Posted by Luke | Posted on 20-11-2009
Category : Internet/Tech, Random & Interesting
Tags: gen-y, iTunes, Music, Record Store
It all started with the introduction of the iTunes Music store! Since then there has been an increasing availability of online music stores where you can legally purchase and download your favourite music tracks and albums. It was just the other night I purchased a full album off the iTunes store when I had a little realisation. Wow that was easy, and I didn’t even have to leave my house.
This all made me think a little about what actual purpose the ‘Record’ store actually serves in the current world that we live in. One of the biggest differences between the two and reason that I think that online music stores have been so successful is not so much the ease of purchase but more so the ability to pick and choose exactly what songs you want. No longer do you have to spend $30 for an album where you only get two or three songs that you actually want to listen to. It think this is the major appeal, but what about pricing?
While albums available for online purchase all come in at different prices depending on the number of tracks, when comparing their prices to purchasing a CD from a store there is a significant price saving.
I have a feeling that the preference to purchase music on a form of media like a CD may also be a bit of a generational thing as well. Given the fact that in the past people have always had a very tangible experience when purchasing music and movies, essentially they would walk into a store, hand over their hard earned cash and physically get something for it. From what I can see it seems that those generations of people still want that tangible experience. However for the younger generations that are used to the more intangible experience of handling their media I think we will slowly see the need and want to have a physical copy of a movie or music slowly fade, and with it will the need for bricks and mortar record stores. Just the way I see it anyway. What do you think? Let us know in the poll below!!
Loading ...
There is one thing that continues to irritate me, especially given the day and age we live in and the technology we all have available to us, it’s the fact that so many businesses maintain ignorant to the benefits of having a presence on the web.
I come accross it all the time, a big portion of where I do my information search before making a purchase decision is on the Internet. Because of this I find it really frustrating when businesses either have absolutely no presence on the web or they have a very poor website with so little information they needn’t have bothered.
I really feel that as the younger generations such as Gen Y and the up and coming Gen Z’s become more and more prominent in the market place if businesses want to keep attracting these kind of people they will have to get their act together. I understand that to have a fully fledged website is sometimes very expensive if you don’t have the knowledge of how to build one yourself, but what about all of these great free alternatives?!? Twitter, Facebook or any free kind of blogging software, or very inexpensive solutions like Squarespace which allow you to easily build very pro looking pages with very little hassle!
It just dumbfounds me that these business owners or managers are willing to let opportunities just go past and miss out on making that extra all important dollar just because they couldn’t be bothered to spend a little time in building a place for themselves on the internet.
Posted by Luke | Posted on 03-06-2009
Category : Internet/Tech
Tags: gen-y, internet, new media
It would seem sometimes that our lives are gradually becoming more and more reliant on the internet, as we tend towards mobile phones capable of browsing the web and becoming your mobile portal to the internet. With the internet always connected and piped into our homes in the form of DSL and internet plans constantly allowing us to download more and more. We have certainly come a long way from having to dial into our ISP’s simply to browse the most basic web pages and download our latest emails.
But has this easy ability to just ‘jump’ online whenever we feel like it turned into an addiction? Well I don’t believe so, actually I think that the internet could be the 21st century electricity. In the same way electricity was something that only few could access, it’s benefits soon became apparent to the world and before you know it every home in the country has a constant supply. I think we are starting to see this now with the internet, people are starting to turn to applications like twitter and online news feeds for their news, using online video streaming services such as youtube and iTunes to get our entertainment fix, and even by using online programs like the ones offered by Google in the form of Google Docs for our word processing needs.
With GenY slowly becoming more influential it will be important for traditional media to recognize the importance of providing content able to be accessed at leisure by consumers, generally speaking GenY is impatient and wants to be entertained when it suits them, if they want to watch an episode of their favorite show, they don’t want to have to wait until a certain time slot on a certain day. It will therefore be necessary for companies to integrate their content into the internet.
With a lot of our services and computer needs being managed ‘in the cloud’ I certainly think we are moving into a time where access to the internet access is something that we are going to need rather than want.
