Hey, We’re Talking Tech

Hey, we’re Talking Tech, although Kevin is MIA again. The big news within the Canadian high-tech scene was the $227-million acquisition of Workbrain by Infor Global Solutions. Duncan (Stewart) laments the demise of yet another sizable Canadian software company, and wonders how long large players such as Cognos and Open Text will stay independent.

The launch of the iPhone on June 11 captured our attention. I have concerns the iPhone will too expensive to replicate the success of the iPod. Duncan says another issue is the iPod raised the bar so high, it will tough for the iPhone to meet expectations even if it sells millions of units. Another interesting angle that Duncan raised is the iPhone’s WiFi offering may be a nail in its coffin because users would be able to circumvent the carrier’s network, they would get cheap calls through Skype.

Finally, we talk about EMI’s decision to release DMR-free music. Despite all the excitement about EMI’s announcement, I’m puzzled by the idea EMI wants to sell music for $1.29 a track, which is 30% more expensive than iTunes. This point was hammered home by Bob Lefsetz, who argues that digital music should be getting cheaper as opposed to more expensive if you want to encourage consumption, experimentation and purchases.

Duncan illustrates his point with the fact that Vladimir Ashkenazy’s 1971 complete recital of Beethoven is in the top 100 songs on iTunes. The album is more than 10 hours of music, and was making the company zero dollars at its previous $100 price but is a huge hit at $29.99. Then, there’s AllofMP3.com, which has seen huge success selling CDs for $2 a shot.