SkreemR: Another online music source

Skreemr
Between iTunes, Pandora, lastfm and hosts of other sources for music online, today's online music “shopper” is given numerous opportunities to find music on the internet. Skreemr, though just another source for mp3s, boasts itself as “The World's Greatest Mp3 Search Site.” Whether this claim is valid or not, the site does provide mp3s ready for play for free along with the source of where it came from.

The navigation and layout of Skreemr could definitely use a touch-up. Though basic, Skreemr provides many opportunities for sharing music.After you type in whatever song or artist you would like to listen to, multiple results appear, including remixed versions of the song you may have been looking for.

The site gives users a chance to rate the song and also links users to twitter, flickr, gruvr, youtube, wikipedia and lyricwiki. Gruvr gives information about local shows and concert tours. Links to Amazon are also available, if the user wants to download the song and songs can be sent to the user's phone as a ringtone as well.

Skreemr uses the free pricing strategy. It also utilizes the advertising model, with banner ads on the homepage and on the search pages. Since Skreemr distributes digital content, there is zero marginal cost. However, there is no labor exchange.

It's hard to measure how successful Skreemr is, despite its claim. Skreemr doesn't host any of the music itself, rather, it indexes music already available online. I suppose since not many people (or at least not me) have heard of Skreemr, that speaks to its popularity and most likely its financial success. Though there aren't too many ads on the site, the basic layout draws the eye to the visuals in the ads.

One major flaw that I see in Skreemr's business model is that it has no social networking aspect. If it did incorporate some sort of either user-generated content or at least some sort of social community, it could have as much popularity as lastfm or Pandora. One portion that could be expanded is Skreemr's “AudioRank” feature, which makes the higher rated items show up at the top of the list when searched. This can easily be incorporated into a social community, with top rated songs of the day or week highlighted on the home page. This could give Skreemr more credibility and possibly more success in the online world.

The Superficial

One of my guilty pleasures is following The Superficial blog. It's trashy celebrity gossip (similar to Perez Hilton...but about 1,000 times better) with hi-res pics and snarky commentary. Mr. Fish- the nickname for The Superficial Writer, coined by his fans- is constantly blogging about celebutards and their fashion faux pas, their promiscuous and drug and/or alcohol-infused clubbing nights, or their ridiculous commentary. Some of his favorite celebs to cover are Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, any Victoria's Secret model, any of the Disney channel stars, the Girls from The Girls Next Door, fake stars Spencer and Heidi from The Hills, anyone having anything to do with the Kardashian family, and Cris Angel.
Though the web site is trashy and some of the photos are NSFW, it is set up phenomenally well. Newer posts are posted closer to the top and they are categorized according to what celebrity is involved. So if you want to find out the latest news with the Rihanna/Chris Brown mess, just click on Rihanna's name or search it. Also, his "So Freaking Hot" bar on the right hand side has his fave picks of great pics or stories at the time.
Geekologie and I Watch Stuff are two other blogs by the same writer (Mr. Fish as I'll refer to him as). Geekologie is about technology and gaming while I Watch Stuff is all movie news.
I suppose because it's a blog, that makes it easier to follow the layout, but it's still an understandable and efficient layout.
And the commentary is dirty, but hysterical.

Woot!, Shirt.woot!, Wine.woot!

In today's world of technological craziness, finding a pure play company on the internet is no difficult feat. There are probably hundreds of companies to choose from, however finding an interesting, original, innovative and, frankly, awesome company that stands out from the rest proves a bit more challenging. With that said, Woot.com fulfills the requirements of being a pure play company as well as integrating an interactive community.
What is Woot?
Woot sells one item per day until 11:59pm or until it is sold out. The items are usually sold at a cheaper price than other places on the internet. Users are limited to buying only 3 of each product per day. Since woot is not the manufacturer, if there is a problem with the product, returning policies are through the manufacturer of the product. Woot actually suggests selling the item on eBay, and the best woot can usually do is a cash refund.

Woot's personality
Woot has a personality all of its own. Part of what makes woot so cool is its sense of humor; this is reflected on the home page of woot, in the description of each product and in the podcasts released everyday. The podcasts are a song, skit or funny sketch available through iTunes about the product that is available that specific day.
Woot has also created a community where users can comment on how awesome their product they got from woot is, or how much it sucked. Users can also ask questions regarding the product for that day. This is common considering most products are electronics, with a lot of technical jargon that the everyday shopper would not be familiar with. Woot also incorporates a blog into the site, as well as forums for woot-related content and non-woot-related content. Contests are also a part of the woot community.
In the event of a woot-off (which is very exciting), when a product is sold out, a new product will appear, with a 12-hour limit on items not selling out. After a product is sold out, the product will not be available at woot.

