Slashdot Mirror
Glide Effortless to Compete in File Sharing Market
Dotnaught writes "InformationWeek is running a story about a new consumer application suite called Glide Effortless that's slated to be released in mid-November. Think of it as iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iCal, Mail, document sharing, shopping, and a few other apps all in one seamless application hosted as a service on the Web that could be accessed by any browser on any computer. It allows file sharing without the risk of illegal copying. It might prove a viable competitor to iTunes, if it works as advertised and if it can scale to handle millions of users."
... as I glide effortlessly to fp! Suck it!
In fact, Leka explains, the system is smart enough to identify copyrighted music that has been uploaded by users into the system.
Err, how exactly?
Does it listen out for generic beats, mixed with generic vocalizations of generic lyrics, flavoured out by massive over production?
Does it work in lynx? :P
I prefer to store data on my own computer, for privacy reasons. I will not use these services for sensitive, private data, because I do not know who else has access to said data. And I see no point in using their service only for non-sensitive needs, while returning to my existing solutions for private matters.
I doubt their service offers anything beyond what is already possible with a solid Linux or BSD setup, while costing far more and lacking the security I've come to expect.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Personally, I think this looks very impressive, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out.
My 3D Texturing Skinning work (under construction)
Is this the sort of thing anyone in the /. community would use? I don't mean to troll, but aren't there already a million and a half applications that people are already familiar with / already have installed that could do the exact same thing(s)?
This isn't the days of Hotline anymore. (Though it did pwn for its time... Ahh, the power of dc++)
Link: Glide Effortless
Seems like they're planning one gargantuan Flash site to run it all, judging by their current introductory site and the "flashy" screenshots of their upcoming one.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof'
Will run on any browser, phone, mobile device, set top box.. and will do everything office, itunes, windows etc does... and magically solves music piracy on the sidelines by magically knowing what's legal and what's not.
Same old story... Noname company comes out of nowhere, claims their product will cure cancer, end hunger and guarantee world peace all in one go. I call 'bullshit', until presented with real proof of the claims laid out.
OK, so I assume their fate is sealed now in this discussion? ;-)
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
I know you're kidding, but the fact of the matter is that they probably won't. They'll probably just scan for filenames containing a name of a famous artist or band. A threatening letter will be sent automatically, even in cases of non-infringement.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
From TFA:
The software, disclosed in mid-October, is called Glide Effortless. It's a set of 12 applications for content creation, communication, E-commerce, and sharing. The apps are Glide Photos, Glide Music, Glide Video, Glide Docs, Glide AllMedia, Glide Contacts, Glide Calendar, Glide Timeline (Glide's search engine), Glide Mail, Glide Cast (audio, text, and video conferencing), Glide Share, and Glide Shops.
Sounds like a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation here. Purely speculative, of course, but these individual apps would take quite a long while to polish to the level of their competitors, requiring a huge staff that a start-up just wouldn't have. It would be nice to have an all-in-one, platform-agnostic, Web-accessible solution, but it reminds me too much of those multi-function printers and mobile devices where the sum is less than its parts.
There's also the Google Mail syndrome, where people don't get on board en masse because they already have a Yahoo/MSN/whatever email address. Not only does the Glide suite have to be compelling, it has to make the user say "I need the whole thing" in the face of him or her already possessing individual programs they're already familiar with and are paying for. If I were TransMedia, I would have released demo versions of their individual apps, rather than cramming everything into one high-profile release. I think that's just asking for trouble.
The subliminal association would undoubtedly boost sales.
"Glide Effortless"
Unfortunately, I hear the theme is quite different in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison...
pretty high that it'll be a buggy bloated kludge.
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
This sounds just like what google is supposed to be trying to do... Free web-based versions of applications, including the supposed office suite, and the mail... But they've beaten google to parts of it; the question is whether this will discourage google from continuing, and if they will be as successful as google has been with this type of venture.
Promises are cheap. Slashvertising must be cheap too.
.Mac/Google's offerings so- anything new to see here?
Do these people have any track record? It's a startup? So I guess not.
Why is this making news before it comes out?
All I'm reading here are big promises on a product that a cross between
Oh wait....
