dog or higher

Cool

the iPod Touch just really became the phoneless iPhone. OK, gotta plonk down another $20 for the software, but that's the price of early adoption it would seem ;-)

Downloading...

and now for something completely different

friction

I have a pretty large CD collection. I listen to a fair bit of internet radio, and besides have not a lot of free time to listen to music, particularly new stuff. Besides, young people's music these days... So I rarely buy new music. $30 a CD (AUD) doesn't help much, sure.

But I just bought sound unheard Saul William's new "The inevitable rise and liberation of Niggy Tardust".

I've heard one or two tracks from Saul Williams, a poet/rapper who is also an actor, and they have stayed with me for years.
This new album, produced by Trent Reznor, and available, AFAICT only online, is either $5, or free, depending on your proclivities. You choose.

At $5, for me it was a bit of a no brainer. At >$5 hmmm, maybe, listen to a few tracks, do I like it? ...

So for me, $5 seems like a threshold, a liminal amount - a new work by someone I respect, at $5, I'm almost certain to buy it. Any more, and (for me at least) it will take some tire kicking. And at $10 plus, the iTunes threshold, more or less, it has to be stellar. Even Prince has to work for his money at $10.

For me at least, doubling the price dramatically reduces the amount I'll buy. Maybe I'm a cheap bastard. What about you?

What's the no brainer price? What's the no way price? What's the sweet spot?

Postcards from tomorrow afternoon

And a happy new year.

There's a short quote from me in a story in today's Sydney Morning Herald, which looks at 10 things or ideas which may help shape the near future. From the Chumby to microblogging, peer to peer lending to hyperlocal news.

Web Directions speakers Adrian Holovaty and Mark Pesce get a little coverage as well.

A good way to start the year, looking to the future.