Readers say they're sick of music industry's attitude
By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

COMPUTING
Audio: Computing columnist Dwight Silverman talks about prosecuting file-swappers.
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Looking for past Computing columns? Check the archives.

LAST week's column, which featured a study showing that the recording industry could save itself by aggressively embracing digital music, drew a lot of reader response. This topic usually does provoke plenty of comments, but this time there was a distinctly different edge to them.

Past digital music columns (see www.houstonchronicle.com/digitalmusic) have drawn e-mail from both sides. I'd hear from musicians who worry that rampant downloading of tunes will deprive them of a livelihood, as well as from consumers who feel the music industry is reaping the fruits of greed and arrogance.

But this time, all the e-mail I received indicated those writing were fed up with the industry's attitude -- including some missives from musicians.

"As a consumer and as a musician, I can see both sides of the problem," a reader in Katy wrote. "I prefer to order CDs online from Public Radio Musicsource because I don't have time to fool around with this computer and maybe not get a good quality recording. I can't help but wonder if the recording industry moguls have ever considered that 99 percent of today's music is so ugly that that fact alone could account for the drop in sales. Even Bob Dylan has said that if he were just starting out in music today he wouldn't do it because the sounds are so horrible."

There were two general themes that ran through the responses I received. The first expressed irritation at being forced to buy music in the format dictated by the music business -- on a CD with a bunch of other, unwanted songs. The second thread involved people who aren't able to find the music they want in a CD store.

And many wrote to agree with the Forrester study's findings that people who download a lot of music and burn audio discs also buy a lot of CDs.

"A lot of the music I download is no longer available on CDs or tape," wrote one person who described himself as "an oldies guy." "I would have no problem paying a reasonable price for the media I want. This includes karaoke and out-of-production low-volume music. There is a great business opportunity for the music industry, and they are missing it!"

A woman who moved to Houston from Mexico said she doesn't hear enough salsa and worldbeat music on local radio because most Spanish-language stations play Tejano music, which she doesn't like. She's discovered Internet radio and relies on that for access to new artists in her preferred genre.

"You'd think we were in the middle of the cornfields of Iowa or a small village in Mexico and not the fourth-largest city in the country, for all the options we have," she said.

A lot of readers said they use file sharing to sample new music, then go buy the CD if they like what they hear. One pointed out that MP3 files are not perfect copies of songs available on commercial CDs. That gives commercial CDs an edge with those who care about how the music sounds.

"MP3 files use compression techniques and are therefore not exact copies any more than a cassette tape is. Just look at how many MP3 files will fit on a 700-megabyte CD and you will see what I mean," he wrote.

However, this same reader added that he was so angry with the recording industry's "policy of treating its customers like criminals" that he was going to protest it with his cash.

"I have the time, the resources, and the inclination to actively encourage and support any national boycott of ALL music CDs until such time as the (Recording Industry Association of America) abandons its wrongheaded course of action. I suggest the music-buying public hit them in the pocketbook, the only thing they seem to understand," he wrote.

Just this week, an assistant U.S. attorney general told a gathering of technology leaders in Aspen, Colo., that the Justice Department was ready to go after people who swap copyrighted content over the Internet. According to a CNET News.com story, the Justice Department had planned on doing this last year but was thrown off course by the Sept. 11 attacks.

This comes after legislators friendly to the music industry called for legal action against file sharing.

But judging from the comments I've read from readers -- as well as knowing just how many people share music over the Internet -- it's obvious this would be a public relations disaster.

I suspect if the Feds start forcing music swappers to do the perp walk alongside former Enron executives, there'll be plenty of outrage to go around. Remember what caused the relaxation of many states' marijuana laws in the 1970s? It was the sight of middle-class children being slapped in cuffs for possessing joints.

Do you really want your son, daughter -- or yourself -- hauled out of bed in the middle of night and your home PCs confiscated because you downloaded music over the Internet? In the post-9/11, post-accounting-scandals era, this would be an absurd waste of federal law enforcement resources. The public is in no mood for it.

Hard disk DJs spinning MP3s

July 27, 2002, 12:29AM
By CODY ELLERD
Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Friday nights at Brooklyn's BQE bar appear like most others.

Attractive hipsters fill the high-ceilinged space with laughter and cigarette smoke, bopping their heads to the beat as they order $7 gin and tonics. They come to meet friends and hear the disc jockey spin the week's worries away.

