Derek Kerton 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: If AT&T Mobile Broadband Banned TV Streaming, Why Does It Allow MLB Streaming?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2009 @ 03:57pm

    Re: European Standard for Cell Phone Chargers

    That article appears to be behind "une paywall", so le hyperlink ne marche pas.

    Anyways, for this case, don't celebrate government too much. This is something that the cellular makers are working together on doing, and was reported out of of the industry's MWC confab in Barcelona this February.

    http://www.itpro.co.uk/609900/mwc-09-industry-unites-for-universal-mobile-charger

    While there has been pressure from the EU for phones to be more green, there is no way any government agency can claim to have pushed around the entire globe's telecom ecosystem. Nope, this was done by the handset vendors, for their own good. Here's why:

    Every phone shipped needs to have a power charger shipped with it and this adds to the total cost of the handset. Vendors are attracted to the universal plug because in using it, they can exclude this cost, and say "BYO plug".

    Also, vendors need to package each terminal with a regionally compatible plug, which increases logistics costs. By completely excluding the plug, the exact same boxed phone could be shipped to the UK or the US. That's more cost savings.

    This is good for the environment, since we all have a few chargers lying around, and good for consumer choice, because now we can buy the charger we prefer (car, fast, cheap, dock, stand, etc)

    And if you want to allocate credit, the Chinese government might have been first in 2006:
    http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/19/eng20061219_334047.html

  • On the post: If AT&T Mobile Broadband Banned TV Streaming, Why Does It Allow MLB Streaming?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2009 @ 03:40pm

    Re: Isn't it AT&Ts network to do what they want?

    And freedom sucks, too!

    Come on. I pay ATT for up to 5GB of mobile data traffic per month. If it's a neutral network, then it's none of their business whether I use 5GB of email, 5GB of browser access,5GB of Cingular Video (CV), or 5GB of Slingbox.

    Now, I can appreciate their problem that Sling and other un-authorized video streaming eat up the bandwidth. They do. My WinMo sling throws about 45 MB for a half hour show, which is about the same amount as my mobile email uses all month. I understand that if everyone does this, it hurts the network. But they should not be able to choose what I do - they should only be able to define how I use their network. Currently, that is "up to 5GB".

    The current comment from ATT is like them being a gas station, selling you 10 gallons of gas, and then telling you which brands and types of car you can put the gas into. "No station wagons, and only Ford."

    Yeah. I like the gas station analogies.

  • On the post: If AT&T Mobile Broadband Banned TV Streaming, Why Does It Allow MLB Streaming?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2009 @ 03:32pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yes, there is standards-based technology for broadcasting video over GMS-based 3G networks. It's called MBMS:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Broadcast_Multicast_Service

    But the technology is not widely implemented by wireless voice carriers, because the carrier would have to dedicate bandwidth to the broadcast and take it away from voice or unicast data. Does everybody really want to watch MLB, or anything else? Not so much.

    Note the Wikipedia entry is written by enthusiasts. However, many EU carriers are looking to use MBMS for mobile TV in their 5MHz of unpaired TDD spectrum.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2009 @ 11:59am

    Re: Re: Re: attention whoring

    Hey, could you please tell me where I could get one of those "The Guy Who Gets To Decide What Is Art And What Is Not" licenses?

    I'd like to become an arrogant douchebag, and I understand that license is useful in the effort.

    Perhaps I should not be wasting my time with you, true. But I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for me, and anyone else who cares to read. You, though, should spend less time fascinated, jealous, and angry about AFP's moderate success. I dont' think it makes you happy.

    Art, in its many incarnations, almost always whores itself for attention. Art craves attention.

    When art succeeds at getting attention, we often get to witness jealousy among those denied attention (or their mother's love). Perhaps this is one of those cases.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 07:06pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: No Love

    Um... I have a very good clue. How often have you worked for NTT DoCoMo? Me, it's just the once, but I figure that probably affords me some credibility.

