Idea: iTunes Server
Create a "iTunes Server" maybe look something like the iPod it self- but huge and sexy- maybe have a huge flat screen as the display
Have a "iTunes Server"
Team up with a company like Radio Shack or Block Buster or even Walmart. Have a "store-with in a-store". Apple would have a server with a hard drive large enough to store well beyond the 400,000 songs they have now.
All of the songs would be pre-downloaded. Users would pay some small "iTunes Club" fee (like 9.99$ per year). You take your iPod to the store, and go over to the server. If you like a song.
A) enter a password (club fee password)
connect your iPod to the server *or load a CDr
c) enjoy firewire speed transfers *or 52x speed burning
The server would have a high speed connection and update to any new songs over night
The "club fee" would be in place to block people who don't intend to buy music -but just "play"
The server could be a G5 station. which would help promote that brand
They could also let you play the entire length of the song right there at the server with built in headphones.
What would the company (such as Radio Shack)get out of the deal? a) traffic b) perhaps a % of the "club fee": c) the rent of store space
What would Apple get out of the deal ?
a) not everyone has high speed b) visibly c) growth/ more downloads d) maybe as part of the deal: have them sell iPods
notes: 400,000 songs = aprx 6 250GB drives.
pricewatch.com has 250 ATA drives at about 250$ each.
6 x 250 = $1,500 *By the time you add the CPU, flat screen and extras the cost per store would be maybe 5,500$ in hardware? I don't think thats that bad?????
250 club fees sold = half the cost of the project alone + you would have more people buying iPods
Just think you could download your favorite song 5 miles from home *Radio Shack claims they have a store 5 miles from 92+ % of the population
Have a "iTunes Server"
Team up with a company like Radio Shack or Block Buster or even Walmart. Have a "store-with in a-store". Apple would have a server with a hard drive large enough to store well beyond the 400,000 songs they have now.
All of the songs would be pre-downloaded. Users would pay some small "iTunes Club" fee (like 9.99$ per year). You take your iPod to the store, and go over to the server. If you like a song.
A) enter a password (club fee password)
connect your iPod to the server *or load a CDrc) enjoy firewire speed transfers *or 52x speed burning
The server would have a high speed connection and update to any new songs over night
The "club fee" would be in place to block people who don't intend to buy music -but just "play"
The server could be a G5 station. which would help promote that brand
They could also let you play the entire length of the song right there at the server with built in headphones.
What would the company (such as Radio Shack)get out of the deal? a) traffic b) perhaps a % of the "club fee": c) the rent of store space
What would Apple get out of the deal ?
a) not everyone has high speed b) visibly c) growth/ more downloads d) maybe as part of the deal: have them sell iPods
notes: 400,000 songs = aprx 6 250GB drives.
pricewatch.com has 250 ATA drives at about 250$ each.
6 x 250 = $1,500 *By the time you add the CPU, flat screen and extras the cost per store would be maybe 5,500$ in hardware? I don't think thats that bad?????
250 club fees sold = half the cost of the project alone + you would have more people buying iPods
Just think you could download your favorite song 5 miles from home *Radio Shack claims they have a store 5 miles from 92+ % of the population
Comments
Originally posted by M.O.S.T
notes: 400,000 songs = aprx 6 250GB drives.
pricewatch.com has 250 ATA drives at about 250$ each.
6 x 250 = $1,500 *By the time you add the CPU, flat screen and extras the cost per store would be maybe 5,500$ in hardware? I don't think thats that bad?????
250 club fees sold = half the cost of the project alone + you would have more people buying iPods
what about the advertising dosn't that cost money. if radio shack has 1000 stores thats $5.5 mil. setup fee and if each stor gets 250 subscribers thats .25 mil ipods and how many ipod owners don't already have high speed.
