Let me be trendy and say "iPod killer"

SEATTLE - Associated Press -- Microsoft Corp. has vowed to put considerable money and effort behind its bid to dethrone Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod, but it won't be using price as a weapon.
Microsoft announced yesterday that it will charge $249.99 for its new Zune music player, about the same as Apple Computer Inc. charges for an iPod with the same storage capacity.
Microsoft's portable music player and its companion online music service will debut on Nov. 14 in the United States, just ahead of the holiday gift-buying rush. The music service will let people buy songs individually for about 99 cents, the same amount Apple charges for songs from its popular iTunes Music Store.
For Zune, Microsoft will use the same payment system as its Xbox Live online video game service, which lets people without credit cards buy prepaid cards at some stores.
Microsoft also will offer a Zune Pass subscription service, which will let users listen to any of about 2 million songs for $14.99 per month. RealNetworks Inc. charges the same monthly fee for its online music subscription service, Rhapsody to Go.
Microsoft has said it plans a major promotional effort for Zune, but analysts say it faces an uphill battle against the iPod and iTunes.
The Zune player, to be made by Toshiba Corp., will have 30 gigabytes of memory, enough to hold 7,500 songs. It will have a 3-inch screen and an FM tuner.

I feel like Microsoft has been sluggish on this front - it seems like if you're going to produce yet another competitor to the iPod, you should get on the stick a few years earlier than now. And how many products have been devised and launched to compete with the iPod? Tons. I'm not sure how successful the Zune is going to be - the biggest draw for me is the increased ease of functionality and compatibility on PCs. But the general public isn't going to run out and buy a luxury item like this for $250 just because of functionality improvements. There needs to be a greed catalyst - something that makes this more than an easy to use appliance. People love the iPod because it's easy to use AND its elegant modern design makes it become Bling. I've seen the Zune - and I wouldn't call it a fashion accessory.
The other thing, too, is the release date - November 14th? And trying to still make it show up on teenagers puffed-up Christmas lists? I doubt even Microsoft can cough up enough buzz within a couple of weeks like that.
Maybe if they're going for the exclusivity/limited release buzz, they can make some progress there, but I don't know. I hope this is a good move for Microsoft. They're our partners!

Cavalier enters into agreement to acquire Talk America
reprinted from www.cavtel.com

RICHMOND, VA: Cavalier Telephone & TV, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Talk America, Inc. The deal, expected to close in December, is subject to Talk America shareholder and regulatory approval. Cavalier has offered $8.10 cash per share for all outstanding shares of Talk America , resulting in a $251M purchase price. The $8.10 share price is a 23% premium over Talk America 's closing price as of Thursday, September 21st, 2006. Cavalier has received commitment letters from Wachovia Bank, N.A. for the financing of the transaction. On a pro forma basis, the combined companies are projecting over $750M in revenue, $130M in adjusted EBITDA and $50M in free cash flow (EBITDA minus CAPEX and interest expense) in 2006. The combined companies currently serve over 550,000 residential customers, 85,000 business customers and employ over 2,000 people. After the acquisition is completed, Cavalier will serve customers in 6 of the top 20 metropolitan services areas (MSAs) in the country, including Atlanta , Baltimore , Cleveland , Detroit , Philadelphia and suburban Washington , DC . Cavalier's CEO Brad Evans will become Executive Chairman of Cavalier and Talk America 's CEO, Ed Meyercord, will assume the role of CEO for Cavalier. The company will be headquartered in Richmond , VA. Cavalier is a privately held company whose equity holders include MC Venture Partners, Banc of America Capital Investors and BB&T Capital Partners. “We believe that this acquisition combines the strengths of two of the nation's most robust competitive carriers. Talk's state-of-the-art back office support system and Cavalier's advanced network architecture will help provide our combined customers the newest and most advanced telecommunications' solutions in the marketplace. Since our inception, Cavalier's focus has been to develop facilities-based networks capable of delivering the highest quality voice and data products. Cavalier's networking capability can now be leveraged with Talk's core Michigan , Ohio and Southeastern markets. Additionally, the cost savings that we will be able to capture and revenue synergies that we will generate from this acquisition, will provide substantial accretive value to the business,” commented Mr. Evans. “We're excited to join forces with Cavalier and continue our combined objectives of delivering superior products and services at competitive rates compared to those offered by the monopoly cable and telephone companies,” stated Mr. Meyercord. “Our shared marketplace vision, values and competitive spirit will make this a win-win-win for our customers, our employees and our investors,” concluded Mr. Meyercord. “This merger will allow Cavalier to deploy our robust set of DSL and high capacity products and services throughout Ohio , Georgia and Michigan . Cavalier will also utilize its fiber-optic network infrastructure to deploy and support our Triple Play of voice, internet and video services throughout these newly acquired market areas, giving us millions of total homes passed,” concluded Mr. Evans.

