Anyone willing to rival the iTunes/iPod model has my respect and admiration… okay, and skepticism. While the changes in DRM regulations can only help push forward the entire industry, any competitors are fighting against quite the behemoth (a very shiny silver and white behemoth, at that).

So who’s jumping into the ring?

Say hey to the new phone from AT&T and Samsung— powering Napster.

Yup, Napster.

Users can search through a music catalog of 5 million+ songs, preview song samples, and download their picks right to their phone. For every song downloaded, the user will also receive an email allowing him to pop a copy onto his computer for no extra charge.

Only prob? Well, other than the fact that it’s not iTunes… each song is $1.99. That’s twice the price of what iPodders are ponying up…

[tags]The Web Outside, Napster, Samsung, AT&T, DRM[/tags]

[Oh, PearlBarracuda, don't look so concerned... I like you! We're friends!]

I’ve only had about 20 minutes of play time with my Chumby so far (say hello to “PearlBarracuda”), but here are my initial observations:

The good…

1. It’s a cool novelty that could eventually be very useful, but that all depends on the types of widgets that are developed for it. Right now it’s just a neat toy.

2. It’s soft and leathery. And it comes with cute rubber charms so you can give your Chumby a little bling.

3. It’s a fairly quick and easy activation process… maybe 10 minutes start to finish.

4. It came in a sweet burlap sack with the Chumby logo on it… super packaging job! A pleasant surprise upon opening the box.

5. Most importantly… it’s completely open and hackable (I mean… that’s pretty much the entire point). How awesome/functional/popular this thing gets really depends on the community and how they respond to it… which will be very interesting to track. I’m also anxious to see if this ever hits the mass market.

The Bad:

1. The touch screen is awful, just awful. Maybe I’m spoiled by my iPhone (oh, you poor girl!), but the thing has absolutely no sensitivity. I tried my finger, my fingernail, a stylus, a chopstick, the end of a pen, a donkey… all to no avail. It took me 7 tries minimum to get the screen to respond… and it didn’t always respond in the way I was expecting.

2. Lack of battery ability

3. Current limited selection of widgets (although that’s simply a time-zero prob).

4. It’s a bit unstable and unpredictable… sometimes updating the channel online doesn’t immediately work on the Chumby itself (even after refreshing the channel).

5. The connection is super slow, although it’s hard to determine whether that has more to do with my wifi network or the Chumby itself. For the sake of fairness, let’s blame my network for now.

Overall, I’m amused, but left wanting more. I’ll be very anxious to see how the developer community responds, as the coolness quotient is majorly in their hands. We have two here in the office, so we’ll be doing our part!

*Update* [11/2/07]
Last night, I received an email from Sam, Chumby Support Manager, who had read my post and responded with some helpful tips for recalibrating the touchscreen so that it’s more responsive. Thanks Sam! After using the tip of a mechanical pencil (upon Sam’s suggestion) to recalibrate, it’s working MUCH better. Still doesn’t work with my finger, but the pencil is just fine as a tool. Maybe the Chumby should ship with a Stylus if this is a common problem? In any case, great customer service… I didn’t even need to reach out to Chumby– they reached out to me… very impressive.

*Update* [11/2/07]
Now that I’ve had a chance to add more widgets, I have to say, I’m totally digging my PearlBarracuda. It’s a pretty nifty always-on device… and set next to my laptop and iPhone, I can rest assured that I’ll ever *not* be suffering from Digital Info Overload. I set up Craigslist to show me open apartments in Cambridge, along with a slew of RSS feeds (Goog News, Slate, Slashdot, and so on). My iGoogle page will never play second fiddle to a Chumby Channel, but it’s got a little healthy competition. The question still stands: Do I only love this because I’m a nerd?

[tags]The Web Outside, Chumby, widgets, open source, third party developer community[/tags]

I was excited to receive an email last night letting me know that a limited number of Chumbys were available for purchase, and I should pony up and get one.

You say: Chumby whaaa?

I say: A Chumby can best be described as a device that looks like an alarm clock and behaves like a laptop. Chumby displays your custom widget loop on its 3.5″ color LCD screen, all the while decked out in some slick leather casing.

Awesome, right? Well, almost.

I was all set to blog about the Chumby as a neat new tool to carry forth the message of the web outside, until I learned…

IT NEEDS TO BE CONTINUALLY PLUGGED IN.

*sigh* We still purchased one to play with in the office, but man… so close to so cool. I understand the rationale (a battery can’t power an LCD–even a teeny one–for very long), it’s just really hard for me to get excited about something with a cord.

Being tethered is so 1985.

[tags]The Web Outside, Chumby, wireless devices with cords[/tags]

The Bzz Outside

AdAge reports this morning that holding company Interpublic Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Boston-based word of mouth marketing firm, BzzAgent. To be clear, the deal isn’t an investment, nor is it exclusive; but, what it certainly will do is grease up relationships between Interpublic’s agencies (e.g. Draft FCB, Hill Holliday) and BzzAgent.

