Internet Service Providers are done enticing consumers with mere access

The clever ones transform themselves into Content Service Providers, or as Playlouder will have it, MSP’s.

From their website: ‘That’s right, PlayLouder is bringing yours truly the first ever Music Service Provider! Raaaaaaahhhhh! Which basically means you will now be able to share and download music with your mates and virtual chums all over the UK, without worrying about Mr Big beating you with a truncheon, nicking all your cash and throwing your miserable ass in chokey.’

What makes it so great – ‘you dear music lovers’ – is that together with a broadband connection, the lucky citizens of the UK can now gain access to thousands of legal music files, free of Digital Rights Management (what’s DRM?).

And how, in Conservative Music Mogul’s name, do they do it? They’re paying royalties to the record companies for activities previously unlicensed and unlawful. ‘Neat eh?’ I should think so (if not for the idea, then at least for pulling off such a deal).

True business model innovation, and it comes packed with a fair amount of witty laughter. I’ve already e-mailed the good people at Playlouder MSP, begging them to come over and connect us deprived citizens of the Netherlands.

But they let me know we’ll have to sit our miserable Mere Access Provision for the time being.

Read more elsewhere

Playlouder seems to grab a bit from all of Eric Bun’s Five inspiring Business Model Innovations in the Telecommunication Industry, which is a good overview on what’s happening in the ISP industry.

And, for some stick on how not to approach this – on both ISP and the music industry fronts, have a look at The Register’s Andrew Orlowski: How to Destroy the Music Business. It talks of blanket license free proposals of €1, per year – per household, and how such measures would destroy any incentive for consumers to pay for better-than-almost-free ‘value added services’  (check out more recent, related articles at the bottom of that post).

Finally, read Wikipedia’s article on the analogue hole to find out what the photo at the top wants to convey about the futility of DRM (and don’t get your hopes up, because it’s not about porn).

(photo Radio At The Edge Session on Digital Rights Management dan taylor)

Recently hosting its second annual Crunchies, TechCrunch invited the Internet community to choose 2008’s winners.

Listed below are three of the lime-lighted web services and tools in the selection. My own criteria: usability and looks.

1 – Cooliris – winner of ‘best design’.

Transforms your browser into a lightning fast, cinematic way to discover the web. Search through thousands of video’s, images, and other visuals, via a plug-in ‘wall’.

A stunning way of flicking through search-query results to find that one perfect image. Just downloading the thing had me awestruck: a beautiful visual guide, with arrows and messages to guide you through a 1-minute getting started.

2 – Wuala – ‘best international start-up’ runner-up.

Download the Wuala application, publish your videos, photos, and other files heavy-on-the-bytes files, and share them with whomever you want.

A quick, easy, free way to get things out to people you’d never be able to send via e-mail – and much more user-friendly than Yousendit (http://www.yousendit.com/). Like mane, this is a ‘freemium’ service that’ll give you 1GB for free. To get more storage, you can dish out your credit card.

3 – Sliderocket – in the running for ‘best design’.

A slideshow presentation web-abb, fusing Apple’s Keynote functionality and visuals with the resources of the Internet. Incorporate audio and visuals from the web, and access and present your show from any computer connected to the web.

For nothing, you can create, manage, and store 250 MB’s worth of your slides. For money, you can of course do more.

Have a look at all of the categories and contestants, and see which services and companies won what, by clicking here.

(photos
- The Crunchies 2008 by Laughing Squid

- cooliries screen shot by natashalcd

- wuala_9 by solider

- sliderocket by virgosun)

Now taking applications for a six-month post of “island caretaker”, starting 1st July 2009.

Soak up the sun, swim, snorkel, sail, and generally laze about for a living.  Requirements: you must be over 18, a fantastic and charismatic communicator, and speak and write English – so you can report your hard work via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The successful candidate will be employed for 6 months. Pay: 150,000 $AU (about 100,000 U.S. dollars).  Secondary benefits: free airfares from your home country to tropical Hamilton Island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and a multi-million-dollar three-bedroom beach home – rent-free.

In its bid to boost Queensland’s $18 billion a year tourism industry, the northeastern Australian state is going to great lengths to stress that it’s a real job.

No need to tell hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world: inundating the website that advertises the job, they managed to crash it for a day. It’s up and running again though, so you can visit it to submit a 60-second video explaining why you’re the ideal candidate. Think about it – you have until February 22nd to apply.

Fantastic piece of tourism marketing, if only for all the people sending in video’s and raving about the job. But also a great way to call out to potential candidates – and a shame not all work can be made this enticing.

Read more on Expatica (thanks to Meg for giving a shout).

(image the best job in the world by me)

This workshop empowered the people who were there as much as it did me – and it left me with a lot of useful feedback.

The Digital Pioneers Academy coaches social, small-scale online enterprises looking to professionalize. For them, writing a business plan can be a daunting task. I wanted to simplify the business model concept by visualizing it – and to turn the prospect of working with it into a positive design challenge.

Below is the Slideshare presentation (some rights reserved – ). I adapted it after the workshop to give the pioneers a reference guide to flick through. Because I used their feedback to clarify some things, it’s as much theirs as mine.

(photo standing there – in a puddle by Auntie P)