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The Future of the Personal Jukebox

By Tina Yew, October 26, 2004

The digital music industry has brought Apple to life and cast record producers a death-spell. Here are my thoughts on digital music and its impact on Web hosting.

iPod Blues

The iPod has brought out the music connossieur in everyone. However, one frustration is that songs will remain static until the iPod is synced. In addition, iPod has fixed memory space, and you may run out of room for songs one day. If I am away on a seven day trip, I will be stuck with the same songs, unless I have my dock or computer with me. The ingredients required to solve this problem are: a web hosting company, a portable audio device supporting remote music downloads, and a wireless connection. The solution is for portable audio devices to download or stream songs from a hosting server remotely.

What this Means for the Web Hosting Company

Web hosting companies already store web files (such as HTML) remotely for their client. Therefore, these companies have the ability to store large music files for personal use. This idea, however, requires much marketing effort for web hosting companies because consumers have a lack of understanding in what web hosting means. In addition, consumers do not know why they need to, and how to upload songs to web servers.

Current Wi-Fi Limitations

To transfer the songs from the hosting server to a personal audio device, a wireless connection is required. Though Wi-Fi is one of the means to do this, there are too few hotspots for a geographically dispersed city. For example, in Vancouver, BC, there are few Wi-Fi hotspots available outside the core downtown area, and Wi-Fi users are stranded once in the suburbs.

3G or 1X technology

3G or 1X is a promisng technology for fast wireless data transfers, where audio and video streaming is possible through mobile devices. However, North America is still in the implementation phase for 3G technology. In addition, 3G has been perceived as only web content providers. Therefore, 3G providers need to realize that remote access to personal content (i.e. songs on a virtual drive) presents much value to consumers.

Satellite Radio or iTunes to Go

Satellite radio would be an excellent addition to complement a portable audio device. Satellite radio allows one to listen to DJ'd music, while an online store will allow one to purchase / search for music. Both provide substantial benefits if implemented into a portable audio device.

Conclusion

Web hosting providers has the backend system available for future music trends. What they lack is the vision to extend the scope of their services beyond "web hosting." Those providers that do see the vision for other services will have a valuable "first mover advantage," and become a web hosting leader.

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