From TFA:
"Not only is TransMedia selling Glide to end users, it's also licensing the software to media companies [b]so they can sell it as a branded service.[/b ] As a result, companies like Comcast, Disney, SBC, and Verizon will have the opportunity to offer an integrated, monetizable service that, at first glance, look significantly more compelling than the offerings from Internet portals like AOL and Internet software services like MySpace.com."
Gee, what I wanted, along with those Disney and eBay branded credit cards I don't have nor want.... just the corporations I trust with my personal info.
Simply because you have all these features does not necessarily mean that you're going to be a successful competitor against products like iTunes. iTunes has been marketed so well that it has become almost synonymous with online music shopping. Without support of the major labels and strong advertising companies you simply will not be successful against a product like iTunes in the mainstream market. Furthermore, many people use iTunes as a simple player and therefore when they do feel the need to shop online for music it's just so easy for them to do so through the iTunes interface.
Also, it seems that they're striving to have a lot of features however many sites that do this do indeed come out with many features however they don't perform any of those features exceptionally well. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but a startup company boasting this many features doesn't exactly give me a lot of confidence in the quality of all these services. This service, from what I can see, is also only available in a subscription based service model which quite frankly the majority of this market is not interested in. Their free plan also only comes with 50MB of space which is not going to persuade people to yet again switch service providers.
Most of the features they're boasting are also fairly standard and people are not going to switch to a new service unless it offers significant benefits. For example, why would I switch to use this email service when they only give me 50MB of space and other free services give me 50 times that amount? Switching these services is also a pain in the ass for myself and everyone who communicates with me.
"A Lisp programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of nothing." - Alan Perlis
Glide??? Wait, I thought 3dfx went out of buisness.....
Does anyone else see the inherent problems with offering an iMovie competitor that runs over the internet? I really can't see the point in this, and I doubt they've the bandwidth or CPU farm to handle such an endeavor.
I wonder if their service includes a free vial of snake oil too?
Sounds like the KDE browser with a couple new ioslaves to me.
Oh well, what the hell...
While I applaud your work, I have to respectfully take exception to some of your comments.
One potentially profound shortcoming of your heuristic is that it is not able to create encrypted information; please address this in future work. Your model for emulating 8 bit architectures is urgently excellent. In fact, the main contribution of your work is that you concentrated your efforts on showing that checksums and the Internet can collude to overcome this issue. You proved that usability in Pop is not an obstacle.
and I'm going to call it: Astroglide
Sounds like a 'personal lubrication' brand...
It's effortless because nobody will put in the effort to use it.
"A Lisp programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of nothing." - Alan Perlis
I guess that would explain why the site is down... :P
H.
When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
They forgot to use their own product to upload some data because I only get ;)
"This web document contains no data" out their server.
This space is not for rent.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
They almost missed it ... November's here already, less than two months left to enter!
random underscore blankspace at ya know hoo dot comedy.
September 21, 2004
ASCAP ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC TECH RELATIONSHIP WITH TRANSMEDIA
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with TransMedia for the use of TransMedia's Colaborata 2.5 digital media management and collaboration platform. Colaborata 2.5 provides an integrated, online media environment to securely manage and preview music, videos, pictures, documents and related information.
"Technological innovation and member service are top priorities for ASCAP," said Chris Amenita, Senior Vice President, ASCAP Enterprises Group. "We're looking forward to working with TransMedia and using their Colaborata 2.5 platform to help simplify our internal digital media management and collaboration needs, and provide state-of-the-art service to our members."
"We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the world's leading performing rights organization," said Donald Leka, Chairman and CEO of TransMedia. "The Colaborata 2.5 platform will provide ASCAP with an integrated and compatible solution that will allow them to cost-effectively manage and share digital media on a secure basis."
TransMedia will be elaborating on this, and making additional announcements of significance to the music industry, at a media launch event on September 22 in Los Angeles, CA. For further details, contact David Berzin at 212-675-6664.
About ASCAP:
2004 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of ASCAP. As the world's largest Performing Rights Organization, ASCAP has over 190,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members representing all genres of music. ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties for the public performance of their copyrighted works, and then distributing these fees to the Society's members based on performances. ASCAP's Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected by the membership every two years. For more information about ASCAP, visit www.ascap.com.