BzzAgent’s network of volunteers is over 300,000 strong (and, for full disclosure, I happen to be one of them), so this is no small deal on the social media front. I can’t say I’m surprised– as the web shifts outside, the savviest agencies will increasingly follow.

[tags]The Web Outside, Interpublic Group of Cos., Draft FCB, Hill Holliday, AdAge, BzzAgent, buzz marketing, word of mouth marketing[/tags]

Okay, “gives birth” was a bad choice of phrase; please read on.

This past weekend, I stumbled upon a podcast interview with Leo Lorenzen, the CEO of Altura Ventures, a VC principally focused on funding Facebook apps. The interview proves the insane pace of the social networking world; although the conversation took place less than a month ago, the major takeaways are already severely outdated. To wit, Lorenzen is quick to draw a line in the sand between MySpace and Facebook, particularly when discussing open platforms. He posits that Facebook, as a SN open platform trailblazer, will make it much harder for MySpace to follow suit.

Well, apparently, not all that hard; it’s happening next week.

Lorenzen punctuates the divide by remarking that Facebook is more like “a proxy of how people actually interact with friends in real life,” whereas MySpace remains typically “web-like.”

The root of this dividing line, according to Lorenzen, is the concept of the Social Graph– a term rapidly becoming a hot industry buzzword (and, in true web 2.0 fashion, may already be on its way out).

So, what is the Social Graph? In a long-winded (yet alliterative) way, the Social Graph refers to the underpinnings of communication, coordination, collaboration, and commerce within a social network. In short, the Social Graph is defined not by the thousands of widgets bouncing around in Facebook-MySpace-Bebo-Land, but rather by what (and whom) lies underneath.

Put another way, the Social Graph can be thought of as a dynamic, constantly undulating Q&A session:
Who’s using all of these widgets, and how?

As I’ve been discussing in the past few posts, the idea of a Social Graph no longer belongs singularly to Facebook (even though it’s one of Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite phrases). In fact, it would even be foolhardy to apply it only to the social networking space as a whole. The Social Graph now appears to be busting at the seams and giving way to a new Term of the Moment: The Social Operating System.

It’s like Jargon Christmas! For the sake of blog space, look forward to thoughts on the S-OS later this week.

[tags]The Web Outside, Social Graph, Facebook, MySpace, Social Operating System, Lee Lorenzen, Phil Leigh, Altura Ventures, Bay Partners, widgets[/tags]

Yesterday, I posted about the thematic overlap of the Jaiku-Google deal and MySpace’s upcoming 3rd party developer platform. The analysis left me fidgety. And, when I’m fidgety, I ask more questions:

• Is this rapid shift toward open platforms and widget-mania resulting in thousands upon thousands of useless, hastily-hacked apps? [Okay, yes, but is there a germ of an idea somewhere in that mucky widgetpile that could actually change the way we live and compute?]

• Is this shift a burgeoning condition of web 2.0, or have we never grown out of the “Dancing Hamster Phase” of web 1.0, and we’re just now noticing the (widgety, microbloggy) shape of the new permutation?

OR

• Are we hesitant to assign any value to widgets because we too quickly deem them low-brow? Could the quickly expanding 3rd party developer space actually be a way out of the SN corporate mousetrap?

That said, I should bring to light another major SN player that’s part of the open platform party– following the example of Facebook, Linked In, and now MySpace. Welcome to the rager, Bebo.

Bebo has been “selectively open” for a while now, allowing a few hand-picked developers to exhibit their wares on Bebo Widgets; yet only since late-July have they jumped into this mosh pit. (Incidentally, they’re also rumored to be heading towards an IPO.)

Pete Cashman over on Mashable wonders what this means for revenue; I wonder what this means for end users.

There is a nugget of hope in this whole movement. Back in August, Facebook changed the way apps were ranked, based not only on number of users, but on how “engaging” they are – a move prodded by criticism that they were only highlighting popular, yet entirely useless, apps. This new method is still completely subjective, and doesn’t really solve anything, but at least it shows cognizance (on the end users part) that the Pick Ur Zit widget may be cool (for a second), but has no further resonance. In short, sticky is far from synonymous with useful.

So, does this simply leave us in a holding pattern? Not necessarily.

I’d be biased if I said the key to redemption in Widgetville (and ultimately culling out useful apps from the larger pile o’ bile) is some form of The Web Outside, but I’ll say it anyway. More specifically, bringing the most engaging apps into social places and making them part of the real world fabric can’t help but weed out the richest apps and weave them into our lives beyond our desks and dormrooms.

But, as I said, I’m biased… [see name of blog above]

[tags] the web outside, widgets, microblogging, bebo, myspace, facebook, 3rd party developer platform, open source[/tags]

Within the past 24 hours, two major social networking stories broke.

