I haven't posted a new poll for a few weeks now, but the results are in. The question:
Do you use Linux on devices other than on the Internet Tablet? The answers:
Yes, for workstations and laptops | 247 (70%) |
Yes, for servers and network appliances | 182 (52%) |
Yes, for other embedded devices | 117 (33%) |
No | 68 (19%) |
There are a LOT more workstation Linux users here than I thought! Overall, 81% of respondents said that they use Linux on some other form of machine. Neat!
Next poll: One of my stops at CES was at RealNetworks. I am sure we've all tried the Rhapsody client (link goes to press release) for access to the entire Rhapsody library on the Nokia Internet Tablets. If you haven't tried it: Go ahead. The tablets include a trial of the software with full access to their online library.
I didn't get to talk directly with the product rep who deals with the N800/N810 but his associate passed along my question: Can we use Rhapsody for offline playback on the Internet Tablets? He replied to me and, while he loves his own personal N800, there is no offline playback available. RealNetworks has partnerships with others for devices that allow both streaming AND offline playback (see the Haier ibiza) so the business model is not foreign to them.
To get this to work on the Internet Tablets means a DRM module would have to be put on to the tablet. What I (and I am sure RealNetworks) want to know: Would you subscribe to Rhapsody if it allowed offline playback on the Internet Tablet?
Answers:
- Yes. Having both online and offline media libraries are worth $12.99/mo.
- Yes. I am already a Rhapsody subscriber anyway and this would be good.
- No. I don't want to pay for a subscription music library.
- No. I don't use my tablet for music.
- No. I am morally opposed to DRM in any kind.
7 comments:
I pay for the streaming services and would pay for the $15 downloadable subscription service!
Napster/NapsterToGo is another way to achieve this. It uses Microsoft WMA which has an ARM implementation available. Of course Nokia/Napster have to get the license to add WMA from MS. I believe the MS royalty is $0.05/copy.
All of the music subscription services appear likely to die because of what is going on with royalty demands. $9.95/mth is going to be $14.95 any day now. Yahoo has already announced that they are shutting down their service.
Not many people will pay $180/yr to stream DRM laden music. The price increases only serves to drive people to P2P. Hollywood is stupid, they should be lowering the price to $5/mth.
Please don't add more proprietary junk to my Internet Tablet, thank you. And since the repositories already have "free" and "non-free" components, *please* classify software accordingly, and stop putting non-free stuff in the "free" component.
If I want digital music, I'll buy it from Amazon MP3.
I would like to see a subscription service that I can also listen offline on the N8XX. I have no issues with proprietary software that provides value. Just having Linux on the tablets will not guarantee a successful future. Nokia needs these things accessible to the average user not just people using xterm and command line tools. That has always been the problem with Linux. It is perceived as a hacker OS not equal to OSX or Windows which it is from a average user perspective.
I am happy to pay both musical artists and software developers for their creative work. I want more of it, I want it to be more accessible, and I want it to be easier to use. So I say yes to Rhapsody and yes to making it available on the N800 when I am disconnected. The beauty of Rhapsody is that it is brings the music to me, I don't have to spend hours on Amazon or iTunes searching, buying, and downloading songs that I may only listen to once. There are hundreds of thousands of artists out there across the world, there is no way I can discover something new and great if I have to pay 99 cents just for the opportunity to hear it.
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