More Gibson acquisitions ... Phillips

[Rabs]

Man.. as much as I appreciate Gibson trying to grow... Its slightly worrying with all of these acquisitions... Not that im aware at all of what Gibsons financial position is.. But ive seen companies try to grow too much and suffer for it..

 

But heres hoping for the best

 

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/News/en-us/Gibson-Brands-to-Acquire-WOOX-Innovations.aspx

 

As part of its continued growth and diversification in the music and audio lifestyle arena, Gibson Brands, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) to acquire WOOX Innovations, the audio, video, multimedia and accessories business of Philips. Under the terms of the agreement, Gibson Brands will pay $135 million and a brand license fee, relating to a license agreement for an initial period of 7 years. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014, subject to customary conditions, including regulatory filings and works council procedures.

 

Gibson Brands

Gibson Brands has in recent years invested in audio brands including Onkyo and TEAC as part of its ambition to become a global leader in music and sound. This transaction will leverage Gibson Brands’ strong market presence in the U.S. and Japan, and WOOX Innovations’ market strength with Philips-branded audio and home entertainment products in Europe, China, Latin America and other growth geographies.

 

“This agreement is the most significant step yet in Gibson Brands’ journey to become the largest music and sound technology company in the world,” said Gibson Brands chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. “By acquiring Philips’ audio and home entertainment business, our goal is to continue to provide the most exceptional consumer audio products and experiences in the world. I am thrilled to extend the reach of Gibson Brands around the world and to welcome this great team to the Gibson family.”

 

“With this transaction, we are taking another important step in Philips’ transformation to become a leading technology company in health and well-being,” said Philips chief executive officer Frans van Houten. “Philips and Gibson Brands have played significant roles in shaping the home entertainment and music industries and with this agreement the Philips brand will continue to be an innovation leader in this space.”

[Brytam]

Wow! Interesting...I did not know that Gibson owned a large share of Teac! I still have & use a Teac/Tascam A-3440 4 channel reel-reel & Model 5 mixer I bought new in the late '70's. Yes, all analog! (I'm old school.) Guess maybe Gibson can supply parts if needed now...?

 

 

[Kaiser Bill]

I wish I had known that before I gave away all my TEAC equipment a few years back. A complete 3440 studio.

A 6 channel mixer with meter bridge and a DBX unit. I wrote a lot of tunes and recorded hours and hours of both original and cover tunes with it.

 

I don't understand the new digital stuff. I bought another studio two years ago...opened the box...glanced at the instruction manual...boxed it up and sent it back the next morning. Way over my head.

[Rabs]

Wow! Interesting...I did not know that Gibson owned a large share of Teac! I still have & use a Teac/Tascam A-3440 4 channel reel-reel & Model 5 mixer I bought new in the late '70's. Yes, all analog! (I'm old school.) Guess maybe Gibson can supply parts if needed now...?

 

That's cool man... Nothing quite like that analogue sound

[Blueblooded]

That explains some of the huge price increases in the Gibson brand lately. If you look just two years ago, a 2012 Firebird street price was around $1250 - 1350. Last year they went up about $200 and again this year another $200-300. Obscene! And then there's the de-contenting (fly over the fret BS which reduces cost) and adding that crappy tuner to a lot of models and charging a lot more than it's worth. Actions like that finance these acquisitions. I expect it to continue. Can you say "Money grab!"

[Brytam]

Hi Kaiser Bill. I am in the process of transferring all my analog reel-reel to digital via computer laptop software, but I ran into a problem. I had heard that the Ampex brand of reel tape used a glue on their tape that would degrade over time. Well in the process, which has taken countless hours of time, some of my reel tape was Ampex & it began to disintegrate as I played it! The sound became muffled & the oxide just fell to the table...30 year old tape - a little past the warranty I think! But I did hear (after the fact) of "baking your tape" by putting the tape (with a metal reel of course) in the oven on a low setting to soften the glue used to seal the oxide back to the plastic tape again. Also heard that food dehydrators work perfectly as most are in a round shape that the large reels fit into perfectly. Got a pick of the oxide flaking off the tape as it played through the 3440. Broke my heart! All that work left as dust...

 

[zigzag]

I don't know what Henry is thinking, but I suspect he is interested in diversifying to stay healthy. What happens with Gibson instruments is yet to be seen, but guitar sales seem to be inconsistent and undependable. I'm more interested in knowing what his long term plans are for Gibson and Epiphone musical instruments. These acquisitions confirm that Henry is a businessman first.

[Aster1]

Hi Kaiser Bill. I am in the process of transferring all my analog reel-reel to digital via computer laptop software, but I ran into a problem. I had heard that the Ampex brand of reel tape used a glue on their tape that would degrade over time. Well in the process, which has taken countless hours of time, some of my reel tape was Ampex & it began to disintegrate as I played it! The sound became muffled & the oxide just fell to the table...30 year old tape - a little past the warranty I think! But I did hear (after the fact) of "baking your tape" by putting the tape (with a metal reel of course) in the oven on a low setting to soften the glue used to seal the oxide back to the plastic tape again. Also heard that food dehydrators work perfectly as most are in a round shape that the large reels fit into perfectly. Got a pick of the oxide flaking off the tape as it played through the 3440. Broke my heart! All that work left as dust...