About TransMedia Colaborata:
The TransMedia Colaborata platform is designed to reduce Digital Friction(TM), which is caused by the rapid proliferation of digital media (music, video, images) information (documents, calendars, contacts etc.) and of non-integrated, non-compatible hardware and software systems used to manage them. TransMedia's Colaborata 2.5 platform combats Digital Friction(TM) by providing secure browser-based access to media content and information through a single integrated and compatible platform. Colaborata enables users to manage media files, communicate while browsing and sharing media, and access information through a fully interactive media portal. For more information about TransMedia, visit www.transmediacorp.com.
"Saying that Linux is inferior to Windows because more people use Windows is like saying that all restaurants are inferi
How in the hell are they going to provide feature-filled web-based applications to end users and other businesses if their web server can't even stand up to a Slashdotting? I may have to echo the "BS" claims already in place.
Some things work well being able to be accessed online (Mail and schedules are the best examples I can think of.)
I feel that alot of the service components are going to go to waste with underuse.
The era of the laptop doesn't combine well with the all-online paradigm. The most successful approach I have seen with online tools, are ones that download to your device, and sync/update when you get back to an internet connection. Simpler models of this are music download services, and video download services (rather than video streaming services.) Basically so you can carry your content with you, and back it up quickly to devices. Consumers want freedom over their data.
Ok, they're easier to maintain on several clients, but seriously now...
they fucking suck. Admit it, you only deliver to that platform because you're too fucking lazy or stupid to code cross-platform.
For god's sake, would you just shut the hell up with your pointless, offtopic anti-Microsoft rhetoric? Every god damn time you post I feel I've just become that much more stupid.
Is that "Glide Effortless" as in "Think Different"?
"Think of it as iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iCal, Mail, document sharing, shopping, and a few other apps all in one seamless application" One of the things I like about all of the iLife programs is how easy they are to use, and simple design BUT if I was to try to wrap them up into one package well I dont think it would be as simple. and when most free e-mail providers have more space than this all in one web application. I will have to see it to believe it, but im not putting much hope in it.
do or do not there is no try - yoda
Interestingly, the domain contact's email address is at transmx.com. The web server at www.transmx.com redirects to... ...www.transmx.com.
I am uninspired by the technical prowess of TransMedia's IT department.
--S
-- sigs cause cancer.
1) Yahoo has been doing all this for a couple of years. Photos, music, calendars, shops, auctions, mail, search... maybe not video. So what's the big difference? Oh, Yahoo isn't seamless. Right.
2) Gimme a break. None of this can possibly compete with a desktop-based application at dialup speeds, DSL, or cable. Although I know many people, including my wife, who use Yahoo Mail as their only email application, it is still clunky and awkward compared to a locally hosted mail service. Of course it has compensating advantages, not the least being freedom from email address changes every time one's ISP is acquired by a larger company, accessibility from every computer, etc. But as an application, it sucks.
Sure, everyone will have direct fiber to their home Real Soon Now. And when that happens, it will change a lot of things. But that won't make Glide anything special. Basically what Glide is saying that their applications will be really cool to use after someone else (phone companies, etc.) actually does all the hard work.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
This was the most unbearable bit of crap PR I have seen in a long, long, time. The only thing missing was "Ajax".
This whole thing is just another portal, but they've gone to foolishly great lengths to pretend that it isn't. "The Glide suite, due later this month, runs on the vendor's own servers and is accessed through a browser.", but it's not a portal! "Glide is browser-based and thus can be used on the three major PC operating systems -- Linux, Mac, and Windows", but it's not a portal! "Initially, the products available through Glide's E-commerce system will include music, ring tones, chocolate, photo prints, and personalized products.", but it's not a portal!
Six weeks after launch, Google, Yahoo! and MSN will all do exactly the same thing that "Glide Effortless" is supposed to do, and better.
and 6 months later...google will release a free version :D
Your missing the point. The point is what is the motivation for someone to hack into your computer and get personal information? What profit is there in personal communcations? Even investment information is a moot point (so what if they know what stocks/mutual funds you own? Now if you have your accounts and brokers stored on your computer, you are an idiot). The information doesn't need to be freely available because it isn't worth digging for.
-everphilski-
"companies like Comcast, Disney, SBC, and Verizon will have the opportunity to"
See, this creates the impression that they've already got contracts with Comcast, Disney, SBC, and Verizon.
But they don't. They're just saying companies *like* those, who decide to buy in but have not yet done so will be able to do the promised things...
