i know this is really the obvious comment, but some people have got to realise that sometimes a cigar-shaped MP3 player is just a cigar-shaped MP3 player.
first of all, the throngs of hipsters embracing the net will take advantage of the new "NetNoses," thus paving the way for such wastes of bandwidth as "grandmaskitchen.com" (popular with the Martha Stewart types) and "dormhamper.org" (a live netnose of an actual CS student's overflowing laundry pile!). These will be easily dismissed as fads, at least until the e-commerce community catches on.
Florists will soon get a foothold in the web world. No longer do guys have to send actual flowers to their would-be's -- rose scent and an appropriate JPEG will do. Personal fragrance companies can also take advantage of this new technology, not to mention aromatherapy and incense merchants.
Then the integrated netcasts will begin: can't make it out to the club tonight? don't worry -- we'll have a light show, phat beats, and the smells of drugged and drunk teenagers mingling with those of copious narcotics and artificial fog for you all set at liverave.com! just sit back and inhale the party!
David Bowie will make the news again at the opening of the world's first online opium den. The world will then see a major loss of productivity that makes the advent of multiplayer gaming seem like a minor distraction.
and, speaking of multiplayer, this area holds the greatest potential. tired of those damned campers? smoke 'em out with an appropriately placed round from your Fungal Sweat Sock Launcher! want to lure your enemies to the killing field? try the aluring aroma of tasty homemade apple pie! or, even better -- the BFG of the olfactory -- the smell of an actual woman!
that's right. the future is ripe with potential in the field of internet smells. get in on the ground floor before the RIAA, Microsoft, and major movie studios step in and figure out how to ruin all our fun!
slightly off topic, but, yes, Neutral Milk Hotel is an Elephant 6 band, but E6 has become more of a recording consortium than a label. Beulah is on Sugar Free, Apples in Stereo are on SpinArt, Olivia Tremor Control are on Flydaddy... only a few assorted EPs and 7"s have actually been released on the Elephant 6 label.
Not only did Tom Waits recently say that he'd commit to Epitaph (I believe the recent quote was that they are "a bunch of dedicated guys who actually care about the music that they're producing"), but Epitaph has been stretching its fingers past the "punk" scene: into blues and folk. So this doesn't just mean that punk will become readily accessable, but so will other genres.
MP3s for sale, well, I support, but I don't think they're the hottest idea. I've always been a big fan of music in general, and therefore a big "try before you buy" advocate. Sell the songs for 99 cents and you might have some buyers, but drop the bitrate or dub them to mono and put 'em out for free and you'll get a following. How many times have we heard Hip Song X on the radio, said, "Oh, I'll buy that album," then found out the album sucks, or the band is overproduced and can't play three chords live, or some other horrible situation? The way I see it is that MP3s are a nice way to reintroduce musicianship and integrity to the industry, things which have long gone unrecognized. They allow independant artists who are talented to get recognized and popular artists to have a chance to truly prove their worth. It's been said millions of times: set the water level and society will swim to meet it. Now we can hear Hip Song X on the radio and then go and find the rest of the album somewhere to determine whether or not its worth our $13.99 or greater. If it isn't, oh well. That band will have their moment and then fade away, perhaps faster than usual. However, if it truly is a great record that deserves notice, it will be noticed and bought and exhalted, despite what the big six and other critics think.
I'm just ranting, really, at this point, and we all know the virtues of MP3s. Epitaph is taking a step in the right direction. Now if Matador and Merge (Superchunk's label, with Neutral Milk Hotel, Rocket From The Crypt, Portastatic, Magenetic Fields, Ladybug Transistor, and Third Eye Foundation, amongst others) and Touch & Go (Jesus Lizard, Blonde Redhead) and SubPop (a whole buncha bands, even though the label tends to get sneered at) and, hell, Grand Royal (Beastie Boys' label, now with Lucious Jackson, Ben Lee, Butter 08, and some other fairly hip groups) would open up and do the same thing, we'd really be cooking with gas. Show the RIAA just what they're up against.
Cool! More proof that life imitates art. Can't wait 'til the day we have teleporters that make a chiming sound and we dress all the stupid people in red shirts.