 

 

What a mess. Sad thing is I doubt if any digital recorded stuff will last 1/2 the years the old reel analog lasted. Still never have read of any real bullet proof way, other than a commercially stamped CD or DVD's, to have an archive last in digital.

 

I don't know if the Maxell tape ever does that with age but I hadn't heard about it. TDK always made a great tape too. Wish I still had my old 1/2 track Teac & Panasonic RR units. Nothing sounds as good as the analog stuff if listening to music over something other than a simple sound system.

 

Aster

[milod]

Since the question of longevity of music/vid files has arisen too...

 

To me the bottom line is that no physical medium will last. Period.

 

It appears that the appropriate - and still dangerous regardless - way to protect such material is to have several backups, then move to have several backups on the latest medium.

 

But that's also frightening in the long run because... that "latest medium" is likely to be "the cloud." Problem with that is that your "device" will no longer have storage devices that you can own, and you're only "renting" space on the cloud. It's your material and copyright? So what? The cloud has it and if you don't pay, it ain't there. In fact, it may lose copyright protection as well, if I'm hearing correctly what's coming down the pike.

 

It's a trend we've seen coming for years and most folks deny it. It's the same as in photography. A tintype would last for well over a century, pretty much ditto a glass plate. Plastics of various sorts for film were the weakness slowly improved on black and white film although silver in the emulsion would technically last as long as on a glass or metal plate - or a nicely done b/w print. Dyes for color film die not only under light, but with age. Digital? Hey it's the same as music. Good luck.

 

You could make a case that rock writing lasts a lot longer than various other media made from plant or animal sources - and they last longer than... words in digital format.

 

As for Gibson buying into hardware with a largely non North American market? I don't see a surprise.

 

m

[rct]

But that's also frightening in the long run because... that "latest medium" is likely to be "the cloud." Problem with that is that your "device" will no longer have storage devices that you can own, and you're only "renting" space on the cloud. It's your material and copyright? So what? The cloud has it and if you don't pay, it ain't there. In fact, it may lose copyright protection as well, if I'm hearing correctly what's coming down the pike.

 

If I give the masters of my records to my brother and I welch on my gambling debts to him, he does not own my copyrights, he owns my only physical copy of my records. If I want to press two thousand cds, I send a master'd copy of the music to the presser. If I don't pay the bill, they have a nice master, but they don't own the copyrights to my music. If you are "hearing" that simple possesion = ownership of rights, or if granting property stewardship = granting copyrights, I'd sure like to read that.

 

In the meantime, there are quite literally hundreds of external, wired and wireless, local drives that will allow you to store your digital versions of your work right in your own home!

 

rct

[Karloff]

Wow! Interesting...I did not know that Gibson owned a large share of Teac! I still have & use a Teac/Tascam A-3440 4 channel reel-reel & Model 5 mixer I bought new in the late '70's. Yes, all analog! (I'm old school.) Guess maybe Gibson can supply parts if needed now...?

 

 

 

Man I'd like to have a set up like that

[Kaiser Bill]

Brytam...you have my deepest sympathies. All that work and its now unsalvageable. I'm truly sorry. I'd say 99% of my recorded tunes are on cassettes. I do still have two of the larger reels of tape somewhere. One has never been on the machine, and I have no idea what is on the other reel. I also have a couple 7"reels from the 60s with cover tunes from the band I was in at the time. I have nothing to play them on. I did try to buy a reel to reel at the local flea market, but they are hard to find. ESPECIALLY in working order.

[milod]

RCT...

 

You're correct for today. Sort of.

 

I'm looking down the road and frankly it's part of why I'm not at all sure I won't be happy to "go."

 

The space lease terms of "cloud storage" may be even more "interesting" than currently on various photo and vid sites. If there's no practical option, guess what the "cloud owners" could do in lease packages?

 

For example, if you leave property in a storage facility and don't pay - they can sell it.

 

In fact, yes, today you can have backup storage; the law sez you own your material once created etc. Good luck given the above.

 

I have 5 or 6 TB at home, for example, on USB external drives. But I once had gigabytes on other media that no longer can connect to anything I have.

 

The cloud is the coming thing whether one likes the idea or not, IMHO. I doubted my younger of two brothers who works for Uncle Bill when he said the cloud will be "it." I said, "But functionally we'll be back in the era of terminals." He just smiled.

 

In fact, one might wonder given some of the hardware firms Gibson appears to be purchasing whether they're looking at high-end local storage that might work regardless of a "cloud storage" paradigm that functionally removes ownership from the masses into the ownership of the cloud-people?

 

m

[rct]

RCT...

 

You're correct for today. Sort of.

