Optimist Blog

Clocks by Coldplay Cover Song - Isle of Tune

There's been a trend for the last decade or so where musicians make
music using a timeline and beat mapping.

This has just been taken to the next level by the browser app Isle of Tune.

Now you can create music using the a "sim-city" like builder tool.
Here's a video of a tune someone made. The bushes and lamps and cars
all trigger the different sounds.

http://isleoftune.com

Okay so maybe not the best song example, but the Pumped Up Kicks
version hasn't been uploaded to YouTube yet!
By the way, the lag in the video must be from the recording, because
the app works perfectly -- and it's coming out for the iPad soon.

What is Shopify? A Shopify Review For Startups -- @shopify

I wrote this post to talk about Shopify, an E-Commerce system that 
works quite well for startups who need a custom store. Basically, if 
Amazon and eBay aren't for you, then get Shopify. 

If you are a non-technical business owner, that has grassroots level 
funding, and who needs an online store, then read on. 

Here's a screenshot of the company's website:

Since I started building E-Commerce sites for companies in 1997, I
have been asked the same exact two E-Commerce questions. If I had a
nickel for every-time I get asked these questions...

1. How do I get my own store?
2. How do I get people to visit my store?

Well, today I'm going to answer question one.

Answer One: Shopify

Let's talk about Shopify specifically for a startup business. It's
basically the first E-Commerce system I've ever felt comfortable
recommending to a startup. In the past, I have recommended plenty of
E-Commerce services and systems -- however, I've never really felt
comfortable doing so. This is because I always knew that these out of
the box systems weren't really that user friendly and that most
business owners don't have the technical expertise to manage them.
Basically, they've been so complicated that you still need a web
developer. This is due to bugs during checkout (like the customer
losing their internet connection), problems with authentication
(logins/passwords), problems with merchant gateways (there's a middle
man between your cart and your merchant services provider), problems
with getting a legitamate merchant service provider (credit card
taker), and of course, problems with hackers getting access to your
customers credit card info!

Needless to say, it's been tough recommending shopping carts when none
of the solutions for a non-technical startup are really
cost-effective. Plus, when you ask local web developers for help,
they just resell you an existing software with their name on it, or
worse -- they build a custom shopping solution for you. In this day
and age, there is really no excuse to build your own E-Commerce system
unless you have a team of developers who can focus full-time on it.
There are just too many hackers out there that as soon as you start
getting business, they'll sniff you out.

So basically, where does a person with little technical knowledge get
a kick-butt E-Commerce system that is affordable, scalable, secure,
and easy to use for their startup and customers? Amazon!! Just
kidding. Shopify. Amazon is awesome too.

So why not Amazon or Ebay?
They don't like it when you self promote.
They don't like you to brand your business.
They like to make sure everyone knows it's from Amazon or eBay even
when you customize the experience.
They keep a feedback score and give you sales based on that (in your
own store, you don't have to compete with others)
The list goes on and on -- some merchants sell both on Amazon, eBay,
and in a custom store until the custom store makes enough money to get
out of the others.

So I have recommended Yahoo Stores, Paypal shopping carts, Google
checkout, OSCommerce, BigCommerce, Opencart Volusion, Magento with
add-ons, Amazon, eBay, and on and on to date...but have never felt
comfortable doing so. I feel comfortable sending entrepreneurs to
Shopify. Maybe their branding captured me, I don't know.

Many of the mentioned shopping carts and E-Commerce systems are
awesome -- but not for the startup that doesn't have in-house
technical expertise. This is why Yahoo Stores rose to power some
years ago. Because they offered a fairly non-technical E-Commerce
system -- but it lacked any real flexibility for the non-techies.

Recently, I got asked the first question again:
How do I get a store online for my business?

This time, I had an answer I was comfortable with -- Shopify. I
talked about how it's great for any case where you have multiple
products and are serious about your business. If you have a single
product, or two or three -- then perhaps a simpler solution like
Paypal or Google Checkout is better. However, if you're going to
carry multiple SKUs or your own custom products or you want to
self-promote, then it's really a good solution. The price is right,
the options on design are available for a low price -- and if you want
to get crazy you can have a designer design you a new Shopify Theme.
But there's no need for expensive tech developers.

On top of that, people really don't consider what would happen if
their customer database is hacked. Let me tell you -- if the credit
card numbers are compromised, then you're out of business. The only
reason some companies get away with getting hacked is because they're
smart enough to uber-protect the credit cards and personally
identifying data somewhere secret. This is no joke. A college level
developer will not protect against Eastern European hackers. A
mid-level developer may miss some critical holes such as salting,
injection, and cross site scripting attacks. Many companies get
hacked and never realize it while the hackers get an up to date stream
of credit cards when a new customer shops at your store. Don't be one
of those companies. Choose a solid solution. Shopify offers low
transaction fees, all the merchant handling junk, the shopping cart
setup, the secure transactions and SSL. Compare their prices with
just one or two hours of a web development agencies rates -- there's
no comparison.

