Let's assume there was a service that provided and metered all content, including registered web sites.   It costs $100 a month and lets me consume as much as I want.  If I paid $100 a month for this full featured online content system (that included TV and Internet sites) and $40 a month for connectivity, here is some wild speculation on how it could be paid out to artists and authors.  [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Make sure you read the rest of John's post, because what he is referring to is the Heavenly Jukebox, a concept I talk about a lot in my presentations. It's like the internet in that it's a mysterious cloud of digital content that exists somewhere "out there." You subscribe to the service, so you're really paying for access, not ownership. As much as I like this concept on a personal level (a flat fee for access to all-things-digital), there are many problems inherent in this type of setup.

1. Will all of these publishers really agree on a single platform for delivery? I think two platforms is even stretching it for these guys, but in this scenario you should be able to access your subscriptions from your home computer, your work computer, your cell phone, your PDA, your home media entertainment unit, and your car.
2. The prerequisite is that pesky subscription, so the digital divide gets even bigger for those that can't afford either the hardware or the monthly fees.
3. In the past, libraries have mitigated this situation, but look closely at John's scenario and you'll see that there is nowhere for libraries to fit into that process. Publishers love the idea of the heavenly jukebox because it lets them interact directly with the consumer, cutting out the middleman and taking in those fees for themselves. That's why digital rights management (DRM) is so important to them. They don't want to let libraries act as a proxy for consumers, and it's impossible for libraries to do this when the DRM locks into individuals.

When I first started talking about the heavenly jukebox, it was in the context of advocating that libraries position themselves in the loop so that they can still circulate digital content. Now when I talk about this, it will be in the context of how the DMCA and CDBTPA are going to cut libraries out of that loop altogether. [The Shifted Librarian]

This may well be the direction that we are heading in, between Sony's initiatives and the Moxi box I've been raving about, why not add in a feature that lets you buy a movie and save it locally. If new features for that flick come out, you can "upgrade" your version using something similar to Valve's Steam engine for version and download management.

Alternately, your favorite band just released 16 new tracks. You only like four of them. You only buy those four tracks, get it downloaded onto your system, and can then burn them to a custom mix disc of your liking, as many as you want to. Someone does a remix of a track you like and already own? You can then get that remix for a discount, or for free for being a loyal fan (here's where CRM kicks in.)

Oh darn, someone/something messed up my harddrive. That's OK, the system recognizes that the drive has "issues" and sends you a new version of the file(s) in question.

So what is to keep someone form cloning a drive, or ripping the content to another machine? Nothing, and that's the point. Since the machine is gathering data on your tastes, it can then promote to you things that you will likely be interested in. Whoa, what about privacy? Well, have the preferences of the user separate from their personal information, and NEVER the twain shall meet. Maybe use some sort of custom neural net to keep that interface indecipherable.

10:52:09 AM