Cavalier Telephone has been making so many strides forward this year - first with the offering of cable tv to the residential market, and then the openly direct competition with Comcast's promotion offering of digital cable, digital phone service, and broadband internet for $99 a month - they've created a similar promotion and undercut the Comcast price by $4 for a $95 dollar deal (although it's for cable tv, land line phone, and DSL internet). The promotion is flooding the airwaves with a TV spot that compares the Comcast and Cavalier offers side-by-side. Now, here at the end of 2006, we find that Cavalier is acquiring TalkAmerica and therefore getting a grip on the Ohio, Georgia, and Michigan markets.

What does this mean? Plan to see more acquisitions in the next 6 months for Cavalier. That's my general take on this. With my full support however - I love to see local business thrive.

Velocity Micro Launches New Multimedia, Gaming Notebooks in Select Best Buy Stores

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Velocity Micro, the award-winning manufacturer of custom-built high-performance PCs, today announced the launch of its new multimedia and gaming notebook, the NoteMagix L80x Ultra, into select Best Buy stores. Featuring an Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo processor and NVIDIA graphics, the 6.5-pound notebook delivers high performance and value, and joins the Velocity Micro ProMagix series of ultra-performance desktops currently available exclusively at Best Buy.
"We are thrilled to offer this one-of-a-kind notebook to Best Buy's customers," said Randy Copeland, Velocity Micro CEO and President. "The L80x Ultra delivers the award winning performance and meticulous hand-craftsmanship Velocity Micro is famous for, and represents one of the most feature-rich notebooks available in retail today."
Targeted for PC gamers, multimedia enthusiasts, creative professionals, and business users who need a powerful notebook to run today's and tomorrow's demanding applications, the NoteMagix L80x Ultra features an Intel® Core(TM) 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600GS graphics engine, and an ultra-sharp, high-res 15.4-inch widescreen display ideal for viewing games, DVD movies, and graphics applications. Priced at $1,999, the machine also delivers a built-in Webcam for videoconferencing and v-mail, as well as a biometric fingerprint reader to keep data secure.

I'm glad to see Velocity Micro making this step forward to retail - I'm a big proponent of local system builders. When you see what happens to the individual consumer dealing with huge conglomerate system builders like Dell, you really appreciate the value of a locally built system. The only bone I have to pick is this: $1999??? That's seriously steep. Even with all of the high performance components and extra features, it's still pretty steep. Of course, that's the retail price they're going to list at Best Buy.
We occasionally work with Velocity Micro, so we may be able to get this notebook for a much lower price than what they're listing at Best Buy - so if you'd like us to try our hand for you, just give us a call at 804-565-6700 or visit the website at www.wheatsystems.com and we'll see what we can do as far as getting this notebook for you a little cheaper. They may not be willing though, so we'll see. We're certainly willing to try for you!

