Sonos, Spotify and the Tenth Anniversary of the iTunes Store: Part 1

April 28, 2013 marked the tenth anniversary of Apple’s opening of the iTunes Store. iTunes is now the most popular music vendor in the world, having sold 25 billion songs. The Store’s anniversary caused me to take another look at the role of convenience in the development of formats for recorded music, a topic I have written about in my Saporta Report blogs.  I contend that iTunes succeeded because the iTunes system provided a convenient way of organizing and storing digital music, the iTunes Store provided a convenient way to buy digital music and the iPod (and later the iPhone) provided a convenient way to play digital music.

For me the discussion begins in the 1960s, when vinyl ruled in two formats, LPs and 45s.  Hobbyists desiring to reproduce recordings used reel-to-reel tapes.  In response to a desire for a more portable (albeit lower fidelity) format, 8 Tracks and cassette tapes were developed.  Their portability and stability made it possible to include tape players in car stereo systems.   At the time (and for decades to come), sound quality generally eclipsed video quality.  Almost everyone had good stereos.  Older audiophile quality stereos still sound good, but try looking at a CRT television from the 60s or 70s.  Until MP3 players dominated the scene, listening to music was often a communal experience. Music filled the room, a product of elaborate stereo systems in huge racks accommodating a turntable, preamp, amp, tuner, tape player and even equalizer.  And the speakers were often huge as well.  It was easier to listen to the stereo than watch TV, given that screen quality and size were lacking.

Equity Crowdfunding is Legal After All…In Georgia

Last week I compared waiting for the SEC to adopt crowdfunding regulations to waiting for State ratification of the repeal of Prohibition.  Today’s intermediaries, jockeying to launch the first JOBS Act crowdfunding, remind me of the Prohibition-era trucks (filled with liquor) lined up at the Canadian border, chomping at the bit to be the first to import liquor into the US.  The conclusion to the crowdfunding story should be predictable.  (It’s gonna happen, and the SEC’s regulations are going to be even more burdensome than the JOBS Act provisions themselves.) The only question is timing, right? But maybe that’s not how the story ends, after all. Equity crowdfunding is legal in Georgia already.  The rules are much more manageable than the existing requirements of the JOBS Act, even before additional limitations are imposed by the SEC.  And other States are starting to notice crowdfunding in Georgia.  Could it be that intrastate equity crowdfunding will eclipse JOBS Act crowdfunding?

Facilities Professionals and Security
My involvement in the 2013 Cyber Attack & Business Continuity Simulation was full of eye-opening surprises. I have always known that an organization's physical facilities are an important and valuable asset that needs to be managed. In fact, I have dedicated my career to it. But what my participation as an on-stage role player in "the Simulation" made very clear was the involvement of facilities personnel in cybersecurity.

The Simulation featured two different angles on cyber security. The distinction is somewhat subtle but very important, especially to facilities professionals. The first was a cyber attack and the second was an attack on cyber. The first thing is what anti-hacking experts call an Advanced Persistent Threat attack. It was a detailed and specialized cyber attack which occurred in a secure collaboration area long before the actual Simulation. It was of no concern to facilities professionals but it was, nonetheless, an important precursor event.

Waiting for Crowdfunding: The JOBS Act and the Twenty-first Amendment

At the end of Prohibition, trucks lined the Canadian border. They were filled with cases of liquor, for sale in the United States.  A whole supply chain infrastructure had developed, ready to satisfy an overwhelming demand.  Similarly, potential intermediaries jockey to be ready for the effective date of crowdfunding, as set forth in the JOBS Act.  Crowdfunding has been hailed as an important initiative for promoting job creation through the funding of startups. The JOBS Act’s crowdfunding provisions allow non-accredited investors to make limited investments in startups raising $1 million or less through approved portals. Moreover, the issuer can advertise, and can accept small investments from a large number of non-accredited investors. The Act, which was signed into law about a year ago, required the SEC to adopt regulations within months after adoption, but the SEC has failed to act.  So the trucks continue to wait at the border.  And wait. 

Mark Gelhardt, Global News Network Chief Security Officer

Being Prepared

Live, experiential learning exercises are very valuable. I am glad that TAG’s InfoSec Society is making what was once only available to the military and the biggest of companies available to the general business audience. I have a particular viewpoint because of my career history and background where I was able to participate in many highly classified exercises. It is great to see the business world starting to get a taste of this type of training: it is much needed.

I have personally had the unpleasant task of going up against terrorists hackers, criminal hackers, good hackers, lousy hackers, hacktivists and others in real life and I can tell you that you can never be too prepared and you can never know everything. As a retired US Army officer and former White House Chief Information Security Officer during the Clinton administration I have seen first hand what the government is doing: now we have to get the rest of us ready to defend against the same cyber threats.

The Masters: Imagine

I doubt that John Lennon attended the Masters or could have ever envisioned that a golf tournament would remind anyone of utopia. But by prohibiting smartphones, Augusta National has created a world of authentic shared experiences and limited distractions that provides a glimpse of the world described in “Imagine.”

“Imagine there’s no smartphones. It isn’t hard to do.” Or so Lennon might have sung in 2013. The Masters’ prohibits cellphones, which, while a bit inconvenient, is essential to the creation and continuation of the Masters of experience. Presumably the Masters’ prohibition was originally intended to prevent a distracting phone ring in the middle of Nicklaus’ backswing. At the time, voice was the only feature of a mobile phone.  Frankly, I didn’t mind being unable to receive calls from the outside world.  And if you need to talk, the Masters, which thinks of everything, provides a bank of telephones with free long-distance.  (Interestingly, there was no wait.) Being unable to check emails and texts constantly was more noticeable, but being cut off from the outside world has its charms.