Versatile Amphibian

I’m firmly of the belief that participants in the TMT industry need to read widely in order to understand the present and future dynamics of the market. To that end, this post is a collection of the articles that have caught my eye. This week – $50k the price of ideology, Airforce, NOAA dispense with RIM, Amazon beats up HMV and forces Indian retail consolidation while Netflix “destroys” TV New business models Fascinating – ideological hacking has replaced criminal hacking as #1. Also worth noting the rise of attacks originating in Asia. No corporate can overlook this threat to their externally facing web properties. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/08/ddos_attack_trends/ Although extorting $50k doesn’t seem particularly ideological. Slightly amusing that the torrent got malware infected within hours of being uploaded. No honour amongst thieves! http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/07/pcanywhere_shenanigans/ Bye bye RIM. Even government doesn’t think security is enough of a differe...

I can't help but think that the unveiling of HMV's new 'strategy' is the final nail in the coffin for music on the highstreet. Quite how they think that selling high end headphones (a product that couldn't be better suited to online merchants) and competing with the well established live performance players will save their business is beyond me. For me the future of such retail is in the creation of physical experiences that seamlessly and additively blend with online. For example, the use of augmented reality and near-field technology to enable consumers to sample on the highstreet (or even on the Metro ) and receive digitally on any device or promptly to their home. I've also written before about the role of HMV and equivalents in curating digital content for consumers faced with the unlimited choice of digital. Again, this is curiously missing as a positioning for HMV - imagine being able to walk into their store, sample some branded music, apps or games exp...

I've been trying to get my head around the news that HMV are struggling - closing 10% of their stores in order to avoid breaking their debt covenants. It's not news that the shift to digital and increasing popularity of Play and Amazon hurt the traditional retail model, however I can't really understand how it can drive a retailer like HMV - a near-monopoly player on the highstreet to the verge of bankrupcy. I think the fundamental issue is that the core HMV stores provide a commodity retail experience - pile-em high and sell-em... not cheap enough. I don't buy CDs and games from HMV anymore, because the experience is so horrible - I'd rather get them from Amazon in bulk. Contrast this with Waterstones (also owned by HMV). Much to my surprise, I've started buying my books there again after nearly a decade of Amazon. Why? Because Waterstones stores provide a personal recommendation service instore, whether through the little cards they place on the shelf-ends or ...