What most don't know, however, is that this DJ's turntables are empty -- all the music comes from two10-gigabyte disk drives, each smaller than a pack of cigarettes.

Ben Kirkendoll leaves the records at home in favor of his iPods, Apple Computer's disk-based music player, which he simply plugs into an audio system's mixer.

He's part of a small but growing number of DJs who have turned to MP3 music files for their accessibility and convenience.

Some equipment manufacturers are even getting hip, offering specialized products beyond the iPod, a general usage music player. A few digital DJ systems are already available, and one due in August promises to combine MP3 technology with old-fashioned mixing capabilities.

New York ad salesman Michael Parrish, who noticed the BQE's DJ was turntables-free when he requested a song, says anyone can be a DJ now.

"When I was younger I felt like there was a talent to it because they were spinning records backwards and forwards and really cutting it in and overlapping songs," Parrish says. "It doesn't take much talent to be a DJ anymore. You just have to have a good flow of songs."

Kirkendoll, by day an artist at a New York advertising agency, acknowledges that plugging an iPod into a sound system and cueing up tracks doesn't require even a fraction of the skill needed to spin records.

And he can't use iPods to match up beats, alter the pitch of music or spin records back and forth for a scratching effect -- all things that professional club DJs consider essential.

But Kirkendoll, who calls himself "The Podiatrist," was hired for his collection of music and penchant for feeling the vibe of a crowd, not his ability to mix or scratch.

"I love that you can walk into a bar with two little gimmicks in either pocket and have over 4,000 songs to play," says Taya Pocock, booking manager at the BQE.

Part of the beauty of MP3s, Kirkendoll says, is that a regular guy with a day job and a passion for music can be a DJ without years of practicing and thousands of dollars scouring record shops for those rare must-haves.

Peer-to-peer networks and Internet download sites provide Kirkendoll with a hefty supply, though he still relies heavily on CDs from his own collection, which he converts into MP3 files.

Manufacturers are starting to recognize that DJs are obtaining more of their music from the Internet -- some legally, others not so -- or converting their CD tracks. And they're responding with products.

Pioneer is set to release the DMP-555, an MP3 player it says will include scratch capabilities and pitch controls normally available only to conventional DJs. And Gem Sound has the MP3X-Pro mixer, which allows digitally downloaded music to be stored in the unit itself.

There are also software-based programs, such as PCDJ by Visiosonic and DJPower by DJPower International LLC, but they require a computer.

Gerald Webb, a DJ who switched from vinyl to CDs eight years ago, thinks many manufacturers have been reluctant to offer MP3 devices because they fear copyright lawsuits.

Pioneer's response is the Secure Data Card, which stores and transfers digital files for the DMP-555. The SD card allows the same song to be copied only three times and permits transfers only to computers from which a file originated.

But as for assuring the digital files were legally obtained to begin with, "there's really no way that we can regulate what our users are doing," Pioneer's Brian Buonassissi says. "They have to cover themselves."

Gem Sound takes a similar stance.

"MP3 is definitely legal," marketing manager Barry Seiden says. ""There are ways to do it that are illegal. The person that's using it has to decide."

A 1998 copyright law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, bans circumventing anti-piracy measures built into software and devices. But it does not require manufacturers to incorporate such measures.

A bill pending in the Senate would. That proposal, from by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., would "shut down electronic DJ culture," said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a University of Wisconsin professor critical of modern copyright laws.

Further, manufacturers are increasingly placing controls on CDs so that they'll play in a CD player but can't be converted to MP3 format. That means some legally obtained music already can't be transferred to iPods and other MP3 devices. Officials from the Recording Industry Association of America refused comment for this story.

For now, the digital movement's effect on DJing is limited largely because many longtime DJs still frown on the technology.

"I think we kind of tend to stick to the tried and true stuff. Not that we don't embrace technology, it's just very new," says Brian Pember, co-founder and creative director of Groovetech, a Seattle-based Web site that broadcasts live DJ sets and deals electronic music.

He says DJs who use laptops, MP3 players and digital turntables in clubs get scoffed at by the "purists."

"You'll definitely see a lot of snickering and sneering," Pember says, "but really it's out of a sense of fear."

Sent....I see this as added cost, more new employees at high levels, and no revenue for the immediate future.