"Six Sigma Approach, Tools & Techniques"
reprinted from www.vanewswire.com

Event: Virginia Capital Day
Description: Three events in one: ACG Richmond Capital Connection and Corporate Growth Conference regularly attracts over 150 sources of financing and over 300 attendees; Central Virginia's Companies to Meet enables selected companies to meet these financing sources in a trade show-like setting; Venture Forums' Greater Richmond's Companies to Watch highlights selected companies with great growth potential.

Wheat Systems is taking part in this... why not you?

Just some Wheat Systems news for the end of September...

First off - until the end of this week, we are selling all of our HP (www.hp.com) products AT COST. Need an HP laptop, desktop, server, printer, digital camera... best time to get one is now. Again - we're doing this AT COST. The only time we have better prices on HP is at the very end of the year when we're doing clearance.

Very shortly, we will be able to provide WAN wireless broadband to any of our clients who are seeking a wireless internet solution for the entire Richmond area. I haven't heard what the service charges will be yet, but I would imagine they'll be competitive with other WAN providers. In case you're not quite sure what WAN means: it's like a wireless internet connection that covers the entire city of Richmond, not just a single coffee shop. We had heard enough of our clients talk about needing an internet connection like this for their notebooks and PDAs, so we're going to deliver.

We're also having a sale on WEB DESIGN right now. The sale applies to CMS (Content Management Systems). If you have a website that needs frequent updating and you've been considering choosing a CMS to quickly and easily produce and publish new content, now's the time to get a quote on it. We're offering customized CMS applications for 25% off until October 15th. So forget about having to copy, edit, and republish your pages with web design software - avoid the hassle! Log in directly to your site and quickly publish new content on the fly.

Huge files? No problem.

Lycos has a new e-mail service for people who send and receive large files.
With 3 gigabytes of storage for free, Lycos Mail users can share and receive video, image and audio files.
Whereas Google's Gmail and other leading e-mail services limit the size of attachments to 10 megabytes, Lycos Mail places no limits on file size.
To send files larger than 20 megabytes -- or to use a drag-and-drop interface to attach files to e-mail messages you must install a Microsoft Windows ActiveX component.
If you don't check your account at least once every 30 days, it will be deleted.
For $6 a year, you're free of that requirement. For $20 a year, you get 5 GB of storage space, no banner ads and the ability to use Pop3 e-mail clients such as Outlook Express to access your account.
For information or to get an account, go to http://mail.lycos.com.

If you just need a place to stash a huge file or two, this is your cheapest answer. However, for a secure protection and the ability to store files of completely unlimited size, you'll probably want to own the hardware yourself. A good option for stashing your huge files in a safe place with security and firewalling protection is to get a NAS, or Network Attached Storage device. You can get a Terabyte (or 1,000 gigs) of NAS for less than $700. Probably not going to need anything else for a long time if you get one of these. Get in touch with us at sales@wheatsystems.com or visit our website at http://www.wheatsystems.com if you're interested in getting a price quote for NAS to support your needs.


Mail Notification Customs

If you're a cube dweller, chances are pretty good you're using Microsoft Outlook for sending and receiving business e-mail. If so, you know that a semi-transparent popup announces the arrival of new mail, along with whom it's from and a hint of what it's about. Clicking on the popup opens the incoming message without returning to Outlook, but you have to be fast.
If you like the notification but wish it would stay on the screen longer, you can adjust how long the popup stays on screen, up to as long as 30 seconds.
In Outlook 2003, click the "Tools" pull-down menu and then click "Options." On the "Preferences" tab, click "E-mail Options," then click "Advanced E-mail Options." Click the "Desktop Alert Options" button and adjust the "Duration" slider.
If you find the notification popup a distracting nuisance, you can turn it off. Follow the above directions to get to the "Advanced E-mail Options" dialog box, and clear the checkmark next to "Display a New Mail Desktop Alert."
The popup won't bug you again.
For more information, visit our partners at http://www.microsoft.com.