Slashdot Mirror
i know this is really the obvious comment, but some people have got to realise that sometimes a cigar-shaped MP3 player is just a cigar-shaped MP3 player.
first of all, the throngs of hipsters embracing the net will take advantage of the new "NetNoses," thus paving the way for such wastes of bandwidth as "grandmaskitchen.com" (popular with the Martha Stewart types) and "dormhamper.org" (a live netnose of an actual CS student's overflowing laundry pile!). These will be easily dismissed as fads, at least until the e-commerce community catches on.
Florists will soon get a foothold in the web world. No longer do guys have to send actual flowers to their would-be's -- rose scent and an appropriate JPEG will do. Personal fragrance companies can also take advantage of this new technology, not to mention aromatherapy and incense merchants.
Then the integrated netcasts will begin: can't make it out to the club tonight? don't worry -- we'll have a light show, phat beats, and the smells of drugged and drunk teenagers mingling with those of copious narcotics and artificial fog for you all set at liverave.com! just sit back and inhale the party!
David Bowie will make the news again at the opening of the world's first online opium den. The world will then see a major loss of productivity that makes the advent of multiplayer gaming seem like a minor distraction.
and, speaking of multiplayer, this area holds the greatest potential. tired of those damned campers? smoke 'em out with an appropriately placed round from your Fungal Sweat Sock Launcher! want to lure your enemies to the killing field? try the aluring aroma of tasty homemade apple pie! or, even better -- the BFG of the olfactory -- the smell of an actual woman!
that's right. the future is ripe with potential in the field of internet smells. get in on the ground floor before the RIAA, Microsoft, and major movie studios step in and figure out how to ruin all our fun!
if we're going to music folks, why not the Devo lads? Or Brian Eno?
Or Richard D. James (Aphex Twin), who builds his own keyboards and codes his own software?
How 'bout Frank Lloyd Wright, inventor of the precursor to legos: Lincoln Logs?
slightly off topic, but, yes, Neutral Milk Hotel is an Elephant 6 band, but E6 has become more of a recording consortium than a label. Beulah is on Sugar Free, Apples in Stereo are on SpinArt, Olivia Tremor Control are on Flydaddy... only a few assorted EPs and 7"s have actually been released on the Elephant 6 label.
The more you know...
Not only did Tom Waits recently say that he'd commit to Epitaph (I believe the recent quote was that they are "a bunch of dedicated guys who actually care about the music that they're producing"), but Epitaph has been stretching its fingers past the "punk" scene: into blues and folk. So this doesn't just mean that punk will become readily accessable, but so will other genres.
MP3s for sale, well, I support, but I don't think they're the hottest idea. I've always been a big fan of music in general, and therefore a big "try before you buy" advocate. Sell the songs for 99 cents and you might have some buyers, but drop the bitrate or dub them to mono and put 'em out for free and you'll get a following. How many times have we heard Hip Song X on the radio, said, "Oh, I'll buy that album," then found out the album sucks, or the band is overproduced and can't play three chords live, or some other horrible situation? The way I see it is that MP3s are a nice way to reintroduce musicianship and integrity to the industry, things which have long gone unrecognized. They allow independant artists who are talented to get recognized and popular artists to have a chance to truly prove their worth. It's been said millions of times: set the water level and society will swim to meet it. Now we can hear Hip Song X on the radio and then go and find the rest of the album somewhere to determine whether or not its worth our $13.99 or greater. If it isn't, oh well. That band will have their moment and then fade away, perhaps faster than usual. However, if it truly is a great record that deserves notice, it will be noticed and bought and exhalted, despite what the big six and other critics think.
I'm just ranting, really, at this point, and we all know the virtues of MP3s. Epitaph is taking a step in the right direction. Now if Matador and Merge (Superchunk's label, with Neutral Milk Hotel, Rocket From The Crypt, Portastatic, Magenetic Fields, Ladybug Transistor, and Third Eye Foundation, amongst others) and Touch & Go (Jesus Lizard, Blonde Redhead) and SubPop (a whole buncha bands, even though the label tends to get sneered at) and, hell, Grand Royal (Beastie Boys' label, now with Lucious Jackson, Ben Lee, Butter 08, and some other fairly hip groups) would open up and do the same thing, we'd really be cooking with gas. Show the RIAA just what they're up against.
Cool! More proof that life imitates art. Can't wait 'til the day we have teleporters that make a chiming sound and we dress all the stupid people in red shirts.
--Chihu
This is very hip... Ryko's always been one of my favorite almost big labels (carried Mono Puff's first album, still has Morphine).
I wonder if some indie lables such as Matador will follow suit? That'd be great!