To all, a repost from Yahoo Thread,first time I have seen something I wanted to clip to here.
Rio and E-Commerce
by: MerryOtter (31/M/Kirkland (Seattle), Wash.) 13009 of 13031
You face similar issues whenever you purchase something online that is digitally transferred to you. You must keep track of the unlock/registration code, or keep the binaries handy on disk or backup media.
The Rio is not designed for long-term archival of media. You do in fact use your hard drive as a repository of all the music you've downloaded... it's your "CD rack" -- with the difference being that every track of every CD is immediately available.
The Rio is like a digital tape cassette. You can erase and re-record it indefinitely. And unlike tapes, which take at least as much time to record as the length of music the cassette will hold, you can load the Rio in a minute or two just by dragging and dropping the desired tracks onto the Rio desktop icon.
Successful companies will make it easy for you to re-download material you've purchased online. For example, suppose a hard disk crash costs you a couple dozen MP3 tracks. You should be able to return to the online source, verify your identity, and re-download the whole set. [This would, by the way, obviate the need to produce "backup copies" of media, an opening RIAA apparently hasn't considered in its reluctance to adopt digital formats.]
Indeed, we're just at the beginning of what this technology can do. You could envision an entire line of Rio equipment, spanning from personal gear to stereo components, to Rio MP3 CD-players (an MP3 CD could contain more than 12 hours of music) to car stereo items. Imagine a "Web TV" for MP3 that integrates nicely into your stereo system, connects to your cable modem, and works with a "Rio III" for wireless transmission of music.
The great thing about Diamond is that they've done an excellent job of associating the Rio brand with MP3 and indeed the whole category of electronically distributed music. [I suspect the Rio's firmware can be updated for new formats.]
Unlike some of the folks who are frustrated with the slow, steady (and boring) groth of this stock, I'm investing in Diamond because I think they will be the AOL of electronic music distribution... a true consumer explosion that won't be fully realized for a couple years yet.
For example: when AOL began, the modem was a clunky tool that not many people had and was very hard to use properly. Today, however, it's largely faded into the background. Modems (and those pesky AOL CDs) are in virtually all PCs sold. Similarly, the capability to manage music via your PC and other devices will soon be taken for granted. The mechanisms, procedures, business practices, and pricing models will also settle down into predictable, comfortable, familiar patterns.
When electronic music distribution hits big, consumers will know where to go for it. And it will be Diamond they think of first.
Hiram |