Video-based help anywhere

ViewDo.com ( http://www.viewdo.com) is a new site at which you can find free how-to videos that can be downloaded to iPods and other portable devices so you'll have them when and where you need them.
Not sure how to change a tire? Download a four-minute video tutorial to your portable device and watch it when you get that flat on a lonely road and the tow service says it will take hours to get to you.
You don't have to register to watch videos on the site, but to download them -- which is the point, isn't it? -- you have to wade through some lengthy terms of service and give up some personal information.
The site is just starting up, so you won't find instructional videos on everything you would possibly want to know.
Really good at something other people would want to learn? You can post your own instructional video on ViewDo, too.

This is an excellent idea. Very nascent stages right now, but I'm sure that will change. Actually, I've got to say that I really hope they do well - it's a great idea and I also think it's a useful addition to eCommerce. I'm not sure how many people are going to volunteer really well produced instructional videos for free, but who knows. Lots of people spend hours a day contributing to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), but this is a little drier than that site.

Forbes.com Names Virginia the Best State for Business

Four hundred years after Captain John Smith established the first permanent English colony in Jamestown, the Commonwealth of Virginia is leading the way once again. Virginia grabbed the top spot in Forbes.com's first-ever Top States for Business thanks to its strong economic growth, low business costs and excellent quality of life.
The state, called "Earth's only paradise" by poet Michael Drayton, dominated our rankings, placing in the top ten in each of the six categories we examined: business costs, economic climate, growth prospects, labor, quality of life and regulatory environment. No other state placed in the top ten in more than three categories.
We looked at a total of 30 metrics within the six general categories, and Virginia scored in the top half of all but three of them (high school attainment, five-year income growth and cost of living). The next best-performing states, North Carolina and Colorado, scored in the bottom 50% in nine metrics. Our second-ranked state overall, Texas, had 12 metrics where it ranked outside the top half.
One company that recently caught on to Virginia's winning ways is packaging and office products firm MeadWestvaco. After an 18-month search, the $6 billion-in-sales company ditched Stamford, Conn., for Richmond when it decided to relocate its corporate headquarters and 400 jobs this year. A spokeswoman for MeadWestvaco says that Richmond and Virginia appealed to the company because of its "pro-business environment and quality of life that was available to its employees." Lower costs helped seal the deal. Business costs are 15% lower in Richmond, and the cost of living is 29% lower, according to Moody's Economy.com.
Business costs in Virginia are very low, particularly tax and energy costs, which are the seventh and ninth lowest in the country. Overall, business costs in Virginia are 9% below the national average. The corporate income tax has remained unchanged at 6% for more than 30 years. And the state's AAA bond rating keeps the government's borrowing costs down, preventing it from nickel and diming its corporate constituents. Worker compensation costs are fourth lowest in the country and are 47% below the national average.
But Virginia is much more than just a cheap place to do business for its 7.6 million residents. Gov. Tim Kaine thinks it starts with the novel concept of Democrats and Republicans working together. "There has been a real bipartisan tradition in Virginia of wanting to have a strong business climate. That political consensus has helped the legal and regulatory climate," says Kaine. The governor and the legislature strive to keep taxes and regulation "low, fair and business-friendly."
That's easy to say but hard to do, according to Ronald Pollina, founder of Pollina Real Estate, a commercial real estate consulting firm. "Every governor or mayor claims his state or city is pro-business, but not everyone walks the walk. Virginia does," says Pollina. To gauge which states were business-friendly, Pollina ranked the 50 states for Forbes.com based on their incentive programs, including cash grants, low-interest loans, tax credits and job training.
He also factored in state economic development agencies. With one of the strongest incentive programs in the country, Virginia clocked in at No. 2, behind South Carolina, in Pollina's ranking. "Incentives help get us across the finish line when competing for a business," says Patrick Gottschalk, Virginia's secretary of commerce and trade.
Virginia garners a tremendous benefit from its location and its infrastructure. The state is located within 750 miles of two-thirds of the U.S. population. It is home to one of the country's busiest international airports, Washington Dulles International, and the country's fifth busiest port, Hampton Roads. "The combination of our port operation and Dulles really gives us the ability to connect to the global economy," says Kaine.
One of the biggest players in the Hampton Roads area is Northrop Grumman Newport News. The company was formed when industrial conglomerate Northrop Grumman bought Newport News Shipbuilding in 2001. Today, it is the largest privately owned shipyard in the U.S. Northrop Grumman is Virginia's largest nonretail private employer, with more than 30,000 employees throughout the state.
Other companies with a big presence in Virginia are Freddie Mac, General Dynamics and Sprint Nextel, which all had sales of more than $20 billion in the past 12 months and are headquartered in the Old Dominion State. In total, Virginia is home to 32 companies with sales north of $1 billion.
One of Virginia's strongest attributes is its two highly ranked institutions of higher education. The University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary graduate up to 5,000 graduates a year, many of whom stay in-state. They help contribute to Virginia's college attainment rate of 34% which is the seventh highest in the country. Life sciences businesses have popped up in and around Charlottesville because of UVA's highly rated medical school.
Add up a smart labor force, low costs, good regulatory environment and a great quality of life, and you get Virginia, the runaway winner in our listing of the Top States for Business.