First up: Jaiku, a microblogging service oft compared to Twitter, was acquired by Google.

Next on the docket: It’s rumored that MySpace will soon be launching a 3rd party developer platform.

No one seems to be talking about them in tandem, but –from a bird’s eye view at least – the stories are begging for a paired analysis.

Let’s first take a look at the overwhelming reaction both announcements are getting from industry insiders.

In a word: dismissal. In two: utter skepticism.

In a few more: “We’re doomed”[src]; “…we fall right off a cliff”[src]; “Is that all there is?”[src].

And, in a tight little summation of the Jaiku deal: “This may also be a sign that Google has overstaffed its business development department and is doing deals just to keep them busy.”[src]

Brutal, sure. Off the mark? Nope.

These reactions clearly aren’t the product of a haughty hand-wave and a reductionist view of a few key business plays, but rather from a panoramic look at the current state of social networking– namely, the rise of microblogging and the rapid propagation of widgets.

Both conversations –that of Jaiku and that of MySpace– circle around the same concern:

Does this continuing trend (from blogs and fully-supported apps to microblogs and widgets) indicate a cultural shift? A shift *gulp* in which we embrace the frivolous, champion vacuity, and– goofy grins blazing– send ourselves roaring back to a time of chain emails, ComicSans-laden e-cards, and dancing hamsters? Have we never moved on… or are we in some sort of warped Web 2.0 revisitation?

Or, even more frighteningly, are we starting to grub for the lowest-common-denominator forms of mass media (derisive hat-tip to US Weekly and American Idol)? To put it bluntly, are developers now using the “people are dumb, let’s make them dumber” model that’s proven so successful for network tv and weekly periodicals… to create popular widgets?
More importantly, should this surprise me? (I’m thinking no.)

The millions upon millions of daily FaceBook users downloading widgets like Pop Ur Zit, Poke Ur Friends, and Slap Ur Own Ass (okay, I made that one up) at a breakneck pace since FB opened up its platform in late May of this year are–whether we like it or not– chiefly defining “what widgets are all about.” As MySpace primes to skip on down that same colorful, blinky, oh-so-widgety road, industry analysts are rightfully skeptical of the parallel trajectory.

But wait. Could these two stories portend some sort of sociocultural redemption? Does “widget” have to be a dirty word? Could these two deals be representative of a move towards utilitarian widgets? Will we soon be reading the headline “Worker Productivity Skyrockets with Continued Adoption of Microblogging” on our pimped-out NYT personal homepage– obviously fully mashed with our Linked In profile?

Perhaps. And who will lead the way? I have to give Goog the nod on this one.

[tags]The Web Outside, Jaiku, Google, MySpace 3rd party developers platform, Tech Crunch, NYT, microblogging, widgets, culture[/tags]

Hey, what’re you doing right now?

If you’re not playing LineRider, you’re likely being far too productive.

I can’t tell you how to play– the “aha!” moment of it is definitely half the fun. I will, however, tell you that the green lines are landscaping lines… I learned this the hard way, as I initially created my entire “race course” in green, only to send my poor linerider to an immediate, horrific, bloody death.

And then, upon piecing together the rules (it would clearly be too easy to press ctrl-H for help), I created course after course brimming with heinous tragedy. Ahem… Inadvertently.

Sounds awesome, right?

ScreenCap below of my picturesque race course of gory destruction.

[tags]The Web Outside, LineRider, Web Games[/tags]

AdAge pushed out a thorough recap of Anderson Analytics’ third annual fall brand survey of college students, which polls the brand and media habits of the 18-24 demo.

As author Beth Snyder Bulik nicely sums up:

They love Apple, shop at Target, use Facebook online and are split on whether they adore or despise the Geico lizard. They wish they were better at sports, watch TV more often than surf the web and view a lot of YouTube videos, but generally don’t create them.

In addition, FaceBook trumped MySpace (especially with females), and Taco Bell surprisingly beat out Mickey D’s, and Coke is still the bev of choice.

And, although I hate to admit it, the NY Yankees (as a brand, mind you) upset the Red Sox;
Yea, well, we’ll see how that plays out over the next few weeks…

Check out the full run-down below. [Chart courtesy of AdAge; Source: Anderson Analytics]

[tags]AdAge, Anderson Analytics, college students, brands, popular, YouTube, audience studies, The Web Outside[/tags]

Bob Dylan’s latest release, “His Greatest Songs,” dropped on October 1st – and was uniquely hyped by the promo site dylanmessaging.com.

The site allows users to customize the cue card scene from Dylan’s 1967 video for Subterranean Homesick Blues, shot behind London’s Savoy Hotel. Dylan is a natural at OOH messaging… Set him up with a Wiffiti! [Insert witty reference to The Times They Are A-Changin' here.]

Go take a look and make your own– it literally takes no more than 10 seconds from start to finish. Look closely– Alan Ginsberg makes a cameo in the background!