AMZN Archives - Medialoper

One of the most persistent media rumors of early 2006 involved Google launching a digital music service to rival Apple’s iTunes. There was a point earlier this year when it seemed as if every analyst on Wall Street was predicting that Google would be launching GTunes any day now. iTunes was clearly doomed and its days would soon be numbered.

Far be it from me to say “I told you so”, but back in April I went on record with a list of reasons why Google Music won’t matter. Now comes word that Google is going to sit out the upcoming digital music war. Instead, they’ll be partnering with MTV to insert advertising into videos that will be available on the still dismal Google Video service. No matter how Google tries to spin it, the MTV deal is a huge letdown for anyone expecting the company to make its mark on the music industry.

This was how we watched television in the 20th Century: we would crowd around the tiny TV, watching shows whenever the broadcasters decided to show them — or maybe on a VCR, where we fast-forwarded past commercials on an ever-blurry tape. When a familiar actor or actress showed up onscreen, there would be some conversation about where we may have seen that person before, but nobody could actually remember.

This is how we watch television in the 21st century: Instead of the tiny TV, we have a nice HD; instead of the VHS, we have the DVR, and whenever a familiar face, or even a “Hey It’s that Guy!” shows up on the screen, we fire up a wireless-connected laptop, because it’s time to IMDb that person.

The IMDb, of course, is the Internet Movie Database. And it’s become a verb around our house because it is, without a doubt, one of single greatest examples of how the Internet changed everything.

AMZN

Was Google GTunes A Victim of Zune?

That’s What I Like: IMDb