Well, I've got to say... Forbes probably knows a few things more about business than Justin Timberlake, who was recently quoted bashing Virginia Beach, where he recorded all of his most recent album. In case you didn't hear what he said: "I find it funny that we created such a club-friendly record in such a desolate area of the world. . . . It's nothing but strip malls and Chick-fil-A's."
Even though I'm not necessarily a fan of everything the Commonwealth does, I still must admit that I bristle when an outsider bashes us, and I get a vindicated sense of pride when solid statistics like these come out.

Most of us have known about this for years - Virginia really is an excellent place for commerce. Although I would never call myself an anti-Federalist, I must admit that the whole "no-touch" approach that the Commonwealth takes with its business owners has always allowed our state budget to outshine many other states around us.

So what does this mean for Richmond? Expect to see more events like the homecoming of Meadwestvaco. More giants like Northrup Grumman - eating up other companies and becoming bigger giants. And with the arrival of bigger enterprise contenders, we'll see a healthy boost to the SMB marketshare because of all the new business and vendor opportunities to support these big new neighbors.

Yay for Richmond business and technology commerce. Boo for pop stars.

Vcall from WILink Announces New Webcasting Services to Meet Growing Client NeedsTuesday August 29

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2006--Vcall from WILink, (LSE: WLK - News) a worldwide provider of web-based communication solutions and online investor relations services, today announced new product enhancements aimed at meeting the expanding range of needs for the fast-growing web events market.
The recent enhancements complement the robust features already resident in Vcall's event management portal where users can customize their online events from pre-event marketing to post- event analysis. The latest enhancements include:
Invitation Manager - This feature enables users to create and execute powerful, custom email campaigns to generate an audience for their web events. From list import to message creation, Vcall's Invitation Manager provides users an easy-to-follow process for successful launch of their campaign. Comprehensive reporting allows users to measure the effectiveness of their message and their list.
Enhanced Report Manager - This feature, in Beta phase, provides critical information to analyze the success of an event using an intuitive graphical interface. Clients are able to analyze and generate easy reports on many items including participant response to polls and surveys, log-in details, and test scores during an event. "We've just scratched the surface of the things we plan to do with respect to data analysis and reporting. It's critical to get your message to your target audience but gaining intelligence and knowing how to follow up is key to a successful web event." said Nancy Christman, Vice President of Marketing at WILink.
Expanded Presentation Management - Along with the other self-service features, users now have more options on how they want to display their content during their web event. They can choose between different graphic formats, like flash, and different conversion settings that customize their slide display to meet their presentation requirements.
Locked Room Feature - To enhance security and control, users now have the ability to lock their event area during specific times and only allow authorized attendees access to certain events.
"These recent releases are the first step of our aggressive plan to create more value by increasing the flexibility and convenience clients want in web event services," said Patrick Galleher, CEO of WILink. "As the leader in large audience web events, Vcall is focused on ease of use and extra service so our clients can focus on being content and presentation experts."
About WILink
WILink plc (www.wilink.com) provides web-based communication solutions and online investor relations services. Since 1989, WILink has helped clients such as Merck, Deutsche Telecom and BP improve the effectiveness of their investor communications. WILink's services include Vcall (www.vcall.com) innovative webcasting and webconferencing technology and professional service that enables organizations to create influential web events and PrecisionIR(TM) (www.precisionir.com) an investor-communication program that enables publicly traded companies to deliver compelling communications to a targeted audience of investors.
Contact:WILink
Nancy Christman, VP of Marketing, 804-327-3410
nchristman@wilink.com

