The Pearl
We used to have Jon Landau. And John Mendelssohn. Charles M. Young. And, of course, Lester Bangs.
Now there’s not a single damn music writer you can trust, except maybe Kelefa Sanneh in the "New York Times". Then again, he’s in the "New York Times", precluding the edginess and honesty of Messrs. Young and Bangs.
But there’s a tech writer you can trust. And that’s Walter Mossberg, of the "Wall Street Journal". He’s worth a subscription to the paper alone.
And today, Walt, and everybody calls him Walt, reviews the new BlackBerry, the Pearl.
I’m a BlackBerry guy. I need my e-mail INSTANTLY!
Walt’s a Treo guy. But then he’s not as addicted as I am.
And the BlackBerry is louder. And the e-mail is more secure. And the reason I’m writing all this is not to start a war, so if you’ve got a Treo, DON’T E-MAIL ME, even though I think you’re a wimp, the kind of guy who buys a Lexus instead of a BMW (the former is built much better than the latter, but the latter PERFORMS BETTER!)
Anyway, you can just get the Pearl for T-Mobile now. And if you’re on T-Mobile you’re a cheap son of a bitch. Admit it, you just want to get all those minutes for a low price. You don’t realize I know you’re using the service, when your connection drops out, revealing yourself. And another reason not to use T-Mobile? An incredibly slow high speed connection (almost a contradiction in terms). You want EvDO, a la Verizon or Sprint. I’m on Verizon. Shit, remember when we used to debate the merits of bands? Well, one can believe in one’s cell phone service provider more than one can believe in Panic! At The Disco, hell, it’ll be AROUND LONGER!
I’ve got a 7130e. Don’t wholly dig the two letters per key, but love the high speed web-browsing. Then again, if this is high speed, T-Mobile must run like MOLASSES!
In a pitch to survive, having the worst technology of any major carrier (and the only reason you can get away with having Cingular is if you travel overseas), T-Mobile makes exclusive deals for hot phones. Eventually, all the other providers get them. Except for the Sidekick, that’s a T-Mobile exclusive. And a hot product. The adolescent’s BlackBerry.
But now the BlackBerry’s in trouble. It’s losing market share to other e-mail/smart phone competitors. Thus, the Pearl.
And I’d categorize all the features for you, but you can read Mr. Mossberg via the link below.
But I’ve got to mention one. The reason I’m writing this article.
"The Pearl’s music software correctly read the artist, album and song information on every track I loaded into the phone, and even displayed the album covers. The speaker on the Pearl sounds good, and music sounds even better with stereo headphones.
Photos also displayed well, and the Pearl can zoom in on them or show them as slideshows. Any song can be turned into your ring tone, and any picture can be used as your desktop wallpaper."
Sorry to include the first paragraph, but I needed it as set-up, so you’d have a clue as to what I’m referring to.
Yes, you can load your music on your Pearl. Something that is difficult, if not impossible, to do on so many other mobile phones (like the Chocolate!, you might be able to get shit on there, but as for the tags..?)
No, what I want to focus on is Walt’s very last sentence above. ANY DAMN SONG ON YOUR PEARL CAN BE TURNED INTO A RING TONE!
In other words, Charles Goldstuck and his ilk, touring the world talking about new sources of revenue (I’ve heard you Charles, extolling the profits of ring tones), one is ABOUT TO EVAPORATE!
Oh, we had Xingtone. Make your OWN ring tones. Assuming your provider/handset was compatible. But WHY THE FUCK SHOULDN’T YOU BE ABLE TO USE YOUR MUSIC TO BUILD YOUR OWN RING TONES?? WHY SHOULD YOU PAY A FORTUNE FOR SOMETHING YOU’RE GOING TO BE SICK OF MOMENTARILY??
Wow, are the usual suspects in trouble. Trying to lock up the tracks, reduce usability. BLACKBERRY, your trusted companion, whom you rely on, IS FUCKING YOU IN THE ASS!!
But it gets worse. It’s not only the major labels/publishing companies who are losing out, but the cell phone companies themselves. Eager to book revenue, cell phone companies are charging a fortune for single tracks. But if you can sideload product, that revenue stream is as dry as a Martian river bed.
In other words, the powers-that-be are living in the past and are about to be ECLIPSED!
If BlackBerry allows you to sideload, isn’t everybody else going to have to follow??
Oh, blame it on the desperate T-Mobile. The rest of the cartel won’t allow massive sideloading, but once one party does… Kind of like when Dell lowered computer prices, IBM took a dive, never mind Compaq.
What the fuck is happening here?
People are using more music in more ways than ever before. And rather than try to limit and charge for each use, you’re better off selling them boatloads and LETTING THEM DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH IT!
Music’s got to be cheap. Cell phone providers have to sell tunes for LESS than the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes Music Store has to sell them for a nickel or a dime. Music has to be SO cheap that it isn’t worth it to steal.
No, no, NO, who wants SpiralFrog, where you can’t turn a track into a ring tone. We want the old Napster, where you can experiment, take everything and use some of it, and revel in the glory of music!
Copy protection, rental. They’re barking up the wrong tree. Success will come when for a flat rate, a VERY LOW FLAT RATE, you can take everything. EVERYBODY will make more money. The labels, the publishers, LiveNation…
It’s inevitable. If you’re fighting the future you might as well be reconstructing the Berlin Wall.
