service.

Whatever MS decide to do in the search space, or in any other space for that matter, will take too long and probably not work properly when it comes to market. They have a history of doing that. I would split MS up into many more much smaller companies. so that it can manouvre a little more quickly.

Re: Alternate worlds web3.0???

mspoke — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:19:37 -0000

Nic,

I was using Second Life about 12 months ago, I used it for about 3 months, got bored of it and left. To do anything more than fly around aimlessly requires more than 10 mintues tech expertise. There is some blatant bandwagon jumping by brands looking to get into Second Life. It's all a bit too obvious for me.

Not sure on the link you are making between Second Life and social networks - one of the most exciting things about the like of myspace and bebo are the simplicity of getting involved and the almost viral nature of bringing friends onboard. That's not so easy with Second Life. Credit Card registration, the idea you just drop in and have no real structure as to where to go, etc.

More importantly the single most exciting thing to happen to social networks in the next 12-18 months will be mobile - trying to replicate anything like Second Life on mobile will be very, very difficult.

Re: Music downloads

mspoke — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:02:15 -0000

I put a shout out here for iTunes. Most consumers just want somethign simple, in fact I find relatives over the age of 30 even have difficulty understanding iTunes so the thought of downloading MP3 files and using Windows Media Player to transfer to an MP3 player or 'burn' to a disc is never going to happen.

iTunes works because it is so easy to use - to buy, to listen, to transfer to the most popular portable digital music device.

People working in tech industry MUST always take a step back and see, as much as possible, from the average 'joe' point of view. They are not interested in DRM, as long as it works how they want, when they want and where they want they couldn't care less about all this other stuff.

Spiral Frog has to be one of the worst ideas ever - lets actively promote giving away our most valuable asset.

Re: HDTV - do people care?

mspoke — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:06:49 -0000

HD is interesting, yes HD is stunning when seen but the costs are far too high at the moment and the experience is not stable enough for the consumer (I have seen high instances of pixelation via Telewest)

What concerns me is that broadcasters are using the same content across multiple platforms - from HD TV through the net to mobile - people do care about picture quality.

HD is shot from a very wide angle - take football, you may have noticed how far we felt away from the pitch during the World Cup. These kind of wide shots do not work on mobile devices, or even on computers to some degree. There has to be some compromise somewhere or broadcasters will be left with some fantastic content for TV but a very poor experience for the (future) mobile market.

Re: BTVision and a look at how close we are to tomorrows webTV world

mspoke — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:22:43 -0000

BT VIsion is the most confusing product that BT have launched in many years. Combine this with BT's inability to market products to consumers and I predict a disaster. I see it costs 49p to view a music video, who on earth is going to do that when there are 30 free music channels on Sky and I can see almost any music video for free on YouTube?

As I mentioned before Nic, Apple will lauch their iTV box in 2007, providing a proper connection between content on your computer and TV.

Re: Indie labels to sell music on MySpace

mspoke — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:52:38 -0000

I tend to think the consumer has been ripped off for far too long for recorded music. I'm happy that some indie lables have taken this first step towards DRM-free recordings. My thoughts are that if a person is 'into' an artist enough to want to copy full albums then they are likely to want to go and see them play live.

Live performance is where the real money is in the music industry in the future.

Re: Widgets - some straight talking

mspoke — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:08:43 -0000

Scott, when you say 'Some smart kid will write a blog and/or social network platform that consists entirely of widgets."

You mean something like http://www.yourminis.com or for an crude example of how this can look http://yourminis.com/mc1

You mean like that? I think this area has a lot of potential. Kids will use these things like badges of honour if the right content is available.

Re: Indie labels to sell music on MySpace

mspoke — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:07:49 -0000

Seems like trouble has been brewing for a while at Spiralforg - http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,90... - anybody know who the backers are?

Re: Now major labels are thinking about DRM free MP3 sales

mspoke — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:50:56 -0000

Good article but I can't stand the major record companies talking about what is fair for the artists when they have been ripping off both the artist and consumer for many, many years.

Do you think the majors are more scared by consumers not purchasing music or more scared of artists walking away from the record companies completely and doing their own writing, production, publishing, merchandising, etc.

I think a better question is, 'What value can a major record company give to an artist?'

