Technology: Contemplation & Speculation
Contemplations
Thoughts on technology
Walmart social media?
01 year ago
by prush
in Contemplations
I love reading about odd marriages…
I never imagined that Walmart would attempt to get in on the social web like this.
Their purchase of Kosmix might add a neat feature of commerce to our ring of friends.
Let the spam begin
01 year ago
by prush
in Contemplations
E-mail marketing firm Epsilon was compromised and addresses were leaked.
As a customer of many of the companies they manage lists for, my inbox is already getting flooded.
Wonderful…
Hour.ly
01 year ago
by prush
in Contemplations
Smart idea for a startup…
Hour.ly matches up temp job seekers with employers and has partnered with TinyChat. This ought to be a great partnership for them. If you have never checked out TinyChat, it’s a very impressive video chat system that requires no thick client install.
This ought to really speed up the process to get temporary positions filled.
RedBox Streaming
01 year ago
by prush
in Contemplations
Rumor has it that RedBox may jump into the streaming video business. I have become a big fan of RedBox and love the ease and price ($1!) for a quick movie rental. It would be awesome to stream a movie on demand for the same low rate but I doubt that will happen; hello subscription service…
Apple iMob
01 year ago
by prush
in Contemplations
Anybody who has watched a gangster movie knows what racketeering means. The most common form is “protection” racketeering where criminals demand payment from businesses in exchange for protection from “other” criminals. If payment is not made the abuse comes from the very group demanding the money for protection; the defender become the harmer.
Apple’s new subscription payment model reminds me of the protection racket. Steve Jobs said in a press release, “if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app.” While this sounds filled with good intention, the problem is Apple takes 30% of that subscription fee!
Jobs also stated “when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing.” The protection racket: pay us our cut or your app gets removed from the app store.
Besides, I’m not quite sure how Apple is bringing the new subscriber to the app…
The content provider had to create the app and provide the content. Didn’t Apple already get paid for the device itself? Yes, they provide iTunes (and the app store) as a means to get the application to the device but without a jailbreak this is the only official method of getting an app ON THE DEVICE. Doesn’t getting a subscriber depending solely on the content of the subscribed material? What did Apple have to do with the content? NOTHING!
I’m not affected by these new subscription terms as I do not provide any such subscription content but I feel for those who do. Isn’t this a violation of the RICO Act of 1970.