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HP to Launch Music Service, Player In 2004
securitas writes "HPShopping.com CEO Peter Appl told Reuters that HP will launch its own branded online music service and a portable MP3 / digital music player in 2004. Appl (the CEO) said that the newcomers would compete with Apple (the company's) music products such as the iTunes music store and iPod music player, among others. HP expects its store to be a branded version of an existing service. Appl also said that the launch will take place at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. Compaq sold its own line of digital music players, now discontinued, before its merger with HP. Mirrors of the Reuters story at CNN and Boston.com. A quick check shows that HPMusic.com resolves to an
'HP customer care local language selection' technical support page, and the domain has been registered since 1999."
Sheesh, you'd think that if they were going to copy Apple they could at least spell it right. I mean, Peter Appl? Come on!
I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.
...is that HP's entering the business. They're not creating anything new on their own: instead, they've decided to brand an existing product. Yawn.
I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of online music retailers!
I can already see it:
* Equipped with a 192-bit DAC for maximum output quality
* Sound recording feature with 1MHz sampling rate
* Full-color spectrum analyzer
* Sturdy, "expensive plastic" design- you can drop it, drive a truck over it, and it will still work.
* Modem line-quality test feature: just let it record the sound of your modem
* The MP3 player uses 3 DSPs for fault-tolerance
* Costs $15000
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
With half a bajillion companies now offering song downloads at $0.99 and none coming to us without some sort of DRM involved, why would we choose one over another? The Apple iTunes store has had so much success because of (1) the sales success of the ipod and (2) the ease on integration of iTunes and OS X. Now let's turn this into a look at HP. HP's MP3 player (while the MP3 player in question is purely speculative since it has not been released) is probably no different than any other MP3 player and I doubt they could be much better than the Neuros. So this gives us no need to choose the HP music store over any other store. Further, HP hardware is not proprietary in the sense that getting music from the HP store would either be a required method of getting music or the easiest because of a lack of other sources. This seems to tell me one thing: HP's journey into online digital music sales will most likely be short lived.
"1. The collapse of the RIAA's scare-tactics business model for coercion to expensive copyright, and a change in how people listen and contribute to the music industry."
The RIAA's lawsuits (and by the way, there were more today) are symbiotic with, and not counter to, the growth in the legitimate download services. The RIAA's tactic is to scare people away from downloading copyrighted music without permission. The theory is that with greater awareness that doing so is illegal, and/or a fear of being caught, downloaders will migrate to legitimate sources, like iTMS, Napster, and the metric squillion others that have popped up.
So, "collapse" isn't the best word -- ideally, the need to resort to legal action will eventually evaporate.
"2. The total destruction of all online music sales, as all said businesses compete eachother out of existence."
The online music industry is like any other: some big players, some small players, some smart ones, some not-so-smart. It's been clearly shown that there's growing demand, so the industry will probably be around for some time to come.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
For one reason: The popping up of all these services can only strengthen WMA.
Since everyone except iTunes seems to rely on WMA DRM, this slew of services may well be the thing that takes WMA from an also-ran joke to a serious media format.
I don't like the idea of MS having real power in the world of media formats.
I'm awefully distressed that Apple's music player isn't getting more recognition in consumer electronics houses. I went to Best Buy recently to pick up a much needed case fan, and was surprised to see that they carry iPods. Unfortunately, they have all their iPods in a locked transparant glass case at floor level, making it very difficult to look inside. Additionally, all the iPod boxes are oriented in such a way that the size is the only visible part of the box. On top of this case is the latest offering from Creative Labs, in a nice clear plastic case, showing off the (rather bulky) HDD MP3 player. It is impossible see what the iPod even looks like in the display. As I was doing my Christmas shopping at the time, I had my own iPod with me. I was asked about it by two moderately interested individuals, who were complete unaware of the presence of the product in the store. It's really too bad that the bottom line plays such a big role in the way these products are marketted. Best Buy has a much more significant markup on the other MP3 players, but its a little deceiteful to tuck the good stuff away like that. OK, enough of my griping. - J. B.
How in the world can this lead to sales of Inkjet cartridges for $40 each?
Packard Bell today announced it would re-enter the US market with the introduction of a new online music service and branded media player. Company spokesman Mr. Fuzuoku said "we will avoid repeating past failure by competing only in markets with no competition from DELL and H........D'Oh!!"
Ah, it's a lovely thought, but let's get real: that HP is long dead, and the bits they didn't spin off with Aligent got taken out behind the woodshed and shot.
No, this thing will be designed by ex-Compaq engineers. It'll be bigger than the Creative Nomad, flakier than the Rio Karma, heavier than the Zen, and more expensive than the iPod.
News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters? Like hell.
Cash cow? What are you talking about? The market leader can't even make money, for cripe's sake.
Perhaps it's infinitely more revenue than was being brought in before, but that doesn't mean that it's profitable or a feasible business plan. And they're just going to be reselling someone else's service, which gives them an even smaller piece of revenue to play with...