advertising: would mostly be just on the apple website and as Ads on the iTunes site and within Radio Shack stores - enough that word of mouth would carry
Radio Shack has some 7,000 stores. Maybe just start off with the larger Radio Shack stores (mall stores)
Yes the cost would be 5 over million$(for 1,000 stores)
But just look how Kodak put a film kiosk in hundreds opon hundreds of stores
Yes, Im sure alot of iPod owners have high speed- Mine is about twice to three times the speed of dial up (on a good day)
But I think if Apple were able to put an iTune hub in almost every Radio Shack a) they would sell ALOT more iPods b) the number of "downloads" would increase ten fold
They could have a video DVD(s) of the top 25 songs play on the flat screen- with a caption "if you like this song enter id# 5H9WY2 -Yours for only 99 cents". People who went in the store just to "look" might buy
Plus: have a promotion with an artist such as Madonna: She has a new song come out long before massive CDs can be printed the iTunes Server would have it. You only pay 99 cents and have the song long before others. The die hard fans,im sure will still go and buy a cd.
The iPod / iTunes are going to face some challanges that will test whether Apple can hold the lead
The Pepsi give away will be huge.
They will need to keep the fire going tho
I don't think this idea would hurt- And would pay off big time
It would not take too much: bring back a cube like device, add two to three Apple drive module slots (the ones used in the XServe series) and slim down Mac OS X Server to accomplish just these tasks.
Ain't no way in hell my dear friends.
Originally posted by Eugene
I've never used digital photo printing kiosks before. I'd never use a digital music kiosk. I surely wouldn't subscribe to one.
same here. I don't see this working at all.
Originally posted by bauman
erm, aren't we forgetting that four letter bad word... RIAA?
Ain't no way in hell my dear friends.
Why-ever not?
The restrictions imposed on songs would be exactly the same as songs bought via the iTMS. You'd upload the thing onto your ipod, and when it was connected to your computer next it'd upload the song to your computer. But it'd already be protected with your apple ID (you'd have to type it in to the machine), so the whole effort would be no less restrictive.
I think, if such machines arrived, then they should offer a free CD copy if you buy an album, as well as putting it on your ipod.
Also, why on earth would they go in radio shack? Blatantly they should go in HMV and other record stores!
Amorya
The "club fee" would be in place to block people who don't intend to buy music -but just "play"
I also don't understand what this means. How would you "just play" the music?
The problem is security: If there is a disk, even encrypted, in every Blockbuster which holds the entire iTunes Library, someone will steal it and break into it. Much too big a risk.
Next, the relative value for many parts of the country (USA) is not there. A better idea would be for Apple to partner with music stores and place an iTunes kiosk in there, with staff running it. I know that's kinda what you said, but this would have to have a high-speed connection to the 'Net since the Library would not be local. This idea died when iTunes for Windows was born. Why go to the store when the store can come to you.
So, maybe you set this up in areas where high-speed access is limited or expensive, where having the download point at a central location reduces the per-song download cost to something people are willing to pay/ or make it negligible.
This assumes that profit is made from the sale of songs. Jobs said that selling music this way is NOT a money-maker. Dead idea. Even in rural areas, Apple would make no money - the add-ons would be money-makers for the retailer, not Apple (things like CDs, cases, labels which the brick-and-mortar store could sell to downloaders on the spot).
In essence, you already have an iTunes server: the one from which Apple is selling music now. It's just not portable and not available like payphones.
very nicely done im considering getting one
Originally posted by Eugene
I also don't understand what this means. How would you "just play" the music?
Play = some 13 year old spending ALL day at the kiosks
If someone wants to hear some songs- Fine. But lets not turn this into a baby sitter
I have been watching this item for a long time. If you already have a PS2 this little item is cheaper at $49US. You install a little server program on your mac and then put your PS2 and your mac on the same LAN and bam! You can play all of the music and movies that you have on your mac's HD right off of your PS2.
Here is a review of it over at ars.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/003/qcast/qcast-1.html
Here is the product page.
http://www.broadq.com/qcast2.htm
Originally posted by buckyboy98
In response to mad:
i did a lot of reading on both products
slimp3 wins out due to the following
1.server daemon runs on multiple os's
2.open source, regular perl & has nice addons
or you can customize your own
3.itunes can see it & most of the popular formats are
supported
in my case all 50gb of music will be on my linux server
the display will be in the living room attached to
my sound system
anywhere else i can use my pc or powerbook & still
listen to a stream from anywhere in my house