kottke.org posts about Sprint
Jay-Z has a new album out today called 4:44 and it’s available exclusively on the streaming music service he owns, Tidal. But that’s not the only catch. To hear the album, you need have been a Tidal customer before today or you need to switch your mobile service to Sprint (or be a current Sprint customer).
This is all part of Tidal’s $200 million deal with Sprint and it makes very little sense to me. It’s a nice extra for current Sprint subscribers, but I can’t imagine that many people are going to sign up for Sprint just to hear an album. And Tidal’s gonna get a bunch of pissed-off first-time subscribers who will sign up thinking they’ll have access to the album but, oops!, they actually don’t. Dumb.
Rumor has it the exclusive is only for a week and then it’ll be elsewhere…which seems like a lot of fuss for very little reward.
I don’t know what this is or how it works or why Sprint is involved, but man is it fun to just let the data just wash over you. Wait, the computer woman just said, “Feel free to touch it.” Uncomfortable! Who did this, BTW…Josh Davis, tha ltd., futurefarmers? (via airbag)
Update: It was done by Mike Kellogg and Goodby, Sliverstein & Partners. (thx, all)
Profile by Ken Auletta of Walt Mossberg, the WSJ’s technology columnist. It was interesting reading Mossberg’s opinion of the Sprint/Samsung UpStage. A couple friends of mine were testing this phone before it came out and it was one of the most poorly designed technology products that I’ve ever held in my hand. Who knows if the iPhone will actually be worth a crap, but Steve Jobs must rub his hands together with glee when he sees his competitors come out with stuff like this. Mossberg was too easy on it. Auletta has previously profiled Barry Diller, Pointcast, Andy Grove, and Nathan Myhrvold for the New Yorker.
Yet another tale of one of the mobile companies screwing their customers. This time it’s Sprint: “After some wrangling, I am assured that the service will be terminated and no fee will be assessed. I even call back later that afternoon to make sure that I have understood the earlier call correctly and that I will not be charged…. I get the bill today, and guess what? A $380 early termination charge (two phones).”
Update: A somewhat happy ending: “After…three hours on the phone with Sprint today, the issue has finally been resolved.”
Stay Connected