Sure there are some valid points but the number of these is diminshing all the time as technology is enabling artists to have more and more control.

Thoughts?

Re: Now major labels are thinking about DRM free MP3 sales

mspoke — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:54:45 -0000

The lastest FastCompany magazine dropped through my letterbox recently and I found a pretty relevant article to this discussion last night. There is a good article about a company called Musictoday who are providing many of the services I outlined above for artists, ticketing, merchandise, fanclubs, etc.

It sounds like it works well.

http://www.fastcompany.com/subscr/112/open_feat...

Re: Internet re-organising around people

mspoke — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:16:15 -0000

A great post, really. My comment is mainly regarding your idea of how the internet is changing communities.

It's funny as I have recently moved into a new community, which is built in an area of regeneration. The people within this new comunity do not communicate with each other, at all, to the point where heads go down as soon as eye contact is about to be made when leaving the car park.

One thing has finally started to bring people together....the internet. A very simple online forum was set-up by one resident to talk about issues of property maintenence mainly. This has spawned into a place where people are organising social meet-ups, buying/selling unwanted goods and general community banter amongst residents, most of whom have still not met each other face-face. Within 3 weeks the site has over 60 members, which is a high-proportion of total residents. It's not quite a social network in the myspace sense, but not far from it.

Re: An awesome comment showing the power of online community

mspoke — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:59:22 -0000

The internet is defnitely moving to the centre of the social fabric. I often use iChat video to talk to my 6 year old nephew, he can work a Mac better than me. I was sitting quietly thinking about this recently, he doesn't know any different than this, me and him chatting on the net is just what people do to him, how families who are not located near to each other communicate with each other, it's all so normal to him.

Re: Musings on what makes a community succeed

mspoke — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 03:46:33 -0000

The one thing that is pretty evident in many of the online communities I take part in is the increasing emergence of 'keyboard warriors'. They tend to dominate discussion and will abuse people who do not agree with them.

Is this a bad thing? In some ways yes, respect is a necessary thing to have both online and offline but I think we rarely get to see people's true personalities in these online communities. Is this another reason for more offline interaction within these online communites?

Re: DRM - music and film industries going in different directions?

mspoke — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:49:46 -0000

Nic,

Steve Jobs statement can be found on the Apple website, it's pretty interesting...

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Re: CPA advertising for mobile and video

mspoke — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:59:56 -0000

All this talk of mobile advertising - who on earth is reading the content? I don't know of one single person who looks at content on mobiles and I know a lot of people who have mobiles. Tell a lie, my brother checks the football scores maybe 3 or 4 times a season if we are not at the match and he isn't near to a TV/Computer/Radio.

Until the networks sort out transparent costs for users then I feel advertisers will be completely wasting their time. There are a lot of mobile as agencies out there but do they actually have a good client roster?

I still think there is more which can be done on the web with affiliate marketing before spending too much time on mobile.

Re: Advertising on the BBC website

mspoke — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:07:44 -0000

Can't really argue with what you have written. I agree it seems like a big fuss about nothing doesn't it.

Would seem silly if BBC didn't take the ad money for the international site.

Re: Broadband TV - service layer separating from network layer

mspoke — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:59:36 -0000

BitTorrent, what are they doing, essentially a piece of technology and nothing more and they try to make money out of it! Money out of a customer base who actively go searching for content using their technology for the simple reason that it is free. Work that one out...

Just got an invite to Joost, looks OK, passed me by in about 5 minutes. You can create whatever distribution system you want but if the content is rubbish I couldn't care less how it reaches me and neither do most non-geeks.

Re: Mobile - one internet today, but moving to two

mspoke — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:21:39 -0000

From previous posts you may already know my point of view. All this talk of mobile internet is futile until the operators sort out the transparency of data charges. I was saying this 3 years ago and we really haven't moved on at all have we. Still I have no idea what the data charges are on my mobile.

I think the real opportunities for mobile will truly come when we can connect to wifi networks and have an integrated pricing plan with our home connections.

Until then I don't think the majority of people feel the need for many services being offered.

Ivan - I manged to install Shozu, I agree it's a pain to install and having to go back and forth to the Flickr site makes it not very convenient.

