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.jpg) BY
KURT HANSON
I think I've read about it once or twice, but either
I didn't understand it or its implications didn't sink in -- but when
I saw it in person, I got it.
But first, by way of preface: On my way from Chicago to the NAB convention
in Las Vegas, I stopped in Los Angeles last week and spent
some time at the huge Internet World convention that was going
on at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
I was expecting more than a typical trade show full of familiar companies,
but that's really all it was. (There was a Real Networks booth, an
Apple booth, a Netscape booth, etc. It was just like an NAB convention
except it was bigger and the company names were a little different.)
However, I did see one possibly paradigm-shifting device, which
I'm holding in the photo .jpg) above.
It's the Nomad Jukebox, which supposedly will be available
by summer.
What it is is this: It's an attractive, streamlined, lightweight
device that looks almost exactly like a portable CD player...except
that it holds your entire CD library!
I'll describe the product specs in RAIN tomorrow (the actual
capacity of the first version will be 150 discs, which I suppose actually
may not be your entire CD library), but think of the implications!
Does one really need an Internet radio "jukebox" approach
(e.g., Sonicnet, Spinner, NetRadio) when one can have one's one version
that's not somewhat customized but 100% customized --
and portable, too?
And if you could easily have your entire CD library accessible in
your car, without the aggravation of silver discs and jewel boxes
all over the passenger's seat and the dashboard and the floor, would
that be preferable to satellite radio -- or even, for some purposes,
broadcast radio?
Contribue your thoughts here.
More tomorrow.
READER FEEDBACK to article from Thursday's issue...
From Radio Business Report: "A real possibility for high
quality Internet streaming in your car or on a cell phone in your
future? In order to help speed the  delivery
of new technologies into the hands of consumers, the FCC is
looking at a controversial new technology that could facilitate the
next generation of wireless delivery -- 'Ultra Wideband' (UWB)...
(Read the full article here.)
"Will
the result be video or high fidelity audio streaming in your
car? Probably not...
"
--
Bob Bellin, MP3Player.com |
April
7 , 2000
11:29:58 AM |
|
If the claims they're making for UWB (that it permits
the cramming of more data into less space while facilitating
clean transmission even with considerable multipath) turn
out to be true in a way that is economically viable for consumer
use, then the limits on what can be done from a wireless application
will undoubtedly expand.
Will the result be video or
high fidelity audio streaming in your car? Probably not...and
the  stumbling
block will likely be practical, not technological.
My experience with wireless voice transmission (in other words,
the ubiquitous digital cell phone) is that signal strength,
not multipath is the major impediment to uninterrupted clear
service. Inevitably, when someone's voice turns to gibberish,
the signal strength meter reflects little or no signal. I'd
be really surprised if UWB was so good that you could stream
video, or even FM radio quality radio with less signal strength
than you need now for a cell phone conversation.
The reason cell phone service is notoriously bad in residential
areas is that people don't want
those big, ugly 500 foot monstrosities in their backyards.
Because UWB (or any other new technique) won't make those
giant metal structures any prettier in your neighborhood or
mine, I think the real issue is towers...how many and where,
not technology.
A radio GM (whose name escapes me...it was close to 20 years
ago) once opined that "...you have to get a signal to them,
they're not going to drive to where you are." It was true
for radio then and its true for wireless now.
Unless and until people decide en masse that better, broader
wireless service is worth the price of having a big ugly metal
tower staring down at them in their backyards, video on your
Palm Pilot or cell phone will probably remain something that's
possible, but not actionable.
Feedback!
Contribute
your opinions here.
|
I'm here in Las Vegas to cover the NAB convention, including
Multimedia World, for RAIN. So is RAIN reader  Mel
Taylor, who'll be contributing reports on various topics. Watch
for reports all week,  starting
tomorrow.
And while I'm here, I'm looking into organizing an adventure for RAIN
readers -- either a trip to a nearby restaurant
for some Chicago-style deep-dish pizza or an away team
mission to "Star Trek: The Experience" at the Las
Vegas Hilton.
So if you're here and would like to reach me, look for me at the Internet/radio
events...or try my cell phone: 1-312-656-KURT...or e-mail me
here.
In the most exciting contest in the history of Web-based
newsletters about radio and Internet issues -- the RAIN Viral
Marketing Contest, Phase Three -- we're giving away  this
week, to one lucky RAIN reader, a fantastic prize
package.
We've previously
announced that that fantastic prize package includes a state-of-the-art
Sony digital music player and a state-of-the-art wireless-Internet-ready
Nextel cell phone. And now this week we're adding something
even cooler -- a Kerbango Internet radio!
It's a gorgeous-looking little table-top-sized radio that will be
able to pick up hundreds or thousands of Internet radio stations,
with no PC required. (Read more about it here
and here.)
Kerbango's marketing director, Mark Auerbach, has promised
that you'll receive one of the very first delivered  units
-- in fact, you may even get to be one of the beta users!
And all you have to do to be eligible to win this fantastic
prize  package
is to recommend RAIN to friends and colleagues in your address
book who you think would enjoy reading RAIN. (And let
us know by "cc:"ing kurt@kurthanson.com.
As we've told you before, if you've already recommended RAIN
to some of your industry colleagues, then you're already eligible
to win. (Check the list here
to make sure your name has been put in the hat. (NOTE:
WEEK #3 NAMES ADDED 4/10/00 AT 2PM CDT.) However, it
would no doubt be good karma if you could think of a few
more people (whether superiors, subordinates, or peers) you could
also drop a line to.
So, why not tell a dozen or two
of your industry colleagues
about RAIN today?
If you need sample e-mail verbiage to use in making the recommendation,
click here.
Although your own words would probably be even better.
That way you'll make sure your name is in the hat for this
week's drawing to select the winner of this fanatastic prize package.
Thanks...and good luck!
More
coming soon! Contribute your suggestions here.
(Suggestions already in the hopper include CableMusic.com, RadioWoodstock.com,
Nerve Radio, Radio Gogaga, and HotCountryHits.)
Miss an
issue?
Visit the RAIN News Archives here.
 |
You
can easily click through previous issues of RAIN
by using the blue arrows next to the issue date at the top
of the page. (This navigation element has been added retroactively
to all of March's issues.)
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Ad insertion
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Logos
appearing below
are temporary placements, shown as examples
for size and position only, and do not currently link to advertisers
nor reflect actual advertisers.
If you are a vendor
and would like to know more
about sponsoring a button and link in this guide, please call RAIN
at 773-656-5878 or send an e-mail HERE.
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If
you are a vendor and would like to know more about sponsoring
a button and link in this guide, please
call RAIN at 773-656-5878 or send an e-mail HERE.
The RAIN Vendor Guide is scheduled to
go "live" sometime in the next week or so. |
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Kurt.
don't forget that you used a one-pixel GIF after the "Research"
line for spacing purposes! |
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