We are already selling shares at levels that generate little cash and this just adds to the cash flow needs.

The basic strategy should revolve around generating revenue, and achieving profitability, then new ventures can be evaluated and marketed.

bostonredsox....would appreciated your opinion. Some brief stats.....Average month price, average daily volume, and current price ($.35) vs each month.
Dec. 1.29, 378k, 27%, down 73%
Jan. 1.32, 514k, 27% down 73%
Feb. 1.06, 309k, 33% down 67%
Mar. .99, 325k, 35% down 65%
Apr. .76, 532k, 46% down 54%
May .54, 598k, 65% down 35%

Ok, if no shorting is going on as you suggest, and we see new products being introduced, and if the financials hold up, and we can look for a positive cash flow within a couple of quarters, then please explain the continuous downward trend. Volume wise, over 100 million shares have been traded since Dec. 1 2001 and the current price is approximately 1/4 of the December price.

OZ

Sent.....Nice to see the answers to your questions. I am hoping that you mean by the end of the current quarter, ending June 30. Was that clear in the communication to RP.

OZ

Odyssey....Why isn't our name on the players, all I can see is "Digital".

Maybe it's on the side or back.

Don....No, as my original post implied the curent standard and preferred product is the CD.

JimC......It's a matter of definition. As to a standard your definition must differ from mine.

As an example:

My Honda bought new in the 90s came with a cassette player as standard.

In addition, my wifes one year old Cadillac came with both a cassette and CD player, therefore the CD is not necessarily the standard as I perceive it.

You state that CD sales exceeded LP sales in 1988, however cassette sales exceeded LP in the early to mid 80s and was the preferred product prior to the CD. I believe the cassette was successfully marketed after the LP and prior to the CD.

Just a couple points of debate. I didn't say it took twenty years as you imply, I stated it took "almost twenty years", and next you use the term established which differs greatly from the term standard.

Remember, the original subject centered around short term industry forecasting and my opinion concerning their follow up on actual sales and their performance level.

Concentrate your efforts on the target, not the fringes.

Berge.... With that many titles, he must have the best gems of all. Value wise, it's the what, not how much.

More than likely, he has copies of all of my favorites, only wish I could get them.

I am getting about 30 albums, many Jazz and some big band, from an individual that has his house on the market. He is moving back east and only taking what he can load in his SUV.

I bought a 33 1/3 turntable, amplifier, 5 CD Unit, a twin-tape CD combo unit and two sets of speakers from him for $125.00. He is throwing in the 33 1/3 albums and a bunch of CDs for free. And most of the equipment is only 1-2 years old.

Also a entertainment unit, all wood and glass for $50.00, a portable phone for $5.00, an aluminum ladder for $20.00 and
other items. I have my name on the list for power tools if he decides not to take them, depends on the room.

I got lucky because my wife got me there first.

Berge...I know what you mean. I have tried to find the jazz songs I listened to in High School. Used to have a bunch of 33 1/3 albums, but through the years they got damaged, loaned out and lost, etc.

I would guess that about 10% have been recorded on CDs. The remainder are in a space time continuum.

Someday, I may have to give in and download the songs from the internet, if they are out there.

Hey Berge.....I would tend to agree with your words of wisdom. On the average, maybe 200% high for short term estimates and 50% low for the eventual peak of a given market.

Lets just say anyone can guess, start with the world population and go from there.

JimC.......It's not far off. CDs introducted in the early 80s and we are 20 years later. I can remember buying some tapes as few as five years ago as they didn't have the songs we were looking for on CD. Thus it was not the standard at that juncture, just the preferred method of transaction.

And if they sold approx 50 million CDs in 1986, that is less than 1 in 4 people in the US alone for the entire year. I would consider that a start. Statistically a very small number if you consider how many different CD titles could have been made available x the potential buyers throughout the world. So lets not debate that point, it's the experts forecasting ability that I have little faith in, especially the first five years.

Besides the issue is over zealous forecasting of MP3s, Set Top Boxes, Telematics, etc. There is always some issues that come into play impacting the estimates, usually in a negative manner, if my memory is at all clear, of course aging tends to cloud mine sometimes.

MIR ..Industry Forecasts

It's been my experience that optimism always is present when the various entities make market forecasts. And they never seem to publish actual numbers to compare against their 1, 2, and 5 year projections.