    In Japan, the average price per minute of voice is in the 20 cent US range. In the US it is sub 7 cents. Here's some data to show that I have a clue: http://www.gsmap.org/wp-content/uploads/files/price%20per%20minute%20trends037165.pdf

    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DUJ/is_11_104/ai_n27561778/

    Sorry the data is old, but the arguments are still valid. If this has changed drastically in the last year, let me know. But in the US, people just use more voice minutes in their plans, lowering averge cost per min:

    http://mobileanalystwatch.blogspot.com/2006/01/telephia-cell-phone-usage-highest_18.html

    http://blogs.dialogic.com/2008/08/why-the-danes-text-while-the-us-talks.html



    "Our text plans are almost free".

    Re-read my post. I said that the US carriers compete viciously on voice minutes, and pretty much nothing else.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 06:32pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Well, yes I am deep in the telecom industry. But I was being sarcastic with the "good for us". Why do you ask? Did I sound like a shill when I wrote: "Every carrier worldwide does International roaming price gouging"?

    You're unlikely to find somebody who consults for telecom firms who also disagrees with them as frequently as I do. I lose gigs fairly frequently when people are trying to hire a "yes" man. But my job is to offer them good advice that supports long-term business. Fortunately, the minority of clients out there looking for honest/critical advice is enough to keep me busy.

    I don't advise businesses to gouge their customers. The net result is you bill a few people $11k, they fight it. You argue back and forth, the bill gets lowered. Everyone is wasting time, the customer tells everyone they know how much they hate their thieving carrier. That's not good. Next, nobody takes their phones or data cards abroad. People go without communications to avoid the gouging, and the carriers go without the usage.

    I would say the upper limit (and this isn't necessarily the right price, but the *limit* of reason) should be that a wireless service costs double abroad than it would cost for a domestic user in that country. That way, you could pay both carriers involved (the host, and your carrier) the market rate. Anything more is obscene.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 11:24am

    Re:

    And let's be fair...it's not just AT&T. Every carrier worldwide does International roaming price gouging.

    In the EU, the EU telecom regulator started passing laws last year to put an end to it, and limiting roaming fees to a set premium over domestic fees. But we don't like regulations in the US. Good for us.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 11:21am

    Re: Re: No Love

    I always try to clarify this: You say there isn't enough competition, and that's partly right.

    The US has the MOST effective mobile phone competition in the entire world *where it applies to minutes of voice use*. We pay less per minute, have larger "buckets", than the rest of the world.

    The US has basically very limited competition for any ancillary service on mobile phones: roaming, ringtones, data traffic, LBS services, etc.

    The reason is that people tend to shop for a mobile phone by comparing "anytime minutes", and estimating their monthly spend. Because of this, this is the only place carriers aggressively compete.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 11:17am

    Re: Re: Oh, yeah... and they cut him off (why this is probably good)

    Any amount of customer service would send an SMS warning at 150% of the normal bill, and a phone call/email at 200%.

    "Hey, did you know you just ran up a $400 charge? Did you intend to do that? OK, thanks."

    Not so tough to do.

  • On the post: Mythbusters' Adam Savage Discovers Insane Roaming Fees: $11,000 iPhone Bill For A Few Hours Surfing

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 11:14am

    Re: Re: Wow

    um. yeah, but there is an upper limit on prepaid phones...it's the amount you prepaid...which I'm willing to guess is less than $11k.

    I have no love for prepaid, but I use it in the EU when I travel to limit the roaming bill damage.

  • On the post: Did Someone Finally Win The Netflix Prize?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 11:07am

    Re:

    Pandora calculates a "musical DNA" for each song by scoring it on a multitude of criteria: beat, chorus, length, sound, instruments, etc.

    Pandora then assumes if you like one song, you will like songs with similar DNA.

    Netflix uses a more human approach called "Collaborative Filtering" in which they (generally) say "people like you who liked these films ALSO liked this film".

    The main difference is Pandora analyses the music in detail, but Netflix analyzes people's opinions in aggregate.

  • On the post: Did Someone Finally Win The Netflix Prize?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2009 @ 10:54am

    Re: Yay!

    Unnoticed? I don't think so. Perhaps the word you were looking for is 'unmentioned'.

    The value of good recommendations has been discussed at length on this blog, hardly unnoticed.