Re: IBM sees the future of online video

mspoke — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:29:08 -0000

Nic, the only problem I see is how much bandwidth the likes of Joost is consuming, there really is only so much data you can shove through a local exchange. I still think we'll have tv as we know it now, with time schedules, etc, at least for the next 30 years.

...and then we have the whole net neutrality debate.

Re: Overdoing it on Google

mspoke — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:11:46 -0000

Nic,
I knew you'd come round eventually. I use Gmail, Google Docs/Spreadsheets and Google Calendar on a daily basis now, in fact I can't remember the last time I used any of the Office Applications (I'm on a Mac but have Office for Mac 2004). I've integrated all of my corporate mail into Gmail and also integrated Google Calender into iCal on 2 different macs.

It was very, very simple - and there is the key, Google make it simple to do, Micorosoft make it difficult to understand what is even on offer.

Re: Holiday

mspoke — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:26:15 -0000

Nic,

How can you go away when EMI announce they will be offering DRM-free music from May. Maybe people will respond to this comment.

What I don't get about the EMI announcement is that people will have to pay a premium (99p for DRM-free as opposed to 79p for DRM tracks) for DRM-free tracks. Talk about trying to confuse the consumer. It such a half-a**** effort in my opinion. What do others think?

Re: Special interest sites - another model for long tail internet TV

mspoke — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:45:28 -0000

I've been a viewer of http://cycling.tv since its inception. A great idea, it's taken a while for industry advertisers to come on board.

From this month we will be getting 1200kbs+ live streaming of cycling races.

There is a subscription model, £24.99 per year. It's a bargain.

Re: Top mobile apps are extensions of web apps?

mspoke — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:11:16 -0000

Nic, long-time no comments from me but hope to visit more often again.

Just been catching up on some of your recent posts, great stuff, really thought provoking.

With regards to mobile apps, I'd say 5% are useful on a daily basis and 95% aren't useful at all and are nothing more than 'toys' really for early-adopters. I use the Gmail app which is very slick but Twitter, do you know anybody who isn't a 'geek' who uses it or has even heard of it?

For me all of these apps are great for amusign myself and my fellow geeks but as far as mass market goes then I still think we are many. many years away from significant usage of the mobile web, nevermind apps on a mobile.

Re: The masses have collaborated - to buy a football club

mspoke — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:06:30 -0000

Nic, these guys did a great job seeding interest in this idea through football forums and the wider media. From a footballing perspective it will never work, they simply won't be able to make decisions quick enough.

As you say it is a great example of mass collaboration though.

Re: The masses have collaborated - to buy a football club

mspoke — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:34:57 -0000

Weenie, I take on board your points, but in terms of making long-term progress it will be difficult. The style of negotations which take place when trying to acquire players is often fast-moving, requiring very quick decisions. The MyFootball crowd won't be able to make those decisions.

The club I support, Port Vale, are now run by a supporters group and they have found it very difficult to work with what is acceptable practice within the football industry. They have been accused of wearing rose-tinted spectacles and being naive as they have tried to apply modern business practices to what is still essentially an industry run by cowboys.

Re: Buy.at and advertising in the long tail - including on TheEquityKicker

mspoke — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:05:42 -0000

Nic, glad to see you dipping your toe into the affiliate world. Is it possible you can get a static banner as that rotating one is a little distracting when reading your lengthy posts.

I've been experimenting with affiliate marketing using a hosted wordpress blog (wordpress.com) and have had some interesting results, particularly in terms of being able to rank highly on Google's natural search results.

Re: More on social search - Yahoo! testing Delicious integration

mspoke — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:46:28 -0000

Congratulations on the buy.at deal Nic, you've taken what was already a great business to a whole new level.

Re: Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1

mspoke — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:08:01 -0000

Crazy not to start J Cole, but it's good that one of the big four doesn't win all the trophies this season. Think the best team won.

Re: New look and feel on The Equity Kicker

mspoke — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:49:07 -0000

Yeah, agree with leafar, the top image is just 'fuzzy'...for me there's too much going on.

Was that new picture taken of you on the morning after the night before?!?!

Re: Call a Blogger with GrandCentral

mspoke — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:27:59 -0000

I wish GrandCentral would be launched in the UK, it looks like a fantastic service.