I wonder how many MP3 players have been sold, worldwide, during 2000, 2001 and 2002 estimates, verses the forecasts provided by these so called experts.

A few years back they were estimating x number on Hi Definition TV units as well as time frames for the stations to convert. Of course the actual unit sales according to some articles is well below initial estimates and the changeover to broadcast HD is probably going to be put off a few years.

Another clue to over zealous estimates, is that real market shares as submitted by competitors in any given industry or product line usually total from 125% to a common 150% factor. This is sometimes due to a lack of the real market size and often times using industry estimates for sales projections, which have been overstated significantly.

In many of the analyses, I have used a factor of .3 to .75 of the forecasts depending on the technology, competition, events of influence which is purely subjective, and a number of other variables.

It took almost 20 years for the CD to become the standard, so why should we think that set top boxes will emerge as quickly as is being stated. Additionally, it took about ten years for power steering and brakes to reach standard and seats and windows are still an accessory in many models, yet they are willing to state that telematics will be in the majority of vehicles in the next five years and the price tag will be far in excess of the options I listed above.

Obviously, there are many views regarding issues of this nature, but the experts tend to do a lot of forecasting and very little follow up. I guess they would be afraid of their batting average.

Just some food for thought when tieing in industry numbers to projections for edig growth opportunities.

OZ

A Really Small Computer

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/technology/reviews/oqo.html

1-inch discs for music due this summer

NEW YORK (AP) -- As if she wasn't ubiquitous enough, Britney Spears' music will be available this summer on a new type of disc for small handheld players.

The discs look like CDs an inch across and are housed in plastic cartridges. They can store any kind of data, including video and software, and are attractive to the music industry because they are strong on copyright protection.

While the format is novel, analysts say getting consumers to adopt it will be a tough sell for consumer electronics and record companies.

Dataplay, the Boulder, Colo., company behind the technology, is counting on prerecorded discs -- and some weighty partnerships -- to get a foothold.

"We want to start with music to get overall format adoption," says Dataplay's Todd Oseth. "That's how the CD became popular -- by getting people to buy prerecorded music."

The company's partners include big hardware companies Toshiba and Samsung, which are planning to make players for the discs. Three big music companies -- BMG, Universal and EMI -- are going to put out music discs.

Dataplay is also making a strong play for the teen-age market. Independent music company Zomba Records will release discs featuring its roster of stars, including Britney Spears and 'N Sync. One of the music players, made by Evolution Technologies of Raleigh, N.C., will be co-branded with cable music network MTV.

The discs will cost about $16 when they are released in stores in early June, with one album of music ready to play. But because the discs pack data densely, and the music is compressed using methods similar to that of MP3 software, each can contain up to five albums of music. Some music companies will release the discs with hidden extra albums, which can be activated by entering codes bought at their Web sites for $8 to $13.

The extra disc space can contain videos and lyrics, accessed by connecting a Dataplay player to a computer. When connected, a user can also store data on the discs -- 250 megabytes on each side, for a total slightly less than the 650 megabytes that fit on a CD. Data can be written to the discs but not erased. Dataplay incorporates safeguards to prevent songs sold on the discs from being copied to computers.

On Tuesday, a music industry group said worldwide sales of CDs fell 5 percent last year, the first drop ever. The group attributed it to the rise of Internet services such as Napster.

"What the record labels like about Dataplay is that it's a format they can control," says analyst Phil Leigh at Raymond James Financial.

IPOD/Windows capability

When Apple introduced the iPod , its new MP3 player, critics gushed over it. About the size of a pack of cigarettes, able to hold 5 gigabytes of music and easy to use, it was an instant hit.

There was, however, one flaw: It doesn't work with Windows machines, only on Macintosh systems.

Apple released the machine with a wink-wink, nudge-nudge attitude, saying essentially, "We'll get around to making a Windows version - someday." In essence, they are putting Windows users through the same hell that Mac users face every day.

But a company called MediaFour has come to the rescue of Windows users with a program called XPlay, which it is now beta testing. The software lets iPod owners transfer MP3 files onto the device using Windows. The iPod appears as a drive in the My Computer folder.

There is a preview version of the XPlay software available at www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/.

