Is YouTube in Trouble?

Just a couple of days ago, Warner Music announced that they'd be giving music videos to YouTube in exchange for some ad revenue, which I lauded as progress towards their goal of having all music videos ever made. However, some people are not too optimistic about it, and Mark Cuban actually agrees with these naysayers (though I guess he's too annoying to be taken seriously any more). Anyway, they make a good point though: this changes the whole paradigm of the company. They now lose the status as a benevolent hosting site and become, in the eyes of their fans, profit mongers, even though they're just trying to grow the business, which I feel is only natural. Will this be the death of them though? I really don't believe that it is. Just because companies in the past have started seeking revenue from 0 profit situations and failed before doesn't imply that all businesses will, just that they sucked at it. Quite the contrary, YouTube has so much momentum that now is the time for them to move forward into a real business model before people get too comfortable with it and become offended when more companies start taking advantage of YouTube. Of course the question is: will companies then start charging for users to use their copyrighted music and images and such? I think that if they haven't started suing at this point, then they never will, and the key thing there is YouTube's cooperation to actively keep the site legit. To say that they're going to sell out in the case that users do have to pay to use such songs and images is ridiculous because it's not like the industries would sit under a rock and not realize what was happening and then actually go out on a litigious rampage, YouTube is just doing the smart thing and staying ahead of the curve. I think it'll end up paying off in the end, and if this is the wrong move for them then there really is no right move for them, if that makes any sense.

Apple has finally begun to address the bugs in iTunes 7, though of course most of them are for Windows users. No sign of a patch yet, but I'm sure it'll come soon enough. If you hate having to charge rechargable AA batteries with a bulky charger then you'll like these new batteries that charge via USB. They're not cheap, mind you, but a very good idea, and I suspect the price will go down over time. Bob Iger at Disney has had some hands-on time with Apple's iTV and claims that it has a hard drive built-in for storing and transferring multimedia to/fro your computer, and it has the ability to work as a TV tuner. I just wonder how the hard drive will be used. Will it be an extra buffer for the data or actual extra storage? Also, it's not capable of handling HD quality content yet, but he claims it will be soon enough. Lastly, if you're interested in learning Python then you'll like this.

We all enjoy multimedia so that's all I'm going to give you today. The first thing is a mindblowing teaser trailer (maybe it's not a teaser so much, but I don't think it's the theatrical trailer) for 300, which you may recall as Zach Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 about the battle of 300 Spartans facing a Hell of a lot more men. Once again, I really can't wait to see this movie now and it's almost cruel to show a trailer so awesome. Yahoo Movies pulled in some great content as well with a new trailer for Bobby and strange sort of promotional trailer for The Prestige that has very few new scenes but rather a different spin on it. The former is good, but not quite as spectacular as I was hoping, though I think the cast alone is enough to sell it as being bound for greatness. The latter was definitely weaker than the original trailer. Lastly, AICN uncovered the theme song of Casino Royale to be a Chris Cornell track, which I think was a bad choice. Don't get me wrong, I love Audioslave and Soungarden, but I don't think it's the right artist for a Bond flick.

Now for a Wednesday Mind Hump:

1. Are you a fan of board games?
Oh yeah, definitely. They're so much more social than any other type of game and they never seem to get old in the long run.

2. What's your favorite board game and why?
Cranium because there's so much variety in it.

Yesterday was Talk Like A Pirate Day, so lets answer a few questions about that. I can't think of any more board game questions.

3. Blackbeard, Hook, Sparrow - who's your favorite pirate?
Probably Jack Sparrow because he's so unique from the rest. Plus, Johnny Depp is just cool.

4. If you were a pirate, what would you name yourself?
Hell if I know! Techbeard?

5. Uh oh! Someone's gotta walk the plank! Choose a celebrity you want to throw overboard (all in good fun, of course. We're not actually advocating for the tossing of celebs in the ocean).
Definitely Paris Hilton. Not in good fun though, I want someone to throw her overboard so we can be done with her from stupid tabloids and burger commercials and reality shows and low-end pornography =P