The Lamp Array on the Miracle Mile
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
SoCal Photos: Day 26
I'm going to have to get better about this weekend thing.
PV and Catalina Island...
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
SoCal Photos: Day 11
One of my favorites. Downtown with the snow-covered San Gabriels in a bed of clouds in the background.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Monday, January 07, 2013
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Saturday, January 05, 2013
SoCal Photos: Day 5
Since it's been so cold lately, it seems this is what the view should look like right now...
Friday, January 04, 2013
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
The Death of Media Ownership
Perhaps the consumer in me still feels the sting of having invested in MiniDisc. I still have unwrapped blanks packed away, somewhere. But I never bought into the whole BlueRay phase. I was as convinced as I am now that this phase was a sandbag by the movie studios to attempt one last gasp at yet another media format before everything went digital. Last week I saw a commercial for a movie that was being released to the small screens, touting that it was avaialble for "Direct Digital Download in HD." You could hear the manufacturing press at the BlueRay plant come to a grinding halt. But the shift in media to an all-digital format brings with it a complementary change in consumer habit; a change in which the way they consume and pay for media.
I bought my last DVD in 2004. Sure, I have The Hangover (which was a gift) and a few others that may have crept in, but in 2004 I picked up one of those Blockbuster monthly passes and began burning everything I rented, effectively keeping my rental library in-house. I was paying a monthly amount that the studios were getting, so what should they care if I have access to a huge library of my favorites at a moment's notice? Then came Netflix and in 2005 I bid Blockbuster adieu, as Netflix was cheaper and offered me more rentals at once.
I was introduced to the Netflix streaming service in 2007, as I attempted to catch-up on the series, Heroes. I would watch episode upon episode at my desk at home on my laptop. After some clicking around, then I just had to catch up on The Office, and I was hooked.
Fast Forward to 2013. Sure, the streaming services are not yet perfect across the major competitors, and not all titles are available yet, but by and large, monthly subscription services are obliterating DVD sales. And when I can't yet access a title at Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, or another subscription service, there's always Video on Demand to pick up the remaining slack for something I may want to see. Ownership of Video media, physical or digital, is quickly losing its utility with popularity not far behind.
But music had been different. Napster started the digital media revolution and helped me get my initial taste for mp3s and all they could be for an audiofile. I could even load them onto my MiniDisc. My massive CD library could now be digital and turn into any number of mixes. And I've subsequently doubled my library with digital purchases, as well. The last physical album I bought was The Documentary. But even with a library of 10,000+, I've finally found myself wondering if I should begin relying on subscription music services.
The cloud has completely changed the game in this arena, and given the amount of segmentation from music software producers, consumers have been left at a technological disadvantage. By that, I mean that the technology exists to integrate cloud software across IP addresses that all access a single music library, but we consumers aren't granted this access due to corporate rivalries. Case-in-Point: I like to listen to my library in a rather "even" fashion-- no song is listened to too often. Therefore, I like to make playlists based on a "Last Played" basis. However, syncing this information to my library from my phone, iPad, iPod, and computer (and potentially car?) is all but impossible. To make matters worse, I regularly have issues with the "Last Played" syncing just from mu iPod to my PC, and even gaining access to a library that is supposedly shared accross my home network via the iPad is impossble. So the verdict, other than that Apple is Fired, is that a cloud-based subscription streaming service may provide the missing link. Sure, it costs some cash, but if I stop purchasing my music for ownership and instead purchase it for listenership, then everything should be a wash, just as it has with DVDs.
By the end of 2013, we may see the end of media ownership as we know it. Will they even be making DVD/BlueRay players this time next year? Will they even have a CD section in the electronics department, anymore?
I bought my last DVD in 2004. Sure, I have The Hangover (which was a gift) and a few others that may have crept in, but in 2004 I picked up one of those Blockbuster monthly passes and began burning everything I rented, effectively keeping my rental library in-house. I was paying a monthly amount that the studios were getting, so what should they care if I have access to a huge library of my favorites at a moment's notice? Then came Netflix and in 2005 I bid Blockbuster adieu, as Netflix was cheaper and offered me more rentals at once.
I was introduced to the Netflix streaming service in 2007, as I attempted to catch-up on the series, Heroes. I would watch episode upon episode at my desk at home on my laptop. After some clicking around, then I just had to catch up on The Office, and I was hooked.
Fast Forward to 2013. Sure, the streaming services are not yet perfect across the major competitors, and not all titles are available yet, but by and large, monthly subscription services are obliterating DVD sales. And when I can't yet access a title at Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, or another subscription service, there's always Video on Demand to pick up the remaining slack for something I may want to see. Ownership of Video media, physical or digital, is quickly losing its utility with popularity not far behind.
But music had been different. Napster started the digital media revolution and helped me get my initial taste for mp3s and all they could be for an audiofile. I could even load them onto my MiniDisc. My massive CD library could now be digital and turn into any number of mixes. And I've subsequently doubled my library with digital purchases, as well. The last physical album I bought was The Documentary. But even with a library of 10,000+, I've finally found myself wondering if I should begin relying on subscription music services.
The cloud has completely changed the game in this arena, and given the amount of segmentation from music software producers, consumers have been left at a technological disadvantage. By that, I mean that the technology exists to integrate cloud software across IP addresses that all access a single music library, but we consumers aren't granted this access due to corporate rivalries. Case-in-Point: I like to listen to my library in a rather "even" fashion-- no song is listened to too often. Therefore, I like to make playlists based on a "Last Played" basis. However, syncing this information to my library from my phone, iPad, iPod, and computer (and potentially car?) is all but impossible. To make matters worse, I regularly have issues with the "Last Played" syncing just from mu iPod to my PC, and even gaining access to a library that is supposedly shared accross my home network via the iPad is impossble. So the verdict, other than that Apple is Fired, is that a cloud-based subscription streaming service may provide the missing link. Sure, it costs some cash, but if I stop purchasing my music for ownership and instead purchase it for listenership, then everything should be a wash, just as it has with DVDs.
By the end of 2013, we may see the end of media ownership as we know it. Will they even be making DVD/BlueRay players this time next year? Will they even have a CD section in the electronics department, anymore?
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