Scott Dolan

Again, that isn't what was established at all. What was established is that their current licensing rights doesn't allow them to. That doesn't mean those rights cannot be renegotiated. So, it's not "off topic" to discuss what makes the current music distribution market tick, and look at ways in how that is likely affecting Mosaic, and what potential course corrections they could make to ensure their viability moving forward. Veering "off topic" would be Jim posting about this weird looking frog that his dog just ate, and asking for opinions as to whether or not he should take him to the vet, or just observe him for possible symptoms of poisoning. And the rest of us chiming in with our completely inexperienced, yet adamant, "suggestions". I'm sensing you've got some things going on in "real" life that have you slightly off balance at the moment, because this is really out of character for you. If so, I'm sincerely sorry to hear that. If not, lighten up, Francis! Once a valued member, always a valued member. We've been riding this here rodeo for a decade and a half, damn near. And I apologize if I was the main reason behind you deleting the old thread, and/or leaving. But, if you're going to leave, then fare thee well. I can only speak of myself and say, I hope that you change your mind and stick around.

Is the sound quality any good?

It's the mysterious nature, right? I mean, you can even compare it to your local DJ that you'd hear on the radio everyday. He/she essentially became an important part of your daily life. But then you'd think, "I wonder what that person looks like?" Not the best analogy, but the Jazz movies thing works in a similar fashion. I remember the first time I heard Charlie Parker speak in a video I saw many moons ago. On the outside I'm thinking, "hey cool, that's Charlie Parker. Now I know what his voice sounded like". But in a small corner of the back of my mind I was excitedly shouting, "HOLY FUCK! THAT'S CHARLIE FUCKING PARKER!! AND HE'S ACTUALLY SPEAKING!!!" It's cool. It's another brick in the wall, so to speak. One more puzzle piece in its place. I remember how thrilled I was seeing Eric Dolphy playing for the very first time. And no, the sonic quality meant nothing to me in that moment. I was seeing a hero. In action! So now when I listen to his music, I can see him playing it in my mind's eye. Either way, I now think I fully understand what your issue with downloads is. You want to present your art as a complete multimedia presentation. I can dig that.

What's been established is that their current licensing agreements do not allow for it. But the discussion is indeed relevant because it's what record company survival is based on in this current day and age. I don't know why any non-linear discussion pertaining to problems/solutions that are a factor in the potential demise of Mosaic are anathema in this thread.

I'll never understand why some feel that we're not allowed to walk and chew gum at the same time. That said, before J.A.W. deleted the previous thread Allen had mentioned that he's looking at the physical vs digital download argument more from a historian's perspective. That he wanted listeners to be able to walk into a room and "see" the music before they hear it. Album art, the artists, likely liner notes as well. And that he felt that he was likely in a shrinking minority that does feel that way. This is a very bad paraphrasing of what he posted, but I replied something like this: I completely get that perspective. I think for folks like most (if not all) of us here, seeing those album covers, reading the liner notes...it was our only connection to those artists. Sure, we had libraries, but there was no guarantee that you'd find something about the particular artist you were looking for information on. So in a sense, those album covers and liner notes WERE our World Wide Web. They were primarily, if not entirely, our source for information and the further sense of connection that we felt. We couldn't foresee a world where so much of that information would be available at our fingertips, whether at home, having dinner in a restaurant, or walking through the park. We're conditioned to hold those things in the highest regard. But, these days people are connecting with, and learning more and more information about their favorite artists through blogs, artist websites, and social media. In many ways, they likely feel an even stronger sense of connection than we ever did. It's just that they don't view it as the precious commodity that we did. But if they choose to, they're still "seeing" the music before they hear it. Just in different ways than we're accustomed to.

And my post replying to your last post, which never saw the pixelated light of day. You brought up an excellent point about "seeing" the music before you hear it, and when I get a minute I'll try to recreate my reply.

To be fair, you could cut and paste that in MANY threads here. But if we simply cease comminucating for those reasons, then what? It's off topic, but I sometimes find myself asking someone a question, and then thinking to myself, "why not just look it up yourself"? Then I finally came up with the answer one day, "because that's not how humans interact and communicate". We ask each other questions to engage. I really don't like the thought of the alternative...