New Windows XP software and drivers for Gravis joysticks are available at www.gravis.com/support/sup_1082.html. . . . New Windows XP drivers and www.ati.com/support/products/pc/radeon8500/ winxp/radeon8500winxpdrivers.html. . . . A beta 1.07 version of Acoustica's CD Label Maker is now at www.acoustica.com/cd-label-maker/download.htm. . . . A beta version of Firewalk X2, a firewall program for the Mac OS X, is at www.pliris-soft.com/products

JimC

I made no attempt to cut the number of retail outlets. I simply choose to use 50% of the numbers used in your equation, in other words, 1 unit sold every other day and I still believe this would be on the high side.

I don't know why you think the boards are a good indicator of the unit sales as they collectively have no way of determining these numbers.

In addition, I brought up other issues concerning your scenario, which I believe are overly optimistic. One, the amount of cash infusion from the sale of additional shares. The other, being the allocation of this money, including a float period between the manufacture of units and the revenue derived from the sales through the retailers.

Also, the statement by Collier concerning a break-even point in time, that being the 4th quarter would have to include revenues from DataPlay and other products relaesed before the 4th quarter. In your projection, you treated these as additional income above your revenue estimates.

I'm not saying you are wrong, I just think you used the best possible outcome on every issue and I have difficulty accepting this result.

Try responding to all of my questions, not just one, and I didn't as you state cut your retail outlets in half, I cut the sales per day in half for the example I calculated.

CES2002...I was mainly responding to JimC's scenario with a more conservative estimate and issues that I felt he overlooked. There is a good chance we will not hit the projections as stated by Collier, but I thought it possible to lay out a scenario that approaches his economic estimates, but overly so. And an answer to your specific question may be easier in about 6 months.

Richard

A more conservative point of view:

You base your assumptions on current locations, plus an additional 420, Best Buy, or a total of 716.

That's probably within reason, but we might consider using a less aggressive sales figure. In place of the one per day, which seems high, lets use 50% of that value, 358 instead of 716 unit sales.

You state that from early reports that Good Guys and CompUSA may be approaching this one per day rate. I haven't seen any numbers released indicating those amounts.

So, if we use 1/2 your equation we generate 10,740 unit sales per month or at your wholesale value of $200, which is fair, a total of $2,148,000 in revenue. Using a margin of 20%, that calculates to be $429,600 gross margin and a cost of $1,718,400.

Now as to cash flow, there would be an initial float between cost outlay for manufacturing and the revenue stream from the retailers which would require more investment than you suggest.
The result could be an additional 1/2 month or even a full month added capital. The data above could require as much as $3.5 million, using a month differential and using your data, as high as $7 million for inventory investment.

Again, the current equity registration for 20 million shares and selling 10 million may only bring in 8 million if we use a price of $.80 per share. The result under either scenario would be substantially less money available for operating expense and expansion.

In accordance with Colliers statement, that we would be at a break-even by the end of the 4th quarter, would have anticipated revenues from DataPlay and telematics and any other product roll out prior to the year end. You indicate that this revenue would be in addition to the amount you use in your near term projection.

You also state why a substantial equity investor would be interested in funding e.Digital's substantial growth opportunities. This may be true, however the market and current investors have some concerns if you look at the recent price trend.

Rather than being on the optimistic side, I have always preferred the conservative approach, and if actual numbers exceed my scenarios, I am pleasantly surprised.

Just some food for thought and another opinion.

Richard

Scientists Create a Molecular-Scale Transistor
Lucent Technologies Device Is Called Breakthrough in Electronics Miniaturization

By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 18, 2001; Page A04



Scientists yesterday reported the creation of the world's first molecular-scale transistor, a tiny device that could push the miniaturization of electronics to the threshold of its final frontier.

The research team, from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs, used a technique called "chemical self-assembly" to cover a pair of minuscule gold electrodes with a single layer of carbon-based molecules.

The "channel" length -- the space between the two electrodes that regulates current output and switching speed -- is between one and two nanometers long, up to 20 times smaller than the smallest channel yet reported. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

More important, perhaps, the Lucent team equipped its invention with a third electrode, known as a "gate," which makes the device a true transistor -- able to function as an amplifier as well as a switch. "It's beautiful in its simplicity," said chemist Jim Heath, of the University of California at Los Angeles. "And it actually looks like it can work."