It's like if I write a web page saying "through placing my personal ad on Craigslist, women like Elle Macpherson, Angelina Jolie, the Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, Audrey Tautou, and Jennifer Love-Hewitt will have the opportunity to meet me for casual sex, possibly all at once. So the rest of you ladies can see I'm a hot property! Better act fast!."
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
It almost sounded interesting until I saw that they actually expected people to pay for it. Not only is it not free, but $99.95 a year?
Search for glide effortless on google. The first two results are their website. No data. the next one has the same title as the second. Then come three news articles with the same text in all of them. One of them is even cut and pasted wrong.
"They might run their servers on Windows, if their main website is any indication."
Scientific deduction or sensationalistic karma whoring? You be the judge.
"Derp de derp."
Contrary to common believes the future is not "Purely Web application", but a "combination of desktop and web applications".
Take streaming for example. If Glide were to allow unlimited streaming then a couple of hundred slashdotters could easily clog down a whole network, even if it was of Google dimensions.
Compare that to a service as ORB Networks, that works as a combination of desktop power and web. All that you publish stay on your computer but is published on web. All streaming goes direct from your computer. Also it is up to the user what to publish and not publish. Copyright laws are the user's responsibility as it should be.
Look no further than Microsoft two new Internet-based software services -- Windows Live and Microsoft Office Live to see how incredible more powerful "combination of desktop and web" is that only desktop applications or only web applications.
So sorry, web apps is not going to do the trick (taking on Microsoft)
I'm in!! Anyone promissing ring tones AND chocolate is a sure winner.
This is what the internet would be if the corps. could turn back the clock and if they created the "internet". One seemless money making mechanism. No blogs, No free speech, No talking back to the corporations, No bad little net users giving them the finger just lots and lots of consumers assuming the position and saying thank you sir !
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world of p2p programs that allow file sharing without the risk of illegal copying frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: "Did little demons get inside and type it?" I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know - when a man like my client tries to download an innocent Beyonce video and it turns out to be copyrighted bukkake, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages, and two million in punitive damages. Thank you.
Even if you're too cheap to buy PGP (like me, for example) you can still run it on MSWindows under Cygwin. If you have a 2k or 4k encryption key it's not likely that anyone will be able to hack your private files :)
(and if you're a tinfoil hat-wearer, then you know the government already knows all about your private files anyway.)
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
You know, it's actually possible that they do? There's a service called Shazam where you can call them up, hold the phone up to some music that's playing, and then they'll text you back the title of the song. It's always worked for me, even when I was beign played the song by a send who over Google Talk. If the tech exists to identify a song from a 20 second clip at phone quality from a low-quality source, I dread to think how quickly and accurately they could do it with direct access to whatever mp3/ogg/wma/wav you were trying to share.
It looks like Digg is getting /.ed already.
/. effect.
No slashdot killer can be on the receiving end of the
Glide EffortlessLY!!!
Please! They need to buy an adverb first, then start shopping for clues.
Is it really that hard to download an app, ie iTunes and do cool stuff.
Doing EVERYTHING via the web is a waste, if you really want it that badly, make the Xprotocol standard
part of mozilla, then we can run X apps.
Are people that lazy they cant download an app in 12seconds? or do corporates prevent app installations?
Or is the real ticket here, controlling the user, via one app, no 200 versions to maintain ??
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Someday a real rain is gonna come...
This is exciting. It appears from what I've read so far that these guys may have done something that Yahoo, Google, et al have refused to do so far because they are too big and slow (read: corporate) to actually pull it off. It seems like a pretty useful solution for the typical consumer who doesn't have the know-how or time to install and learn multiple applications. The ability to share unlimited media previews alone eclipses any mail program that exists today, no? And video conferencing with built-in file sharing, previews and whiteboarding could prove useful enough to pay for.
I can just imagine it: "Please download this song, and tell us if it should be distributed to people who aren't paying customers."
There are laws right now to do with accessibility. Flash fails on this front.A visually impaired person will find this a very difficult application to work with.
Penn State "remains committed to working closely with the RIAA and other law enforcement entities"
I suppose it was inevitable that soon even erudite institutions like Pennsylvania State University would start thinking of the RIAA as a "law enforcement entitity." How sad.
I am not left-handed, either!