The market that they're pandering to is in a state of flux right now. Webcasting and similar technologies are moving slowly from a rather limited niche market on to a much larger and more competitive market. It's becoming much easier for your average Office Manager to grasp the value of solutions like this, but it hasn't happened yet. I can't imagine that they're going to be saturating the SMB market with viral marketing campaigns - this is going to be basically an enterprise product for a long time to come.

Of course, "a long time" is never long in our field.

You Know About Firefox - So Who's Firedog?

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Responding to a growing public demand for help with using and enjoying electronic products, consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores, Inc. today announced the creation of the Firedog(sm) brand to provide a new level of personal computer services, home theater installations and integration of home electronics. "When it comes to the music they hear, the shows they watch and the computers they rely on, Americans are living a 'digital life,'" said Marc Sieger, senior vice president for services at Circuit City. "Some people are comfortable with using and integrating digital technologies, but it is not second nature for many consumers. Our mission with Firedog(sm) is to provide a one-stop offering to help people solve problems and optimize their experience with the electronic devices they use every day." Firedog(sm) branded fixtures, vehicles and uniformed personnel will begin appearing at Circuit City Superstores across the country in September. The Firedog(sm) Web site, http://www.firedog.com/ and the service's toll free phone line, 1 800 FIREDOG (1 800 347 3364) will be activated in early September. Firedog(sm) technicians and installers have received extensive training to install, repair or optimize consumer technology products. In- store and in-home PC services are available through Circuit City's morethan 600 Superstores across the country. Home-theater installations are available within 25 miles of Circuit City locations. In addition, consumers throughout North America with high speed Internet connections will be able to access Firedog's(sm) remote technical assistance for PCs through http://www.firedog.com/ 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "We chose the name Firedog(sm) because it evokes the kind of qualities we intend our technicians and installers to provide: helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and reliable. When it comes to improving consumers' relationship with technology, we want Firedog(sm) to be your 'best friend,'" added Philip J. Schoonover, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores, Inc. The Firedog(sm) logo features a stylized dog jumping through a hoop to symbolize the brand commitment to "do whatever it takes to get the job done" for customers. The dominant color in the logo is green, which, in electronics often signifies "go" or "on." About Circuit City Stores, Inc. Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) is a leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics. The domestic segment operates through 632 Superstores and five other locations in 158 U.S.markets. The international segment operates through more than 950 retailstores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City also operates Web sites at http://www.circuitcity.com and at http://www.thesource.ca.

Circuit City's been doing a lot of homework, apparently, which is good to see. I've got to say that it's a relief to folks in our business at Wheat Systems (www.wheatsystems.com), that being the business of B2B technology and telecommunications services, that most of these big tech corps are mostly going after your home users. Traditionally, businesses tend to either keep a staff IT guy inhouse, or choose a personable local IT firm to outsource to.

Why do these trends continue to prevail? Because most businesses really don't trust a faceless technician from a big place with their data. Not just for security reasons, but also for practical reasons - if you have a different technician out at your office every time something might go wrong, none of these technicians is ever going to develop a deeper understanding of the business processes and little idiosyncrasies that are pivotal in the way you operate.