    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081123/1230162928.shtml

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2009 @ 10:36am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Isolated examples

    There ARE over 2,000 unsigned artists who are making enough to have mortgages, health insurance, send their kids to college, etc.

    But they are not blockbuster "recording" artists. There are musicians playing bars, festivals, farmer's markets, kids shows, ski resorts, cruises, etc. all over the world. And they are paid to work, and they live basically normal lives.

    You don't need to be a superstar or an MTV darling to make a living playing music. You don't even need a recording contract OR the Internet.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2009 @ 10:31am

    Re: attention whoring

    We could all make lists of the artists whose "art" we don't like. Could, but don't.

    Running around telling people why the artists you don't like "suck" is a puerile waste of time. Dropping in on their site, their 'twitpics', their fans to voice your opinion is a vindictive, juvenile act of trolling.

    If you don't like it, then move along and find something you do like; something you can say good things about. You aren't talking about politics or civil rights, where you have to get dirty to fight for what you think is right - it's art, where you are free to enjoy what you like and avoid what you don't. Your life will be better for it...as will ours.

    PS: Personal taste about the art is also irrelevant to the Techdirt discussion. So what you've offered us is irrelevant, and asinine.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2009 @ 10:21am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Isolated examples

    "Most bands aren't that original. There are far too many of them for that. So what we have are a collection of stories about creative types who are making it work. What distinguishes them is their creativity, not the tools that they use."

    So, you're complaining that Mike's theories will only work for bands that have talent and are creative? And you see that as a bad thing?

    "The psychology of the elite or luxury market is something that is relatively new to the music industry"

    OMG, you are "exploring" this subject in "some of your writing" and you haven't come across the concept of PATRONAGE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patron) which is such an important part of the history of art? Your sentence is violently in conflict with reality. If only you were willing to look back more than 150 years, you might avoid being one of those "doomed to repeat it" types.

    I'm not saying whether elite patronage was good or bad, I'm just saying that it's been done, and you seem to want to write a book about how it's a new concept.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2009 @ 07:17pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    ""Valuable" and "free" don't really line up together very well."

    As is often pointed out, it works pretty well for air. Plenty of very valuable stuff is free. My daughter hugging at me is the best thing I get most days, the price is free. And the marginal cost is great, too. We can create incremental hugs with basically MC=0. Valuable and Free ride shotgun more often than Thelma and Louise. Choose to debate this point, and prepare to be slammed by dozens of examples.

    "She tries it again next week, and she will attract almost the same crowd, and not as many of them will buy t-shirts (they blew their budget)."

    Yet you are in full support of the recording industry trying to sell a CD each week, and assume magically that the budget there is renewable?

    An you naively assume (living in your box) that next week will be more custom T-shirts? You really aren't reading this blog, are you. Mike ALWAYS says that t-shirts are but one example, and that creative people can get...y'know...creative. If artist want to earn more money next week, we think it would be cool if the did a little more work next week, got creative, and offered something to fans.

    "Everything that is out there is built on the back of the existing recording industry."

    Wow. Just wow. How about we give some credit to Tesla and inventors of radio? Inventors of TV, transistors, Edison and the gramophone? How about we give some kudos to the artists for creating the art? Is there no thanks to the legions of fans who spread the word socially? To radio hosts like Clyde Gilmour who dig deep into vaults and play favorites? To music reviewers and critics who pick their top lists? To YouTube, Twitter, Napster, PirateBay, MySpace and that new fangled Internets that seems to have the ability to allow people to interact?

    Nope, according to you, it was the recording industry. What bunk. Did they also make Beethoven and Mozart popular? You do understand that, although marketing is a powerful driver, it is PEOPLE that make things popular, right? Did the recording industry make Google popular? Nope, people used it, spread the word, and it grew. Bands...hundreds of bands, have done the same thing sans labels.

