Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Three Amigos Stock Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sergio H who wrote (14064)	2/15/1999 8:35:00 PM
From: Ditchdigger	Respond to of 29382

IMO,they have some great products in the pipe,as well as current,including their modems,3D graphics accelerator cards,etc. and Home Free..As for the MP3,,nice loop--sell the Rio MP3 player to the customer and bring them back to the portal for "Legitiment" downloads(and a dose of advertising and sales of in house products<g>) of MP3 audio--this is key..DD This product should push them strongly through the softer quarters of spring and summer..I am holding long...and talk about free advertising with all the Rio hoopla....I love it!!!

To: Sergio H who wrote (14064)	2/15/1999 8:52:00 PM
From: Ditchdigger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29382

I could post a hundred articles but, here is one from today February 15, 1999 Controversial MP3 format gathers steam Erik Espe Business Journal Staff Writer MP3, the controversial format for downloading near CD-quality music off the Internet, is continuing to gain ground as the architecture of choice among technology firms, even as the Recording Industry Association of America condemns it as a vehicle for piracy. On Feb. 3, GoodNoise Corp., a Palo Alto-based company that sells MP3 files over the Web, announced a major partnership that many believe will further the legitimacy of MP3. Massachusetts-based record label Rykodisk--which boasts artists such as Frank Zappa, Bruce Cockburn and David Bowie--will begin selling its catalog online through GoodNoise's Web site, goodnoise.com. "We're going to rock the industry with it," said Bob Kohn, chairman of GoodNoise, of the announcement. Mr. Kohn believes the deal with Rykodisk, one of the largest independent labels in the world, is proof that MP3 is the standard of choice for downloadable music. "It signals to big record labels that MP3 is real," he said. "We all saw the future and did this deal. It's going to be a real watershed event for independent record labels seeking a new means for distributing music. We're already getting calls from labels around the country asking how they can be a part of this." Many MP3 supporters are hailing the deal between Rykodisk and GoodNoise as proof that the format is here to stay. "What it is is more fuel to the fire," said Bill Schroeder, CEO of Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc., a San Jose-based maker of portable MP3 players. The development may be important for MP3's future, because some major record companies have come out against the format. In December, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that it would begin work on a new architecture to replace MP3. Unlike the MP3 format, the new RIAA architecture will feature encryption technology, preventing people from pirating music and spreading it over the Web. The new format, which is being developed by IBM with the blessing of mainstream record labels, is set to be test marketed in April. But MP3 supporters believe it's too late for the record industry. While MP3 continues to gain popularity, the industry's new architecture hasn't been developed yet. "It's like announcing Betamax two years after VHS has become the standard," said Mr. Kohn. "MP3 is unstoppable." The RIAA has been so active in its drive to stamp out MP3 that in October they sued Diamond to prevent it from distributing its just-developed portable MP3 player, known as the "Rio." The RIAA lost in court and many believe that the suit only garnered Diamond more publicity for the player. Now Diamond is producing 10,000 of the players a week for retailers such as Fry's Electronics and CompUSA. Although the company hasn't released sales figures, director of marketing communications Lorraine Comstock said it has "a significant backlog of orders." Meanwhile, MP3 continues to gain ground on other fronts as the standard of choice for Internet music lovers. Three Korean companies have announced their own Rio-like portable MP3 players, some of which will feature personal organizers and AM/FM radios as part of the package. "People are jumping on the MP3 bandwagon," said Ms. Comstock. "It's an explosive market." Diamond has launched its own portal site to direct customers to legitimate MP3 sites on the Web, which don't feature pirated files. The portal site is located at rioport.com. "Our Rio customer base wants to go to the Internet and find downloadable music," said Ms. Comstock. "About 90 percent of the sites don't work because they've been shut down [due to piracy]." In January, Sunnyvale-based SanDisk Corp. announced its own plans to aggressively pursue the MP3 market by making flash memory cards to power portable MP3 music players. SanDisk believes the market for portable digital music players will explode during the next few years, according to Nelson Chan, a vice president of marketing at the storage-products company. Consumers no longer will listen to albums--but will instead download music from the Web and play it on portable players. "A couple of years from now we're going to wonder why we had someone else dictate what we're going to listen to," he said of the traditional album format, which forces listeners to buy a collection of songs instead of just one or two they like. Portable MP3 music players are a lot like Walkman tape players, except the music is downloaded from the Web onto a tiny digital server inside the player. Unlike portable compact disc players, MP3 players don't skip if they're shaken. "The advantage of these MP3 players is that they're much more reliable," he said. "I can be jumping on a trampoline and nothing is going to skip. The battery life is longer." Week of February 15, 1999 \| Leading Stories \| Top of the page amcity.com