US Workplace Net Usage Rising

"Nielsen reports that roughly 46 million people in the US went online from work in August 2002, and eMarketer estimates that there will be 152.8 million US net users this year....

According to August 2002 hour-by-hour usage data, Nielsen also finds that prime usage hours at work are between 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., when 86% of at-work users surveyed were logged on. This compares to at-home usage, which is highest in the evening between 5:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M. (which makes sense considering people are usually coming home from work around that time of day)." [eMarketer]

And you know what they're doing? Email, chat, some web surfing, and listening to music online. Management seems to have come to grips with the idea that email is a necessity and they can't really stop employees from using it for personal correspondence, even though it's officially discouraged.

But they haven't caught up with chat yet. They still think it's frivolous, and maybe in some settings it is. But once secure IM products come on the market, they won't be able to hide behind that argument anymore, and they'll have to be more honest or open the corral door. So give instant messaging another year or so before it becomes as commonplace as email. Again, the children shall lead the way.

Then there's web surfing, another activity that is officially frowned upon but is difficult to control. And there's always the argument that an employee that knows how to find stuff on the web is a more efficient employee all around. I would guess, though, that most surfing at work done by the average person is done with a specific goal in mind - looking up a stock, booking an airline reservation, finding a phone number, etc. Not the kind of thing someone will do for hours on end (unless you're a librarian, in which case that's your job).    ;-)

That leaves online music, and I can personally vouch for the increased usage of speakers where I work. Whether it's classical music, flamenco guitar, celtic music, or one of  the other genres you're not likely to hear on commercial radio, more people are definitely turning to the internet for their music fix. It's a great fit, even for employees in a cubicle because they can keep the volume relatively low and not bother others.

So why aren't the record labels taking advantage of this captive audience? For the life of me, I can't see the point in putting out of business the largest industry that can be dedicated to selling what are historically the least-bought albums.  If the record companies are going to claim that they have to spend enormous amounts of money to market the big acts in order to support the rest of the catalog, then why not do anything and everything to help move the rest of the catalog, too? Why not work with internet radio niche sites, get tight with online DJs via exclusives and special offers, and offer online users exclusive membership content?

It's like watching the early days of VCRs, wishing you could explain to the entertainment industry how much money they'd be making if they'd just stop huffing and puffing for a second.

Can your PDA speak German?

"Big Blue on Wednesday will start selling its ViaVoice Translator, software for PDAs (personal digital assistants) that use Microsoft's PocketPC operating system . IBM's software will translate English to and from German, French, Italian and Spanish.

The ViaVoice Translator is part of a new push by IBM, Hewlett-Packard and several small start-ups to give handhelds a voice. For example, Jornada, a PDA that HP is developing will take photos, scan them for foreign text and translate the text into any number of languages. And the Phraselator talking PDA uses speech-recognition software to translate military commands for U.S. troops in Afghanistan....

The problem with translation software is it uses up a lot of memory for PDAs, and IBM concedes that the ViaVoice Translator is no different. IBM recommends users increase their PDA's memory with another 128MB of RAM if they plan to install the software package." [CNET News.com]

This kind of software could make things much easier in libraries that serve communities with a large number of patrons with ESL needs in one of these four languages. Sounds like a great model grant to me....

Hi, this is your wake-up call. The latest Bonnie Hunt sitcom is on tonight - 8:30/7:30 p.m. CST on ABC. It's called Life with Bonnie and if past events are any indication, it will be funny but won't be around long so catch it while you can.

Tell me again why my ReplayTV can't access the ABC page for the show?

Thanks to Lori Bell, I've been scanning the Memorial Hall Library's web site (they're located in Andover, Massachusetts). They do a great job of providing remote access to their databases, live online chat with a librarian, a browsable catalog (instead of just a searchable one), and they're even circulating Gemster ebooks. Lori led me there, though, because the MHL is yet another library circulating Audible MP3 audiobooks.

What I found interesting, though, was that they've gone beyond circulating the players with cassette adapters to also include a Link-It Audio Transmitter for playing the titles over a radio. Brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of this! I don't know if they're the first library to circulate transmitters with players, but it's a great idea. If you're thinking of circulating Audible titles, you should definitely consider doing this because many new cars don't come with cassette players (our new minivan didn't).

Also, I didn't realize that Audible is offering a new service that lets libraries circulate the content on patrons' existing players. They're not fully there yet, but here is how Audible's Matt Fine describes their current process for checking out a title (minus the player) to a patron:

"We are able to do this now, by using 'book use credits' which are basically codes a library will purchase from us and then a patron can enter the codes under their own Audible account at home and not get charged for a book download."

It's an excellent start, and it's refreshing to see a digital content middleman so willing to work with libraries. I've yet to hear about a library circulating Audible titles that didn't have an overwhelmingly positive response to the service.

Playstation 2 Gets TiVo-like Functions

"Austin, Texas-based BroadQ is offering Qcast Tuner, software to connect the PS2 with a PC running SnapStream Media's video recording software.

Houston-based SnapStream released its Personal Video Station software last year. The program allows a PC connected to a TV signal to record and play back programs using the PC's hard drive, similar to standalone devices such as the TiVo video recorder.

To date, playback of SnapStream programming has been limited to monitors and other devices connected to a PC. But the network adapter Sony released for the PS2 last month finally gives the company a pathway to television sets, SnapStream CEO Rakesh Agrawal said....

'I think the overall idea of being able to view video and other content via the game console, that has real long-term potential, but I think you're talking four or five years down the road,' he said. 'You're really looking more at the PlayStation 3. By then, people will have more of the home networking capacity, and the game systems themselves will have more capacity.' " [News.com, via Slashdot]

This is all well and good, but it doesn't really get me anywhere. I've come to realize that what I want is for my ReplayTV to access the internet directly. I want to be able to set preference sites for their channel guide. For movies, I want to tie it to the Internet Movie Database so that I can get more information about a particular movie. Or if I see an actor on a TV show and I want to know his name, I want to be able to press a button and get a full listing for that episode from a site like TV Tome. If I'm watching a weekly drama or sitcom and I missed last week's episode, I want to press a button that takes me to an episode guide, snarky comments and all. If I'm watching a news/politicaly commentary show, I want to link a subject out and see what the blogosphere is saying about it. If I'm watching a talk show interview with a particular author, I want to link out and search my library's catalog or Amazon reviews. The manufacturer can pre-program defaults (and charge for placement), but I want to be able to change those preferences. If you're a television network or movie studio, make your web sites interesting enough and I'll include you in my list.

Interactivity and convergence isn't happening fast enough for me, and the cable companies certainly aren't helping things any.