Yeah, I should have we switched simply because we changed over to a healthier diet. Whole milk is really good for you, but it can be quite fattening if you're not judicious with your intake. I watch my 17 year old son in awe while he saws through that stuff as though it were oxygen. AND! Believe it or not, we actually weaned ourselves all the way down to SKIM milk for nearly a decade! But then my wife just up and decided she'd had enough and we went back to 2%. These days I can actually drink any of the iterations and not mind.

Very cool. I'll have to see if I can find it here. One of our local grocers tends to carry a lot of the...hmmmm, "boutique" brands of goods. I hear you on the volume. I dramatically cut my milk intake years ago. We also cut back to 2% for health reasons, but whole milk is still a great treat. Thanks for the info.

Very odd. I wonder if you had a corrupt cookie, or something like that? Either way, glad the issue seemed to resolve itself.

Interesting. What differences do you notice between this and regular milk? I'm always up for trying a new milk (soy, almond, etc). I wonder what "ultra pasteurized" means? Have you ever had milk straight from the cow? Even though raw milk cheeses are usually quite good, raw milk is absolutely disgusting, IMO.

I'd think they're all in Bristol, actually.

Well, it's in the Orlando area...

The Dean Benedetti Of The Caribbean dark ride might be interesting. Though likely not all that family friendly...

After it happened a time or two, or three, that was my guess, Jim. Some kind of housekeeping going on in the background. The only thing keeping me from completely believing that was the fact that some days it's fine, others not so much. But, that's potentially a server issue. Backup might be running faster one day, not so fast the next. Either way, it certainly doesn't explain not being able to access the board for days, outside of the off chance that both Greg and Kevin are trying to access it only within that small time frame.

Have you tried at different times? I know that when I get on here early in the morning (4am CST), sometimes I can only access the main forum board. If I try to get into a thread, or even search unread posts, it can sometimes be a no go.

Guy, Ah, OK. I still don't understand how to read those tables without them being adjusted for hires/re-hires, and that kind of thing, but fair enough. I also thought when you were talking about the relatively small numbers that you were referring to either ESPN itself, or other comparable companies. Again, fair enough. That was on me. I think the numbers are significant only because the "Worldwide Leader In Sports" is failing, and this relatively slow trickle may turn into a complete washout very quickly. Which was the point I was getting at. It's funny (sad) how today's theme seems to be broken business models. The parallels between this and the Mosaic situation are perfectly clear. Now, ESPN has the luxury of having Papa Disney watching its back, while Mosaic is their own entity, walking the high wire without a net. But both can still fail quite easily. And unfortunately, I think both will if they are unable to adjust to this new digital/streaming frontier. I mean for christ sake, fucking AMAZON just bought some NFL streaming licensing rights!

Where did that number come from?

I just realize how old I truly am when I look at that particular part of their site...and can't figure out where the fuck I am, or what the fuck I'm reading about. But, I can tell you this (courtesy of having a teenage son in the house): kids watching other kids and/or adults playing video games? HUGE! There are hundreds of YouTube stations devoted to just that. Not hundreds of videos. Hundreds of stations, which usually contain hundreds of videos.

Actually, they did a couple of years ago. It didn't go over well with their audience. And then there's this: http://www.espn.com/esports/

And that's really the driving factor in all of this. Cord-cutting has become FAR easier in recent years with things like Netflix, Apple TV, Roku, etc... Reading the book, Those Guys Have All The Fun, it was amazing to see how far ahead of the curve the founders of ESPN were back then. But the digital revolution has left them flat-footed and directionless.

If it means anything, I can confirm this. Cord-cutters are indeed the primary reason behind this. It has been reported all over the media. I most recently heard Dan Patrick talking about it on his radio show. For a company that just laid off 300 production employees in October, these numbers actually are very significant. When you have a second round of layoffs, that itself is very significant.

Yeah, it is sad. 56, damn...

Yeah, I remember that's when Steely Dan stopped playing Don't Take Me Alive during their concert because that was what he had playing on the cassette deck in his truck. We saw them in either '94 or '95 and they still weren't playing it.

No, and yes. Hell, the steam shower alone accounts for around a fifth of that.