Ho sentito parlare di 'Oboe', un nuovo sistema di
distribuzione/fruizione della musica. La newsletter di oggi di
Michael Rbertson (boss di Linspire) parla esattamente di questo.
ha pure ingaggiato DVD Jon nel progetto.
Ciao
Emanuele
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: MM: Unfinished Business - Oboe
From: Michael Robertson<info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Unfinished Business - Oboe
December 1st, 2005
Four years ago I sold the profitable MP3.com to the largest music
company in the world. A company I started in my living room had become
the global digital music leader, helped establish MP3 as a worldwide
standard, and made me financially independent. But I didn't accomplish
all of my goals. I wanted to build the system that would move the
music business into the 21st century.
Syncing in itunes
While at MP3.com I coined the term "music service provider" (MSP) to
represent this future direction. It seemed clear to me that eventually
your entire personal music collection, like all data, would be stored
online. Once online, you simply request your music files be loaded
onto any device you want to use. Or anywhere there's net connections
you can play your music directly from servers. It's safe from theft or
hardware catastrophes and infinitely expandable with features to help
you organize, playback and find new music.
In 2000, MP3.com built such a system - a password-protected locker
system called my.mp3 - and was immediately bombarded with an avalanche
of lawsuits from the music industry. To load a locker, consumers had
to insert an actual CD and then MP3.com would zap the tracks to their
locker from a database of more than a million dollars worth of CDs
MP3.com had purchased. It was a brilliant system because music fans
got instant digital gratification and labels sold more CDs, since that
was the only way to load your account. It did not obsolete the CD like
other digital music initiatives but made CDs more valuable.
Not wishing to break their string of suing every new technology for 7
decades, the music industry sued us on a legal technicality. They
claimed we infringed their copyright when we digitized the CDs
initially. (Remember, we paid for the CDs and users had to have their
own copy to gain access.) The music companies convinced one judge of
their claims and the damages were so massive that, in spite of our
undisputed evidence that the my.mp3 service actually sold more CDs,
MP3.com could not even post a bond to appeal. So my.mp3 went away and
a terrific opportunity for phenomenal and balanced technology was
lost. Take a look at the locker's interface
Since that time, data lockers have become increasingly popular. There
are generic lockers that give you space for any type of files. There
are specialized lockers for email (like Gmail), photo hosting and even
video lockers like vmix (started by ex-MP3.com employees). But there
have been no music lockers - until now.
I would like to introduce Oboe, a personal music locker to store all
your music and make it accessible from anywhere on any device. Unlike
my.mp3, users are required to upload all their own files. That was
impractical in 1999, but doable today given broadband's widespread
popularity. Oboe makes it a snap to sync all your files by providing
easy to use software for Mac/Win/Lin. One click and all your music is
in your online locker. From there you can sync them to other computers
for offline playback or play them directly from the web interface. It
even keeps track of all your playlists and moves them to the web or to
another computer.
For iTunes users, we're providing a fantastic plug-in that makes
iTunes even better. You can now sync your music directly from within
iTunes. Click on "Oboe," enter in your account name and password and
all your iTunes music and playlists are moved to your online
account. Then you can move the music to another computer or stream it
directly from your online locker in iTunes format. Oboe works with all
types of music files including MP3, OGG, WMA, and AAC. It will sync
files you buy from iTunes or Napster, but these digitally restricted
(DRM) files won't play in the web locker interface.
Oboe is $39.95 per year and immediately available to users
worldwide. It includes unlimited storage, unlimited syncing bandwidth
and unlimited streaming at 192kbps. We are going to limit the number
of Oboe sign-ups initially so we can ensure ample storage space and
the best service we can provide for early adopters. A free account
will be available for those who just want a taste of the
technology. You won't be able to sync, but you will be able to start
building your personal library by collecting any online track via our
unique webload and sideload features and then stream those tunes.
The fundamental goal of Oboe is to make all your music available to
you on all devices. Rather than lock you into a Microsoft "Plays for
Sure" or an iPod monopoly, I want a world where you can play your
music on products from any vendor and even across vendors. The first
version of Oboe makes it possible to have your music on any PC -
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows or Linux - and works with any music
software. Before the end of the year, we're going to publish the Oboe
APIs making it possible for your music to be zapped to any phone, PDA,
tablet, game console or any other device with speakers.
In five years, carrying around an iPod and having to plug it in
various places will be as quaint as carrying around a wallet of cash
in our credit card society. It will be replaced by a smart net-based
system which seamlessly moves any music you acquire or play-lists you
create to everywhere you listen to music. That's the world I
want. That's what Oboe will bring. I hope you'll give it a try and
sign up today!
-- Michael