"The whole field of molecular electronics is characterized by looking at things that are much smaller -- a scale where regular fabrication approaches aren't precise enough," said Yale University physicist Mark Reed. "They [the researchers] have come up with a very innovative way to do it."

For the electronics industry, which has measured progress by its ability to cram more transistors into smaller spaces, a molecular-sized device would finally conclude the applicability of "Moore's Law," articulated in 1965 by microchip pioneer Gordon Moore, who predicted that the number of transistors per integrated circuit would double every 18 months.

And although a molecule-long channel is not the same thing as a molecule-sized transistor, the Lucent experiment theoretically demonstrated that "nanotransistors" are possible:

"This is the ultimate in small," John Rogers, Bell Labs' director of nanotechnology research, said at a news conference at Lucent's Murray Hill, N.J., headquarters. "Not only is it the ultimate in scaling, but it is defined literally by the physical length of a molecule."

Lead researcher Hendrik Schon cautioned, however, that it would be "at least 10 years from now" before production of anything resembling carbon-based "nanochips" could be "mature and reliable enough" to replace today's silicon transistors.

Transistors, developed in the 1940s as replacements for the vacuum tubes used in radios and other early electronic appliances, use materials known as semiconductors both as switches and amplifiers in electric circuits.

The first semiconductors were made of germanium, while silicon has been used for most of the past half century. Lucent's new research suggests carbon may become the ultimate semiconductor of choice.

Over the years, industry has consistently fulfilled Moore's prophecy by devising ever more elaborate lithography and etching techniques to build microcircuitry on silicon chips.

To get to the nanometer range, however, Schon and fellow Lucent scientists Zhenan Bao and Hong Meng bathed a gold electrode in a bath of carbon-based semiconductor material called a "thiol."

"The thiol molecules self-assemble by sticking to the gold and are glued to the surface," Schon said. When every part of the surface is covered with a thiol molecule, the molecules will no longer cling and the process stops.

A second gold electrode is then placed atop the molecules, creating a chemical sandwich in which a layer of thiol one molecule high is the filling. This is what defines the channel between the two electrodes.

Making a switch on the molecular scale, was "not really new," said UCLA's Heath. The key was to add an amplifying capacity to the device, transforming it from a switch to a transistor.

This was difficult, Heath explained, because voltage applied to a third electrode tended to disappear without influencing the other electrodes. Lucent's solution, he said, was "elegant."

The Lucent team lay the two primary electrodes against a vertically placed third electrode -- a bit like layers of bricks against a vertical beam. Voltage applied through the third electrode "modulated the current through the first two electrodes," Schon said. They had built a molecular-scale transistor.

Heath said scientists had done it before, but their efforts had the cumbersome look of "something you would do in the laboratory." Lucent's experiment, "is solid state, not impossible to fabricate, and from what I can tell, it can amplify the signal," Heath said. "It actually looks vaguely useful."



© 2001 The Washington Post Company

PC sales decline 11.6%; Dell adds to market share
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

Worldwide PC shipments continued to drop in the third quarter, falling by 11.6 percent over last year because of a slowing U.S. economy and market saturation, according to preliminary data from Gartner Dataquest.

Round Rock-based Dell Computer Corp. shipped 4.2 million units and was the only company to see its market share grow, moving up 10.8 percent to take a 13.8 percent share. Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp. saw its shipments drop 31.1 percent to 3.1 million, taking a 10.4 percent share of the market. Hewlett-Packard saw its shipments fall 17.2 percent to 1.9 million for a 6.4 percent share.

Gartner analyst Charles Smulders said terrorism has had mixed results, with Dell recovering swiftly and Compaq reporting as many as 300,000 cancellations.

"In addition to the Sept. 11 events, we believe Compaq was adversely affected by an at first uncertain reaction the HP-Compaq merger," Smulders said.

"HP experienced its slowest growth for worldwide shipments since the first quarter of 1997. As with Compaq, HP's strong dependency on the U.S. home market is taking a great toll on its overall performance."

Online music sales under scrutiny

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is investigating whether upcoming ventures by major recording companies will stifle competition in the nascent online music market, a department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Last week, recording companies, Internet firms and trade groups started receiving subpoenas calling for documents detailing how music is being licensed to Internet companies.

"The antitrust division is looking at potential anti-competitive practices and the competitive effects of certain joint ventures in the online music industry," Justice spokeswoman Gina Talamona said.