Woot also has a “bag of crap” deal, which has been extremely popular and has made processing somewhat of a problem. For $1 (plus $5 for shipping), woot will send you a bag of crap. This is literally random items thrown in a bag and mailed to you. Some items are useful and expensive, others are just...well...crap. Here are two examples of past bags of crap contents:

Speck iPhone Hard Case
Lowepro Rezo 30 Digital Camera Bag
Zune 30 GB - refurb
Kodak Easy Share ISO 1250
Dennis Leary doll
Box of MP3 accessories
Total value: $576.25

Evesham Nav-Cam 7700 Touchscreen GPS
Sandisk Sansa 2.0 GB Refurb
Lowepro Rezo 30 Digital Camera Bag
Bag Straps
Dr. Laura Doll
Sandisk Sansa View Refurb
Soyo Freestyler 600 Bluetooth headset (open/returns)
Total value: $653.83

Not all bags of crap contain expensive or useful items, but you never know!

Woot uses a virtual merchant model. The model has similarities to Amazon in that it does not sell Woot products, but products made by other brands. Shirt.woot and wine.woot do the same. However, woot is selling these products at a usually good price; or the products are somewhat hard-to-find. Some products are released initially on woot, thus woot has launch days, where the woot launch logo will appear on the home page. This gives users the ability to get the product before it is released anywhere else, giving exclusivity.

With Woot!, records are kept of how many of each item are sold each day, including how many users bought more than one of the item. Most of the items on Woot are electronic items or computer products; while wine.woot isn't always necessarily wine, other products (such as cheese) are sold on wine.woot, as well. Shirt.woot even has design contests, known as The Derby. The contests involve users voting on t-shirt designs, such as TV show titles re-interpreted.

Woot has successfully integrated an interactive community with a pure play business model that is creative and intriguing.

Apple Declares Copyright Infringement

On February 12, 2009 Apple Inc stated that “jailbreaking” its iPhone is copyright infringement and a DMCA violation. This is the first occasion that Apple has made a formal statement regarding the legality of jailbreaking the iPhone. The term jailbreaking refers to removing the limitations set on the iPhone in order to download applications and software not created by Apple. The term also refers to “cracking” the iPhone so that the phone can be used with mobile carriers other than AT&T.


On August 21, 2007 a teenager named George Hotz declared on his blog that he had successfully manually unlocked Apple's iPhone. This means that he had found a way for the phone to be compatible with other mobile service providers than just AT&T; this inherently breaks the monopoly that Apple and AT&T had over the iPhone. Though Hotz gets the credit for hacking the iPhone, he had worked on a team known as iPhone Dev; he was later banned from the group.

Hotz's manual unlock has been replaced by a software unlock that is most commonly used today. In order to “jailbreak” the iPhone, the phone must be unlocked using one of those two techniques. After being unlocked, software and applications not created by Apple can be downloaded onto the iPhone. It is estimated that the number of iPhones that have been “jailbroken” are in the hundreds of thousands.
Apple is comparing the violation to laser inkjet printers- where ink cartridges are not universal; they only work with the specific type of printer. It can also be compared to garage door openers- the remote opener is compatible with only one brand of garage door opener.
Some web sites are comparing Apple's iPhone compatibility issues with that of the automobile industry. Say that Ford car owners could only get parts or service at Ford-operated service businesses. That would create a mini-monopoly over the car industry. Though some car companies have done this already in a way- Toyota's Prius can only be serviced at a Toyota-certified service station. This is for safety reasons though, since the hybrid Prius runs on both electric battery and gas-fueled engine. However, for the general automobile market, this format would be unrealistic.


Part of this argument for jailbreaking the iPhone is that software developers can be given creative license with applications, similar to the applications available on Facebook. The possibilities are near endless when it comes to uses for the iPhone. The channel has already been created, now the creative messages can be assembled.





























The general consensus among iPhone users and those concerned with the iPhone's incompatibility with applications that are non-Apple is that Apple is “in the wrong” here. If people are hacking a system, or hacking a product, it means that the way it's working right now is not the best it could be. If Apple wanted to stop the hacking or “jailbreaking” of the iPhone, it would create the iPhone so it is open so that software developers could create applications for download that would be available to the public.

Mass Customization: A Case Study of NikeID and Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

Many companies are using Web 2.0 to their advantage, and to the customers’ advantage as well. The NikeID and Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ web sites offer customization for shoes available for purchase. The concepts are similar on both sites, however the execution and marketing of each site differs. After designing shoes on both sites and analyzing these executions, NikeID is decidedly more exclusive, creating a custom Kobe Bryant sneaker that is both functional and stylish, but mostly just impossible to get a hold of. On the other hand, Puma’s sneakers are much more customizable, with the theme of the Mongolian BBQ executed throughout the site, and the shoes can be better suited for females or for just casual wear. Puma’s shoes are also functional athletic sneakers, but they serve more than one purpose.
NikeID
Once at the NikeID website, the user will choose their language and nation- signifying that Nike is an international brand and present all over the world. Next, the user finds the link to customize the shoe- the Zoom Kobe IV iD.
There is only one style to choose from, but the user can choose from other pre-made styles and customize them or start on a blank canvas shoe. The shoes are basketball sneakers and they’re Kobe Bryant’s signature sneaker. His design is the “Power Tie,” in the LA Lakers colors- gold and purple with red laces. The shoes also offer Kobe Bryant’s “logo” at the top of the tongue. Nike’s approach to selling these customizable shoes is that is extremely exclusive. Only 24 pairs are sold per day worldwide until February 1, 2009. Also, the fact that they’re Kobe’s shoe definitely gives the shoe more prestige and creates buzz.
Users are allowed to go on and customize their own shoes; they just can’t actually buy the shoe. This marketing technique is meant to draw attention and give exclusivity to the product, but for Nike sneaker fans who just spent 20 minutes designing a shoe that they would like to purchase, this is just annoying and can exclude these customers. In addition to choosing the material for some parts of the shoe, most parts of the shoe are customizable by color and there’s a pretty good selection of colors. Also, there is custom lettering embroidered on the outsides and back of the shoe, with a limit of 10 characters on the outsides and 2 characters on the backs (mostly used for sports numbers).

Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ
Puma’s marketing technique is to compare the creation of a shoe with creating a dish at Mongolian BBQ- mixing in all the ingredients for an awesome end product. The website is much more tailored to those who wish to create a custom shoe- with three types of shoe to choose from and many more material, color and actual pieces to customize, the shoes can be stylish and casual or sporty and functional. The shoes have many more options that females would like to see in a stylish sneaker rather than just the traditional functionality of a sneaker for athletics. In addition to the multiple options for a custom shoe, Puma offers their customers to actually buy the shoe they have just designed.
Both web sites offer similar interface when it comes to designing their shoe- it’s not so much designing a shoe but more picking the colors for everything. Both sites allow for a virtual shoe to be shown, and the shoe is visually changed as each color choice is made. Nike shows that there are 13 options to customize while Puma breaks it down by top, side and back of shoe for parts to design. One reason why Puma offers more customization in their shoes is that Puma shoes are a bit more intricate compared to Nike. Also, once again, Nike’s custom Kobe shoes are exclusive while Puma’s custom shoes are designed by the customer and available for purchase for everyone.
Both Nike and Puma offer the customer to name their shoe, save their design, print it and send it to a friend. Nike offers the customer the option to share their design on Facebook and Myspace while Puma allows for five background choices, a chance to name the inspiration for the design, and the chance to upload photos to your account.
Price range for the two companies’ shoes is comparable. Nike’s Kobe shoe is $140, while the Puma shoes’ costs vary depending on the style. I designed two types of Puma shoes- one pair cost $130, while the other cost $110.
In my opinion, Puma is using technology to their advantage in a better way. I think that even though both Puma and Nike produce athletic shoes, their target markets are different. Nike is definitely aimed more toward the actual functional sneaker for athletic use; though the shoes can be marketed as a casual and style shoe. However, Puma’s materials, colors and designs are more lending toward the fashion shoe, while the shoes are still functional as athletic shoes.
Shopping on the Puma site was definitely more user-friendly than the Nike site, mostly because Nike doesn’t allow everyone to buy the shoe they have just designed. While exclusivity has its place and is a valuable tool to use, it is not always the best tool to use when marketing items that most Americans (and sneaker-wearers worldwide, for that matter) purchase. The Puma web site had a concept, explained the idea, and executed this concept through the web site perfectly. The theme is present in all aspects of shopping- so far as to call the shopping cart the doggie bag.

Both Nike and Puma have used Web 2.0 to better serve their customers through mass customization. Perhaps mass customization is the new future of shoe production for relatively high end athletic shoes.

Want to customize your own shoes?
Try NikeID or Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

Making the connection

The problem that I see with the media's new "obsession" with soft news is that consumers want the soft news. Honestly, some journalists and some media-consumers are concerned with hard news, the investigative pieces, but for the most part the general population has no connection with an article titled "10 Are Killed in Bombings at Embassy in Yemen." Why? Because they can't relate to this information. It is too obscure for the mass public to care about. Should they care? Maybe the question isn't should the public care, but more WHY would the public care? Journalists, if they feel that hard news should be more prominent in the mass public's mind maybe need to find a way to make that connection with their audience. It's straight up marketing. You have your product/service- the news, the issues, the stories. You have your target markets- news consumers, which vary depending on the medium you use. Your message (and here's the beauty of it) you can change. You can make your product important to consumers by telling them WHY they need it or why it's important to you. You wouldn't try to sell denture cleaner to teenagers. Why? Because it's not something they need or can connect with. So why would you try to force news consumers who are craving soft news to read hard news unless it's something they need or can connect with.

Has the agenda been set?

One of the NY Times front page articles, Palin's Pipeline Is Years From Being a Reality, definitely plays in to my previous post about agenda-setting in the media. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that the NY Times is a liberal publication, and if you didn't know, well then you probably don't read the times very often. Once again, the media has chosen to highlight and perhaps criticize Palin and her actions. I believe that the media has not only a right, but a duty to report the real issues that will affect citizens when a figure is nominated for public office. However, Palin isn't even in a national position yet and she is being critisized for her actions. What choice do news consumers have but to form an opinion based off of what the news tell us?