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diff --git a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/ZZ43205A33.jpg b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/ZZ43205A33.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7a16ba7..0000000 --- a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/ZZ43205A33.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/pandora.txt b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/pandora.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c182a76..0000000 --- a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/pandora.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1 +0,0 @@ -[Pandora][1], the streaming internet radio service, has begun testing pre-roll, in-stream advertisements and so far user reaction seems to be overwhelmingly negative. The Digital Music Weblog has [a brief interview with Pandora's CTO Tom Conrad][2] in which he says "Less than 10% of our daily listeners hear the ad.... It's cap'd at once per day per listener and it's targeted by age."
There's post in [the forums at Ideabox][3] that sums up many users' reactions to the ads: "Never. Put. Ads. In. The. Music. Stream."
But the capped at once per day bit seems to be a change based on [negative][4] [feedback][5] since initially users reported hearing the ad several time a day.
I use Pandora pretty much every day and so far I haven't actually heard the ads, but according to most, the primary ad seems to a 9 second segment for McDonald's dollar Value menu. Some of the negative reaction may be attributable to the advertisement's lack of targeting. After all, what the heck does McDonald's Dollar Value menu have to do with music?
Perhaps if the ads applied the same intelligence as Pandora's recommendations features they would be less annoying. For instance why not stream ads from music-relevant services. Conrad says that such targeted advertising may be in the cards, "we're always looking for ways to improve our ability to deliver relevant ads that don't detract from the listening experience."
One of the appeals of Pandora for me, aside from its excellent recommendations features, was that the company seemed more personalized than many of its competitors. For instance the tag line on the main site reads: "We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you." I guess I didn't know that conversation would include product peddling, but if it's any consolation to Pandora, if nothing else, at least you know there are a lot of users who are very passionate about your service.
But at the same time of course Pandora needs to make money, otherwise the service will disappear altogether and the company seems to be listening to feedback since they've apparently cut back on the number of ads.
One of the difficulties facing Pandora, as Pete Cashmore [points out on Mashable][6], is that Pandora's service doesn't generate pageviews, which makes it a hard sell for advertisers who still believe that pageviews are tied to traffic numbers.
Still, regardless of the reasoning, the prospect of in-stream ads leaves me a little cold, wasn't the promise of internet radio at least partly to escape from the high ad-to-music ratio of commercial FM?
Let us know what you think in the comments.
[1]: http://www.pandora.com/ "Pandora"
[2]: http://digitalmusic.weblogsinc.com/2007/01/09/pandora-exec-speaks-about-advertisements-in-stream/ "Pandora exec speaks about advertisements in stream"
[3]: http://ideabox.crispyideas.com/article/show/50313 "Never. Put. Ads. In. The. Music. Stream."
[4]: http://jdamer.com/wordpress/2007/01/06/pandora-crosses-the-line/ "Pandora crosses the line"
[5]: http://geeklimit.com/2007/01/08/pandora-gets-commercials/ "Pandora gets commercials"
[6]: http://mashable.com/2007/01/09/pandora/ "Pandora Audio Ads Unwelcome"
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[Recent betas][2] (I'm using build 3120 which is listed as Release Candidate) from Parallels feature something called "Coherence Mode" which enables you to run Windows applications outside the emulation window. Combine that with a Mac OS X flavored theme for Windows and it can be hard to tell the difference between emulated Windows programs and native application running in Mac OS X.
Coherence Mode is in a word, amazing, but also, as several people I've demonstrated it to have remarked, somehow wrong.
I had a little trouble installing Windows though I can't say for sure that Parallels was at fault. For some reason the first time I tried the installation cd got hung up while trying to "install devices," but a second attempt came off without a hitch.
As you might expect, Parallels is a RAM hungry app, not only does Parallels need RAM, but obviously so does Windows itself. With a lot of applications open in both the VM and Mac OS X, Parallels slows down my Macbook (Core 2 Duo with 1 gig or RAM) to a virtual considerably.
So long as I limit myself to working in either OS, and not switch between them too often it's usable and no doubt increasing my RAM would vastly improve performance. Putting Windows in full screen model and ignoring Mac OS X gives me performance speeds that are on par with mid-level PCs.
Perhaps the best thing about Parallels, once you get past the wow factor, is the ability to seamlessly drag and drop files from Windows to Mac and back. Other useful features include Auto-Adjusting Screen Resolution, Transporter RC to migrate an existing Windows installation to a Parallels VM, and improved USB device support.
If you're a PC user who's thought of switching to Mac, but you don't want to give up your favorite applications, there's no need to worry -- you can have the best of both worlds.
To be honest I would be surprised if Apple didn't snatch up Parallels at some point since it provides a much better interface for Windows than Basecamp. And I should point out that if you have Windows installed via Basecamp and you'd like to use that partition via Parallels, the latest beta makes that possible.
The previous betas had some problems with Window's licenses that made it difficult to switch back and forth between Parallels and Basecamp, but beta 3 only requires you to re-activate Windows once.
[1]: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/ "Parallels Desktop for Mac"
[2]: http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/beta_testing/ "Parallels Desktop for Mac Release Candidate"
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/reboot.txt b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/reboot.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ed40175..0000000 --- a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.08.07/Wed/reboot.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1 +0,0 @@ -<img alt="Any_key_3" title="Any_key_3" src="http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/any_key_2.jpg" border="0" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" />The Morning Reboot:
* Nothing is perfect and now that the initial wow factor has faded a little bit, there might be a few things about the iPhone that aren't so great. Our own Gear Lab has a [rundown on potential snags][1] in the dream of cellphone perfection.
[1]: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/01/top_5_worst_thi.html "Top 5 Worst Things About The iPhone"
* The final version of [Google Earth 4 has been released][2]. We [reviewed the beta][3] a while back, but the final version has some new features that weren't in that beta such as textured buildings.
[2]: http://earth.google.com/earth4.html "Google Earth 4 - what's new"
[3]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/11/google_earth_ve.html "Monkey Bites Google Earth Version 4 beta review"
* Office 2008 for Mac [has been announced][4]. The Microsoft BU team has a number of Mac only features and claims the software will be available "in the second half of 2007."
[4]: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-09MacworldPR.mspx "Mac BU Announces Intent to Deliver Office 2008 for Mac"
* [According the Washington Post][5], in an effort to make Windows Vista more secure, Microsoft tapped the expertise of the NSA. From the linked article: "the agency said it has helped in the development of the security of Microsoft's new operating system -- the brains of a computer -- to protect it from worms, Trojan horses and other insidious computer attackers."
[5]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801352.html "For Windows Vista Security, Microsoft Called in Pros"
* And finally, Wired Magazine has a [creepy scenario][6] from Jonathan Zittrain, professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, in which he outlines why the internet is doomed.
[6]: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/start.html?pg=15 "End-Time for the Internet"
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