Who would have thought, the Cardigans are actually not bad. I hear their older stuff is much better, but I picked them up through "Lovefool" off of First Band on the Moon - obviously not meant as serious music, and not exactly a masterpiece - which was big back in 1997 (and, oddly enough, one of the first pieces of music I heard while in Latvia), but more so I recently heard "Communication" from their latest album Long Gone Before Daylight. I checked out some of the rest of the album; the reviewers are correct, it is a little too bleak and (worse) "self-pitying." "Please, Sister" is an awesome song though, even if I don't have a clue what it means. A few more songs on my way to collecting all the good pop music ever made! (A dubious goal to be sure... but if I ever start my own radio station, I am set!)
I know no one really cares, but since no one is writing anything useful here anyway...
One major problem with news stories and columns, especially political ones: Lack of citations, especially of primary sources. Inexcusable. If you're going to write a story saying x% of money designated for purpose y ended up for purpose z instead, cite some sources! Sheesh. And stories in the New York Times only count for a fraction of a point. I expect primary sources.
Okay, I want a proposal on the following:
(1) A method for delivering video content (a) over the Internet, (b) on demand (i.e. program-by-program and episode-by-episode basis), (c) that will scale with increased demand, and (d) at a quality level competetive with television. [Today we have some that meet the first two conditions, but not really the scalability requirement, and usually not the last one].
(2) A means of financially supporting the use of the technology in (1) in such a way that will not be burdensome to consumers. Especially, the scheme should use no digital rights management. Preferably, this method should not require subscriptions. [Perhaps selling DVDs or film? Or merchandising? Or donations? Or credited sponsorship? I like that last one - credit in the next episode anyone who gave above a certain amount of money.]
Some work is being done on (1), though as mentioned above, nothing is quite there yet. I don't think anyone has really made any general suggestions regarding (2). Obviously, some groups have already found a way to support themselves; will any of these methods distribute money in a useful way when there is a drastically increased supply of programming, and, if so, which is best? Otherwise, we will need a completely new one. Advertising in its current form will likely not be possible, and probably not desirable; product placement is to be despised.