RCN Enhances Music Subscription Offering with Launch of RCN MusicToGo Download Service
RCN Music Offers More than 2 Million Song Tracks
By BusinessWire
HERNDON, Va., BUSINESS WIRE -- RCN Corporation (NASDAQ: RCNI), a leading provider of triple play cable, high-speed internet and phone services, is offering its customers more with the launch of a new download service as part of its music subscription offering, RCN Music. For a low monthly subscription price, RCN MusicToGo allows subscribers to fill their compatible portable device, such as an MP3 player, with unlimited music without having to purchase additional songs.
"With RCN MusicToGo, you can take your favorite tracks with you and listen to all your music safely and legally at one of the lowest monthly retail rates in North America," said RCN Vice President of Product and Pricing Mark Chinn. "We are excited to offer this service upgrade to our subscribers and we expect to make it available to off-net users or individuals living outside of RCN service areas in the future."
RCN Music offers multiple genres, including pop, rock, rap/hip hop, soul/R&B, alternative/indie, country, soundtracks, jazz, Latin, blues, seasonal, classic/opera, children's, and instrumental in CD quality audio that is encoded at 128Kbps. Two subscription options are available: RCN MusicLibrary is a personal computer (PC) subscription service that allows users to stream or download music tracks to up to three (3) personal computers. Users have access to the service from a single personal computer at a time for $7.95 per month.
RCN MusicToGo extends the PC subscription service and enables a user to transfer PC subscription downloads to MP3 players or other portable devices that support Windows Media Player 10. Users are able to utilize two portable music players for $13.95 per month.
In addition, two promotional offers are currently available: a free three-month upgrade to RCN MusicToGo for current basic RCN MusicLibrary service subscribers who sign up and one month free RCN MusicToGo service for new RCN customers. For more details on RCN Music, visit music.rcn.net .
About RCN Corporation
RCN Corporation, www.rcn.com, is one of the largest facilities-based competitive providers of bundled cable, high-speed internet and phone services delivered over its own fiber-optic local network to residential customers in the most densely populated markets in the U.S. RCN Business Solutions is a growing business that also provides bulk video, high-capacity and voice services to business customers. RCN provides service in the Boston, New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan markets.
(RCNI-G)
Contacts:RCN Richard Ramlall,703-434-8430 or Communicreate Michael Houghton,703-799-7383
Copyright Business Wire 2006. All Rights Reserved

I'm not entirely sure what kinds of hoops they managed to jump through on the standard licensing issues, but hopefully whatever business model they've devised is going to work out. The question here isn't whether people are going to take advantage of the service - oh no, people absolutely will respond well to this - but how exactly they plan to sustain viable margins when everyone else has basically needed to charge a dollar a song. Of course, there's always the possibility that iTunes is just really sticking it to everyone. Probably.

If this business model (whatever it may be) really is workable, I would imagine that Napster (www.napster.com) and Rhapsody (www.rhapsody.com) are going to have to follow suit. The whole "own nothing, have everything" approach doesn't work if you don't spend all your time at your computer - I happen to do the majority of my listening in the car. So what are you supposed to do in that situation? Get wireless WWAN internet for your laptop, keep it in the car, and wire an FM transmitter to the audio out? Come on - just get satellite radio if that's how it's gonna be.

People don't want to pay for glorified internet radio. They want to purchase and own the licensing. So I must say - props to RCN for extending beyond a standard devalued subscription service to the ability to actually put the music on your MP3 player.

In case you were wondering what the prospective contents of this blog will be...

Richmond technology buzz with a business-strategy spin.
Local events seen through a technology kaleidoscope.
Richmond business digs with appropriately civil response.

I hope you find all of this entertaining and helpful.

Thanks!

Bethany McQuillen
Marketing Manager
Wheat Systems Integtation
www.wheatsystems.com