The recording industry is hoping to launch two online music subscription services this year. Sony and Universal have teamed up to form pressplay; the other three major labels, Warner, EMI and Bertelsmann's BMG, are backing the rival service MusicNet.

Internet firms have been in a long-running fight with record labels over how customers should be able to get music over the Internet. Internet startups say the labels are too stingy with their music.

A Recording Industry Association of America spokeswoman said the trade group, which represents the record labels, will comply with the Justice Department request.

BUTTFIRST

I have a condition often found in folks of my age. The scientific world is frantically searching for a cure. This is an ailment many of us suffer from and may not as yet have been diagnosed. However, now you may be able to discuss it with your loved ones and try to explain what really happened to you all those times you tried so hard to accomplish something and didn't. It's called the "BUTTFIRST Syndrome."

It's like when I decide to do DD on our relationship with TI - I start and remember I only partially completed the DD on Lucent. Okay, I'm going to do the remaining DD on Lucent -- BUTTFIRST I remembered that I had started the DD on Intel. Okay, I’m going to finish the DD on Intel, and I noticed the data on the table. Okay, I'll start with this stack, BUTTFIRST I'll look through that stack of data and see if there are any other projects I started. BUTTFIRST, I spotted the information on IBM sitting on the coffee table. Oops! I haven’t completed this analysis, BUTTFIRST, I almost forgot Samsung. Okay, I’ll work on Samsung that I started last week, BUTTFIRST I need to put the Sony project back into the hopper and complete it. Oh, just remembered the Toshiba analysis was only half complete, so I guess it should take priority, BUTTFIRST, are there any others that I am overlooking. I head for the computer to check the status of my work and see that Eastech is a new one that I just started, BUTTFIRST, there is the Hytek that was never completed, so I’ll work on that one, BUTTFIRST I need to finish drinking the beer and while looking for the glass I noticed the report on Remote Solutions lay on the kitchen table. BUTTFIRST, I noticed a sizeable amount of paper under the Remote Solutions data and upon looking it was the DataPlay study that I just started yesterday. It’s getting late and I’m so tired of doing all of this DD, I guess I’ll sit back and relax.

At the end of day: TI is not done, Lucent are still on the end table, Intel still on the table, IBM also sitting on the coffee table, partially complete, Samsung sitting on the computer desk, Sony right next to Samsung, Toshiba resting in the desk drawer, Eastech folder open sitting on top of the printer, Hytek folder next to the TV, Remote Solutions on the kitchen table where I left it, also DataPlay in the kitchen for some reason, barely started.

AND, when I try to figure out how come nothing got done all day, I'm baffled, because I KNOW I was BUSY ALL DAY! I realize this condition is serious....and I should get help, BUTTFIRST I think I'll read all my email...

Playing around with cell phones
U.S. industry sees potential market in wireless video games
By LESLIE GORNSTEIN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- In Japan, bored cell phone owners can while away their time downloading color pictures of animated sushi and guiding the characters on video adventures.

But in the United States, video gamers have little more exciting to play on their handsets than the black-and-white equivalent of Pong.

Cell phone makers and video game companies say that's about to change.

Starting this fall, they say, cellular subscribers will be able to do battle via their phones while exchanging trash talk on instant message services and checking video scoreboards that track the performance of other players.

"The Holy Grail of what we are all aiming at is where you can play a game on a robust color screen, and you are playing not just someone in your immediate vicinity, but you, in Los Angeles, could play with me in New York," said Edwin Philogene, a manager of product marketing at Ericsson.

The future of wireless gaming is expected to dominate this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It's the largest trade show in the country for the burgeoning, multibillion-dollar industry, which some analysts predict will rival the movie business in revenues within four years.

The availability of fast-moving, multiplayer games on cell phones will depend on speedier wireless data transmission, which carriers plan to introduce gradually this year, beginning with a few markets this summer.

In the months ahead, game makers promise that legendary titles such as Tetris will join a staid realm now ruled by memory games and Snake, in which players chase a black dot across the display screen.

Top cell phone makers such as Motorola also intend to boost the number of color display screens on the market by the end of the year, hoping to lure consumers already used to the richness of Nintendo's Game Boy hand-held platform.

Gamer Ed McGlothlin, who spent 45 minutes playing Snake on his cell phone last month during his lengthy graduation ceremony at Florida State University, said he can't wait for a decent wireless game.

