In one of the most interesting articles to appear in WIRED in a long while, Chris Anderson explained the concept of ‘the long tail.’ Now, he has announced a book deal on his blog. This will be a must read for me. So, what is this concept, you ask? Chris explains it like this ‘Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts. The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream.’ Basically, instead of the traditional bell curve to define interest – very little at either end of the graph, with most interest in the middle – the long tail of the digital age sees tremendous value (read revenue) in the tiny blips of niche interest. Check out his blog, and the WIRED story. It’s eye opening.
Category Archives: technology
Where you goin’?
Since most of us are on the move this holiday season, I thought I’d point this new bit of functionality Yahoo! has rolled out this week. As reported on Slashdot, the Yahoo! Maps site is now providing real-time traffic overlays on their maps. Supported mostly in major metros, this might save a step or two when planning a (yuk) trip to the mall this season. In Atlanta, the maps are using info from the GA DOT, which looks like the same info on the Georgia Navigator site. All the same, I’ll keep my Konfabulator Web Images widget showing me a set of Atlanta traffic cams all the same. And when I’m on the go (and isn’t that when we usually need traffic info?), I use the GA Navigator’s new PDA-friendly mobile version of their web site on my Treo 600.
iPhone Gets Official
After months of speculation, Apple confirmed today that they are in a partnership with Motorola to produce an iPod-compatible phone. Forbes.com is reporting that the phone should be available early in 2005. All the buzz is short on specifics, but expect at the very least a phone with a strong sense of Apple’s navigational and design usability. Apple announced back in July that they were creating a mobile version of iTunes for Motorola – hopefully this new announcement will mean more. Jobs cautions that this won’t be an iPod replacement – but a way to take your iTunes with you. Hmmm. That still sounds like an iPod with a phone. Anyway, too bad it’s not an iTreo….
Windows Media Center Extender
I installed the new-fangled Windows Media Extender for Xbox today. Very simple. Drop the ‘Media Center for Xbox Disc’ (DVD) into the Xbox, connected to the same network subnet as your MCE 2005. Why should you care? Well, if you don’t have a Media Center PC, no biggie. But the promise here is pretty cool. You can have your home PC hidden in your office, or in a closet somewhere, but access the PC’s recorded TV, live TV, pictures, mp3s, and other applications on your living room PC with no wires. NICE!
Box Contents:
So, get your Xbox connected to your TV, and then on the same wireless or wired network subnet. Plug the infrared receiver into an unused controller port on the front of the Xbox (it’s just like the DVD kit sold by MSFT), and drop the DVD into the tray and boot the Xbox.
After a few prompts, the Xbox reports a startup code you will need to enter back on your MCE 2005 box. Then fire up the Setup CD in your Media Center, mine being a Qosmio laptop across the room. After a typical Windows application install process of just a few minutes, several EULAs (who reads these?), and numerous progress bars, the installer asks first for the lengthy product key, then the startup code. Reboot the Xbox, and you should be up and running.
It seems to work quite well – although some buttons and interface elements gracefully degrade to have less animation, etc. to optimize performance over the terminal services connection being used. I found television to look quite good, most third-party apps to function just fine as well. More reports to follow!