High-tech came to the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration Wednesday, as local and international players in the digital music industry visited the business school to showcase the latest technology and address the future of the digital music.
Apple, Dell, Samsung and Bose joined electronics giant Best Buy and others for a morning of technology show-and-tell in Tuck's Stell Hall. Visitors to the demonstration got their hands on the newest and coolest gadgets and in the digital music industry, like the hot Apple iPod Mini and the newly-released Napster 2.0.
Students and faculty were greeted by representatives from each company, who displayed their wares on long tables lining the crowded hall. Some onlookers engaged representatives in heated discussions over product comparisons and preferences, while others stood mesmerized, ears covered by headphones.
Mixed in with the music hardware and software were representatives from the Dartmouth Computer Store and the Dartmouth Bookstore, who answered questions and demonstrated new computer models. Area merchant Electronics Superstore held the attention of many with their vivid flat panel displays, which can free up a significant amount of desk space by replacing today's bulky CRT monitors.
Apple representatives were hounded with questions about the new G5 -- the industry's first 64-bit processor--which Apple claims can cut execution times in half for some applications. A full line of G4 PowerBooks and iBooks were also on display, though many consumers tried to get the inside information on a possible release date for a G5 portable.
PC fans got to sample Dell's Digital Jukebox mp3 players, and discuss Microsoft's not-yet-released online music store. The Microsoft store would compete with Apple's iTunes, a 99-cent-per-song dowload program that Apple has released for both Mac and Windows.
Following the demonstrations, Jimmy Guterman of Ziff Davis Media moderated a four-panelist discussion of industry insiders. Victoria Bassetti, vice president of the major label BMI, represented the side of the multi-billion-dollar music industry, while Wayne Rosso, CEO of peer-to-peer (P2P) software company Optisoft/Blubster spoke for the up-and-coming music download business.
Bassetti and Rosso were joined by Tim Schaff, vice president of Apple, and Peter Fader, a professor from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Feathers flew as Bassetti, whose company accounts for 13 percent of the recording industry business, exchanged words with Rosso, whose P2P file sharing software threatens to render major labels obsolete.
For those unfamiliar with P2P, Rosso explained that the software "creates an ad-hoc network to communicate with each other, like email or Instant Messenger," he said.
At this, Bassetti chimed in: "Piracy," she said.
"That's b.s.," Rosso replied. "I'm tired of people talking about 'copyright infringement.'"
He went on to explain that P2P technology could allow the music industry -- even big companies like Bassetti's BMI -- more control over their product, and allow them to lower their marketing and distribution costs by selling music directly to the consumer, rather than physically shipping it to stores.
Currently, U.S. compact disc sales are down 15 percent since 2000, and 49 percent of 12- to 22-year-olds downloaded music from the internet last month, according to the Tuck School.
Tunes at Tuck is the latest installment in the series of events from the Center for Digital Strategies.