Shopify Unlimited at $160/month (their super maximum package with everything)
That's only $1920/year. A web developer may charge a minimum of $50/hour.
That's only one week of web development per year. The maximum Shopify
package would help you make Walmart kind of money if you needed to.

If you go your own E-Commerce route, you could easily spend a week of
development hours just troubleshooting a problem.
If you decide to build your own custom E-Commerce tool, well, don't
plan on starting for awhile and be sure to test a ton before going
public.

Shopify has 20,000 stores using it's technology. Let Shopify figure
the tech and security out for you and you focus on your business.

Here's the Shopify link with the info you'll probably want if you're
thinking about getting it.
http://bit.ly/A2DanP

If you setup your store with Shopify, through the previous link I'll
get a little referral from them. If you don't want me to get the
referral if you do decide to purchase, click this Shopify link
instead. http://shopify.com

The Cabinet Making Machine that is the Music Industry #SOPA #PIPA #NetNeutrality

The Cabinet Business

Starring:
Mike the Cabinet Maker
Jimmy the Factory Man
Shawn the Inventor
Extras who like Cabinets

Mike is an expert in making cabinets.
People buy Mike's cabinets because they are valuable.

Mike is only one person so he can only build and sell a few cabinets
even though he knows everyone will love them.
Jimmy owns a factory that has cabinet making machines.

The process of making cabinets is laborious, but Jimmy has a
manufacturing system.
Jimmy's ships to retailers every night with trucks full of Mike's cabinets.
Mike and Jimmy make a bunch of money and people are happy.
Jimmy buys bigger factories, trucks and distribution systems with his money.

Mike keeps on designing cabinets and making money.
Jimmy wants more and contracts Mike to design five more cabinets for him.

Jimmy gets Mike to design a brand new cabinet.
He pays Mike a little bit in advance to buy the materials to do it.
He doesn't care if Mike messes up because Mike owes him anyways.
Jimmy decides to not even build the cabinet that Mike just designed
and asks Mike to pay him back.

Mike thought the cabinet design was his best yet so he tries to sell
the design to another manufacturer.
Jimmy tells the other cabinet manufacturer that they have to pay Jimmy
what his revenue would be for Mike's next five cabinets in order to
get Mike.

Jimmy is mad that Mike would try to sell a cabinet that he designed to
someone else.
Now when Jimmy sells cabinets, he takes out his marketing costs, sales
costs, manufacturing, supplies and any money that Mike owes him for
the advance before even splitting it with Mike.

Jimmy doesn't care if he works with Mike anymore so he decides to take
an extra 20% on every order for potential breakage because sometimes
the cabinets are damaged in shipping.

Mike realizes that he can't make any profits working with Jimmy
anymore and that he can't design cabinets for any other manufacturer
because of his contract with Jimmy, so Mike quits.

Jimmy calls Mike and reminds him that he has to design four more
cabinets or buy himself out of his contract.
Mike tells Jimmy to sue him. Jimmy does and wins.

Since Jimmy has an exclusive agreement to build Mike's cabinets, he
decides he can sell single fixtures.
Since he makes them in his factory and already has the rights, he
doesn't need to pay Mike.

Jimmy's mouth waters about radio and the potential to advertise.
Jimmy sells a cabinet fixture in advance of his newest cabinet with
radio promotion.

Now customers can upgrade their existing cabinets with a brand new
fixture and then go buy the new cabinet when it comes out. A perfect
match.

Customers love getting more value and are happy to pay for it.
Jimmy hones his business formula and looks for more marketable cabinet makers.

Jimmy decided Mike's cabinets were still the best, and offers Mike a
new advance to come back.
He explains to Mike that others would build the cabinets for less.

Mike understands and agrees to a smaller percentage so he can be happy
designing cabinets again.

Jimmy takes the extra money and buys the radio stations.
Then he buys the TV stations. Then he buys the stores and agencies.

Then Jimmy convinces wood makers to give him compensation for anyone
who might try and rebuild Mike's cabinets at home with their wood.

Then Jimmy fund-raises for politicians to change the laws.
Then Jimmy convinces the government to set a regulated maximum price
he would ever have to pay Mike.

Now Jimmy controls the cost, the price, and the distribution.
Jimmy's taste for cabinets isn't necessarily the best as he favors the
cabinets that make him the most money.
Oh well, Jimmy was rich.

Then some screwball came along named Shawn.
Shawn invented a cabinet making machine that anyone could own.
The machine could build Mike's fixtures and cabinets for pennies.
The new materials lacked a little in quality, but made up for it by
being indestructible during shipping.

Mike was ecstatic. Since the entire manufacturing cost was virtually
eliminated overnight, he asked Jimmy for some of the manufacturing and
breakage money back. Jimmy refused, keeping the full amount.

Shawn tried to get Jimmy to use his machine before any other
manufacturers. Jimmy didn't want to pay Shawn's price so he worked
with other cabinet makers to shut down Shawn's machine making
business. But it was too late, the machines were everywhere.