"Snake is really not that interesting," said McGlothlin, who also runs a fan Web site called Gaming Intelligence Agency. "My phone's got Memory, Snake and Logic, and if I am looking for diversion, I don't want to remember stuff."

At E3, game developer THQ, which opened a cell phone software division earlier this year, will demonstrate a version of Tetris designed for the latest generation of Motorola phones. The two companies currently are negotiating a contract that would let Motorola customers play THQ games on their phones.

"You will able to play your friends on it and be able to use that phone to download other games and get upgraded versions of those games, or to get a multiplayer version of those games," said Douglas Dyer, a general manager at THQ.

In March, Motorola debuted two Java-enabled phones that allow a diverse array of video games. Users can log on to a Motorola Web site and use a special cable to download titles such as Minesweeper for free.

"The research we did showed that people -- business users, anyway -- wouldn't readily admit that they were interested in gaming," said Motorola spokesman David Kurt. "However, when we actually followed people around, they demonstrated that they were interested in gaming, at least when they were in down time."

Other industry players are moving to cash in on the growing popularity of wireless gaming, which the company Datamonitor predicts will be a $6 billion worldwide industry by 2005.

· Cellular carrier Cingular plans to launch a video game option on cell phones within two months where subscribers can play, chat and follow the scores of other players.

· Tech giant Qualcomm is betting on a new platform called Brew that enables users to download games via the cellular airwaves.

· Ericsson has teamed with Sony to develop wireless gaming technologies while joining other manufacturers to devise standard specifications for software.

· Eidos, creator of the popular Tomb Raider video game, is jumping into the mix by teaming with Nokia to develop five titles for its phones over the next two years. The first title is Gangsters, a Mafia strategy game already available for Windows that's expected to be released for cell phones this fall.

They're all following the lead of Japan's NTT DoCoMo, which has been offering games through its I-mode service for about a year and claims the service has become one of the most popular hobbies in Japan.

Also at E3, Nintendo will promote its Game Boy Advance, which marries its Game Boy technology with multiplayer ability and is due out June 11.

Finnish company G-Cluster will use E3 to launch a similar device, and Cybiko of Bloomingdale, Ill., will announce a wireless hand-held computer designed specifically for preteens

Namequoit.....

We have to keep it alive while waiting for the next PR. Should be fairly soon, maybe this month.

OZ

murgirl........

No doubt that during the next 1-2 years some pretty net stuff will hit the market. Wouldn't it be nice to see some of these articles mention "powered by e.Digital".

I think the Mini Yepp will be perfect for the 8-13 year olds, but the older teens will want more minutes and a better device.

Waiting for the big shipment of Treo's to the consumer electronic stores, hopefully within a month.

OZ

Danl.......Let me compute,

Volume at 167,000 times 1/16 profit = 10437.50 total times 25 % of the profits = 2609. divided by 40 bashers = approximately 65.00 each. Big bucks for no brain individuals, or $26. if they only get 10% of the take.

OZ

murgirl......

I remember that movie. RB still not on line. Just think, the bashers have no where to go and we can still communicate. Maybe they should shut the darn thing down.

Oh, Happy Mother's Day to all who deserve more than one special day.

OZ

JB..I tried just a few minutes ago, on two separate boards, neither post appeared. Really sucks!

OZ

Anyone....Is the RB board down..the last message was early afternoon.

OZ

jackvance......Not my discovery...I can't remember who gave me the codes. Just wanted to set the record straight.

OZ

Board control...JimC1997 is being too generous.

On the RB by invitation board, controlled by Oliocorn, he can reject an individual if only one or two posters object to the content. It is easy to look at a message and determine if it is bashing or constructive criticism.

I primarily post on that board, but follow the main board for valuable input, but hate the bashing posts that must account for about 50% of the messages.

We have over 21,000 posts on the invitation board and without any bashers present. Thy know that if they try and post they will be rejected, so it has remained clean.

If you can control entry, then don't wait for 15 negative inputs from other members, maybe one or two would do. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time keeping track of how many said what.

Wouldn't it be great to see the main board made up of only bashers. They wouldn't have anything to say and as for new investors, those are few in relation to the already 100,000 shareholders. That reason for posting there doesn't hold water.

Just another opinion on board control.

OZ