    "none of the examples cited on Techdirt ever explain how the transition from nobody to somebody would occur in the new music marketplace"

    Oops, sorry. Our bad. Here you go. Band x gets together in high school, has talent, writes a few catchy songs. Plays their way through college and earns a little money by playing bars. Hones talent. Uses Garage Band software to record some MP3s, puts them up on MySpace site for free. People that went to shows download them. Friends and family download them. Rate them highly, email them to friends. Twitter about upcoming performances. Band now has ability to fill local bars, earning good income. Band hooks up with local radio station for a show or two, drops in to the studio to hang with DJs, play a live song or two. (Barenaked Ladies do this through the 80s - without the Internet, of course. The guys would just keep "showing up" at the Toronto HQ of MuchMusic and would hang with the VJs.) Band x is now fairly popular on MySpace, is able to sell some copies of music, and yes, some custom T-shirts with funny slogans. The film a cheap but creative video with a catchy tune, I dunno, something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI . The video gets a few million hits, and the band is popular. Or does well on any of the global "Idol" franchises, or Star Search, or Mickey Mouse club...and don't diss me on this, because you probably know the same examples as I do for whom each of those actually worked.

    The Internet not only eliminates the labels usefulness in distribution, but it fully eliminates the labels usefulness in A&R (finding talent). What's more, good talent is no longer filtered by some dumb suit at the label - the people get to decide what's good or not. It's like free market vs. authoritarianism, like www vs. AOL, like the Android App store vs. GetItNow. Turns out if the Internet can be used to rate the best blender at Amazon.com, it can also be used to discover talent. Non Luddites get this, you don't.

    "it's years of business experience"

    We've all got this. So did Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers, Rick Wagoner, and the leaders of the banks making derivative mortgage investments. Lots of people who can't see the change of the tides have years of business experience. Your years of experience tell you one thing, my years of experience tell me the opposite. Come back in 4 years or so, and we'll chat about who was right.

    "Using isolated cases...isn't really how anything is done"

    You may be right on that. But maybe wrong. Maybe it is a bunch of isolated cases that will be the future. Maybe artists will have to be creative about business. Maybe there will just be multiple ways to earn revenue, each less than "album sales" used to represent, but in aggregate actually more.

    In fact, Mike never said it was "isolated cases". In fact, he has generalized these isolated cases into a model that he thinks makes sense consistently for the future: "connect with fans, offer them something they want to buy". I agree that if you do that, you can do it over and over to increasing success. That's not isolated, it's repeatable. It's just harder to visualize than repeatedly selling shiny disks.

  • On the post: Do Morons In A Hurry Like Lettuce Restaurants?

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2009 @ 06:36pm

    Lettuce Sue You

    I have a LETTUCE Entertain You frequent diner card. Which means I have actually been to their restaurants. Do you know what their restaurants are called?

    Here's their list: http://www.leye.com/restaurants

    Not one of them uses "Lettuce" in the resto name. "Lettuce" is not "used in commerce" in any consumer-facing way, but is only used as the parent company's name.

    How does "Lettuce Mix" cause confusion with the aggressor chain's Cafe Ba Ba Re Ba or other non-lettuce named establishments? Please have their lawyers explain.

    A moron in a hurry would not be able to spot any similarity between the trade names at all, let alone be confused by it.

    I particularly like the conglomerate's "Chez Gabi" restaurant on the Vegas strip, but most of their places are in Chicago.

  • On the post: Cab Drivers Angry About Having To Compete With Free As Well

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2009 @ 04:07pm

    Re:

    Not so complicated. If they get ad revenue, then that is business revenue, and will be taxable. Problem solved.

  • On the post: South Africa Considers Potentially Requiring Patents On Publicly Funded Research

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2009 @ 03:31pm

    Re: Re:

    Yeah, but where is Angry Dude, who always accuses Mike of being a shill for the "anti-IP" camp? He says Mike is serving his corporate masters like MSFT, ridiculous as that claim is.

    Well, what about this case where MSFT is in favor, and Mike is not. I expect Angry Dude to pop in and explain that it's some kind of subterfuge.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Derek Kerton ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2009 @ 03:54pm

    Re:

    Good point. According to RIAA math, when a label sells 30k, it's promotion for the artist and a poor-selling record of no significance. But when P2P distributes 30k, it's (30k albums x 10 songs x $80k per song 'Jammie Thomas value') $24,000,000,000 in damages, and no promitional value.

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