Soon, people were building Mike's fixtures and assembling them into
cabinets in their own home.
They weren't just stopping there. They were building cabinets by
every cabinet maker, even if it was just to sample them.
Mike didn't really mind because more people were discovering his
cabinets and asking him for more.

Jimmy wasn't happy.
When anyone built Mike's cabinets and gave them away for free, Jimmy
thought he was losing money.

Jimmy's marketing machine only got people more interested in cabinets.
Jimmy's empire was crumbling.

Jimmy becomes desperate and wants to regain his empire and his taste
in cabinets.
He starts suing people for building his cabinets.
He starts suing people for sharing cabinets.

Jimmy now wants to stop any potential cabinet maker big or small.
Jimmy is ruthless, he sues senior citizens and dead people.
Jimmy fund-raises for politicians to change the laws.

Jimmy tries to tax electricity customers to recover any potential lost
business because of any potential home cabinet-building activities.
Jimmy wants politicians to cut off the electricity of anyone who wants
to build his cabinets.
Jimmy wants to shut down any distribution outlet that could possibly
hold cabinets.

Jimmy wants anyone with a machine that has the potential to build his
cabinets to be shut off.
Jimmy wants to change the law so he can also sue anyone who has the
potential to build his cabinet.

New, legal cabinet makers who have embraced the new technology are at risk.
Some stage an electricity blackout in protest.
People are scared for more than cabinets.

Now all kinds of things can be built at home legally for pennies.
People have come to rely on building things and sharing them.

They are scared that the electricity will be turned off on them and
they now know that Jimmy is a shark.

People don't understand how Jimmy managed to influence their tastes in
cabinets so much. And they are frustrated.

Jimmy convinces the laws to change again.
Now a percentage of all sales made by any manufacturer will be paid to
the top few manufacturers like him -- the payouts will be a mandatory
minimum and will be based on taking a sampling of all cabinet sales
globally to determine which are the top sellers. The payouts will be
only for those who appeared in the sampling.

It seems Jimmy wants the toll booth, the pricing, the cost, the
distribution, the stores, the breakage, the machines, the electricity,
the laws, the advertising, ownership of all designs, and a percentage
from any companies that he doesn't own.

Mike just wants to design cabinets. And people just want to get
Mike's cabinets.
Jimmy is going to keep on doing his thing until the customers choose
someone else.

MegaUpload -- The Saga Continues

More news has resurfaced about the MegaUpload saga.

Just to recap some interesting points so far:
-- MegaUpload.com is [was] a file storage and sharing site
-- MegaUpload has been "seized"
-- several management team members of MegaUpload have been arrested
-- millions in assets and property were seized
-- accused of copyright infringement, racketeering, money laundering,
and other charges

While I'm not going to speculate whether they should be charged or
not, I am going to speculate on something else.
Authorities can build a case against nearly any site that accepts user
generated content. People just inherently share things they value
with each other.
Sometimes those shared things are personal works that they own the
copyright to, other things are photos, music, or videos that someone
else owns.

Clearly this topic has been discussed to death regarding copyright
infringement online.

What happened with MegaUpload in the months before this seizure?

According to Digital Music News, MegaUpload was about to launch a new
media service.
"Actually, this is technically a relaunch of an earlier concept, and a
perfect re-stab at major label opponents. 'UMG knows that we are
going to compete with them via our own music venture called
Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their
creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90
percent of earnings,' MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz told
Torrentfreak this week."

This is an interesting concept -- allowing artists to keep 90 percent
of earnings. I wonder if the artists were interested given that
MegaUpload was already getting 50 million visitors a day?
I wonder if UMG was interested -- being the largest music company in the world?

How might this affect the music industry?
Since artists currently make around 30 percent from their major label
deals, they'd have an extra 60 percent of earnings -- however, there
would be no major label marketing machine.

So if extra attention was paid to MegaUpload just due to "Megabox",
was it because people were feeling that an exodus of major artists was
on the way?
Or perhaps a bigger exodus of applications developers, musicians,
content providers and more because of the 90% revenue share? If
iTunes users' are downloading 10 billion applications in a year, then
90% would be very significant.

Could it be that a website like MegaUpload developed so much clout,
and had built such a solid data infrastructure that they could allow
the offering of any digital product for only 10%?
And with a marketplace of 50 million existing users per day, that's
billions of visits? Free to upload and sell? Keep 90% of sales?
Those are significant numbers.

Was MegaUpload singled out? Does it matter if they were?
Was someone with influence angered by the founder's lavish and excessive antics?

Does this topic just seem out of reach because the players are so big?
Do you find yourself asking why the current changing landscape could
have consequences you and your grandchildrens' way of life?

I realize the concept of digital ownership is still foreign to some
people. And unfortunately all the people who understand it are trying
to shape the industry to their benefit before we catch up.

Technology is evolving faster than we can keep up with it...

 

MUSIC :: Kito & Reija Lee - Sweet Talk

I've been struggling with how I would describe this song. It's a
little swanky sounding -- perfect for the disco.

Check out more about Kito feat. Reija Lee here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Kito%2B%2526%2BReija%2BLee