Friday
Dec311999
108 - MP3 Gadget Demonstrates New Economy of Content; Industry Map from On-Line Learning Business Dialogue
December 31, 1999
1. MP3 Gadget Demonstrates New Economy of Content: Even though we are
taking a short vacation in Arizona, the yearn for new technology does not
cease. On Sunday night, after reading an article in WIRED Magazine, I
decided I HAD to have a MP3 Player. This is a media format that is causing
big waves in the music industry and is an intriguing "proof of concept" for
an aspect of the On-Line Learning industry.
MP3 is a format for compressing music to be able to get a complete song to 1
Meg or less. I ordered (by overnight courier, of course) a RIO player.
This is a 3 ounce small device (about the size of a small portable AM
radio), that will hold in solid state memory up to a dozen songs and play
them back at CD quality. As soon as the RIO arrived, I moved 4 tracks from
2 of my favorite CD's and downloaded 2 songs from the Net, one for free and
one for a small fee. I transferred them to the RIO and now I had my own
playlist of favorite songs.
What is the impact of MP3? It is shaking up the the security of the
traditional music distribution industry. Bands can now offer one track of a
record for widespread public distribution using MP3 and sell the complete
album over the net. MP3 and the RIO (as well as other players hitting the
market), bring the publishing role to an infinite number of sources. Bands
become distributors and consumers get to buy at a much more granular level
of content.
If the business models of MP3, either as a promotional or actual revenue
generating distribution process, prove out, they bode well for the content
side of the On-Line Learning industry. Content providers want to be able to
sell at the micro-currency level as well as the collection level. Even
Audible.Com, a distributor of audio books over the net has adapted to MP3.
I will be going to their site in a few minutes to download a free sample of
lectures from top colleges as well as a chapter from Steven King's latest
novel. Check out these sites if you want more info:(MP3 Overview and
Information) www.mp3.com - (RIO Player) www.diamondmm.com - and
(Audible.Com) www.audible.com
One cool aspect about the RIO is that you can walk or jog with it and it
will never skip a beat, since all of the content is stored in Flash Memory.
Not bad on the treadmill!
2. Industry Map from On-Line Learning Business Dialogue: The On-Line
Learning industry is evolving at a rapid and explosive pace. Last week, we
had 225 of the business leaders from this segment at a dialogue in Seattle,
Washington. Here is one of the outcomes of the event. We put together a
"map" of the marketplace to show where the various products and services fit
together. To see this map, go to http://www.masie.com/map/ We will be
updating this map, with links to various players in the industry in the next
several months. The next gathering of the business leaders will be at a
one day pre-conference event @ TechLearn '99 (October 31 to November 3rd)
3. Learning Quotation: Kevin Kelly -
"To discover what is really happening in the Digital Economy, follow the
free. Follow the trends towards things that are approaching FREE in price.
Then, figure out what is essential and missing ... that will have the value.
In learning, content may approach FREE, but relationship and mentoring may
be highest priced and valued element."
Kevin Kelly (paraphrased) at Business of On-Line Learning Conference
4. Free Satellite and Internet Broadcast - March 17th - St. Patrick's Day.
Next week, over 18,000 learning and training professionals will be taking
part in our semi-annual free broadcast: TechLearn :LIVE! It will be
broadcast over several satellites and also available to be streamed via the
internet. There are regional meetings taking place around North America to
view this broadcast. The topics will be: Reinventing Training; Training
Careers in the Digital Age and Aligning Training and Business. I will be
providing a tips seminar on careers and will be joined in the broadcast by
Diane Hessan, Mike Parmentier and Wayne Hodgins. We will be fielding
questions and topics from the audience, via fax and email. The broadcast
will occur on Wednesday, March 17th between 1 and 3 PM Eastern Time. As
always, TechLearn LIVE! is a free service from The MASIE Center. Details at
http://www.masie.com/live/
5. The Role of Verbalization in Learning?: We are wondering what the role
of verbalization is in the learning process. David and Roger Johnson, from
the University of Minnesota, have done a great deal of research on the
importance of learners verbalizing newly gained information and content, as
part of the internalization process. We would love to hear from TechLearn
Readers about their views on this. If we are learning alone, is typing
enough? Do we need to verbalize? Send your thoughts, comments or even
rants to emasie@masie.com We will summarize them in a future Trends.
Thanks.
Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
Learning Decisions '99: An Executive Retreat for Training Executives - May
12 -14, 1999 (Las Vegas, Nevada) www.masie.com
TechLearn '99 (October 31 to November 3, 1999 - Orlando, Florida)
www.techlearn.com
taking a short vacation in Arizona, the yearn for new technology does not
cease. On Sunday night, after reading an article in WIRED Magazine, I
decided I HAD to have a MP3 Player. This is a media format that is causing
big waves in the music industry and is an intriguing "proof of concept" for
an aspect of the On-Line Learning industry.
MP3 is a format for compressing music to be able to get a complete song to 1
Meg or less. I ordered (by overnight courier, of course) a RIO player.
This is a 3 ounce small device (about the size of a small portable AM
radio), that will hold in solid state memory up to a dozen songs and play
them back at CD quality. As soon as the RIO arrived, I moved 4 tracks from
2 of my favorite CD's and downloaded 2 songs from the Net, one for free and
one for a small fee. I transferred them to the RIO and now I had my own
playlist of favorite songs.
What is the impact of MP3? It is shaking up the the security of the
traditional music distribution industry. Bands can now offer one track of a
record for widespread public distribution using MP3 and sell the complete
album over the net. MP3 and the RIO (as well as other players hitting the
market), bring the publishing role to an infinite number of sources. Bands
become distributors and consumers get to buy at a much more granular level
of content.
If the business models of MP3, either as a promotional or actual revenue
generating distribution process, prove out, they bode well for the content
side of the On-Line Learning industry. Content providers want to be able to
sell at the micro-currency level as well as the collection level. Even
Audible.Com, a distributor of audio books over the net has adapted to MP3.
I will be going to their site in a few minutes to download a free sample of
lectures from top colleges as well as a chapter from Steven King's latest
novel. Check out these sites if you want more info:(MP3 Overview and
Information) www.mp3.com - (RIO Player) www.diamondmm.com - and
(Audible.Com) www.audible.com
One cool aspect about the RIO is that you can walk or jog with it and it
will never skip a beat, since all of the content is stored in Flash Memory.
Not bad on the treadmill!
2. Industry Map from On-Line Learning Business Dialogue: The On-Line
Learning industry is evolving at a rapid and explosive pace. Last week, we
had 225 of the business leaders from this segment at a dialogue in Seattle,
Washington. Here is one of the outcomes of the event. We put together a
"map" of the marketplace to show where the various products and services fit
together. To see this map, go to http://www.masie.com/map/ We will be
updating this map, with links to various players in the industry in the next
several months. The next gathering of the business leaders will be at a
one day pre-conference event @ TechLearn '99 (October 31 to November 3rd)
3. Learning Quotation: Kevin Kelly -
"To discover what is really happening in the Digital Economy, follow the
free. Follow the trends towards things that are approaching FREE in price.
Then, figure out what is essential and missing ... that will have the value.
In learning, content may approach FREE, but relationship and mentoring may
be highest priced and valued element."
Kevin Kelly (paraphrased) at Business of On-Line Learning Conference
4. Free Satellite and Internet Broadcast - March 17th - St. Patrick's Day.
Next week, over 18,000 learning and training professionals will be taking
part in our semi-annual free broadcast: TechLearn :LIVE! It will be
broadcast over several satellites and also available to be streamed via the
internet. There are regional meetings taking place around North America to
view this broadcast. The topics will be: Reinventing Training; Training
Careers in the Digital Age and Aligning Training and Business. I will be
providing a tips seminar on careers and will be joined in the broadcast by
Diane Hessan, Mike Parmentier and Wayne Hodgins. We will be fielding
questions and topics from the audience, via fax and email. The broadcast
will occur on Wednesday, March 17th between 1 and 3 PM Eastern Time. As
always, TechLearn LIVE! is a free service from The MASIE Center. Details at
http://www.masie.com/live/
5. The Role of Verbalization in Learning?: We are wondering what the role
of verbalization is in the learning process. David and Roger Johnson, from
the University of Minnesota, have done a great deal of research on the
importance of learners verbalizing newly gained information and content, as
part of the internalization process. We would love to hear from TechLearn
Readers about their views on this. If we are learning alone, is typing
enough? Do we need to verbalize? Send your thoughts, comments or even
rants to emasie@masie.com We will summarize them in a future Trends.
Thanks.
Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
Learning Decisions '99: An Executive Retreat for Training Executives - May
12 -14, 1999 (Las Vegas, Nevada) www.masie.com
TechLearn '99 (October 31 to November 3, 1999 - Orlando, Florida)
www.techlearn.com
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