 

I'm looking down the road and frankly it's part of why I'm not at all sure I won't be happy to "go."

 

The space lease terms of "cloud storage" may be even more "interesting" than currently on various photo and vid sites. If there's no practical option, guess what the "cloud owners" could do in lease packages?

 

For example, if you leave property in a storage facility and don't pay - they can sell it.

 

Completely true, I grant them that right when I grant them stewardship of my copy paper boxes full of junk. If that copy paper box full of junk contained the last remaining casettes of my third record, and they seized my storage unit, they did not seize my rights to that material. Period.

 

In fact, yes, today you can have backup storage; the law sez you own your material once created etc. Good luck given the above.

 

I have 5 or 6 TB at home, for example, on USB external drives. But I once had gigabytes on other media that no longer can connect to anything I have.

 

The cloud is the coming thing whether one likes the idea or not, IMHO. I doubted my younger of two brothers who works for Uncle Bill when he said the cloud will be "it." I said, "But functionally we'll be back in the era of terminals." He just smiled.

 

In fact, one might wonder given some of the hardware firms Gibson appears to be purchasing whether they're looking at high-end local storage that might work regardless of a "cloud storage" paradigm that functionally removes ownership from the masses into the ownership of the cloud-people?

 

But...Milo, not arguing here, but back in the days of dumb terminals and mainframes, people still owned the rights to their stuff. Where something is physically hosted has nothing to do with who owns it. I have software running on servers all over the place and I have no idea who or how many different kinds of storage they are using. I own it, period. No change in "cloud" storage is going to assign property rights to the owner of the "cloud". Might as well say that Western Digital owns all my stuff now, it is on their drives, right? No!

 

rct

[quapman]

Since the question of longevity of music/vid files has arisen too...

 

To me the bottom line is that no physical medium will last. Period.

 

 

But that's also frightening in the long run because... that "latest medium" is likely to be "the cloud." Problem with that is that your "device" will no longer have storage devices that you can own, and you're only "renting" space on the cloud.

 

 

I agree that no physical medium will last but that's not the problem. The problem is how fast it becomes obsolete.

Try inserting a floppy disc on your new laptop. The floppy hasn't deteriorated,, the technology has.

 

rct is right. No storage is ever going to transfer ownership of copyright material. If I leave my compressor in storage

sure they can sell it. It doesn't give them any rights to combustion engines.

 

 

 

And where on earth did you ever hear your device will no longer have storage you can own??

I'm sorry Milo,, you know lots of stuff,, but you don't know everything.

 

I make my living in "the cloud". "The cloud" is not a storage device.

"The cloud" is how your keystrokes traverse the planet and magically appear on my computer screen.

 

Offsite storage is here now. It's not coming, it's here. It's an option. And will ALWAYS be just an option.

Meant for an offsite back up. Nothing more.

 

The basic physics of the speed of light and internet latency over distance will always be a factor negating any practical

use of a "cloud" only storage option.

 

Your device will always have storage you own.

Saying you "will no longer have storage devices that you can own" is simply not true.

[Rabs]

 

I make my living in "the cloud". "The cloud" is not a storage device.

"The cloud" is how your keystrokes traverse the planet and magically appear on my computer screen.

 

Yeah I worked with computers and when they started using the word "cloud" I used to get upset about as really its just a fancy marketing name for Networking which is nothing new.. Yet people were talking about it like ohhh theres this new thing and I was even forced to go to a cloud conference once.. It was pathetic.

 

They are just trying to get us to store everything remotely and use their services.. It may happen one day, but I hate the idea of my information not being local... I mean what happens if something goes wrong with the "cloud" or it gets hacked and deleted or something stupid like that...

 

It just doesn't seem right to me. Even though that is the direction we are currently going in.

[milod]

Well, you guys figure what you will.

 

In most cases "we" have already given up much of our copyright privileges with a lot of internet stuff.

 

Unless the current digital copyright act is changed to guarantee the hopes you folks have, good luck.

 

Intellectual property ownership can indeed be taken, just as a table or chair from a shed can be taken if that's the agreement on the lease.

 

Good luck. It's already happening in ways already.

 

This ain't conspiracy theory. It's copyright law.

 

m

[milod]

yeah, I hate the idea too.

 

It won't happen 'til I'm gone, I think - but it's inevitable it appears at this point.

 

At least, until somebody invents a thumb-size something that revolutionizes everything ... again.

 

Even so, I doubt it will take us to back to personal creation and storage of digital material as well as I might hope.

 

m

[Rabs]

yeah, I hate the idea too.

 

It won't happen 'til I'm gone, I think - but it's inevitable it appears at this point.

 

At least, until somebody invents a thumb-size something that revolutionizes everything ... again.

 

Even so, I doubt it will take us to back to personal creation and storage of digital material as well as I might hope.

 

m

Also to add my two pennies to the copyright issues (which I have been following since the start).. Even though I can see what your saying.. I think that the real issue is not whats going on online currently (free everything) but the fact that the law has been REALLY slow to react and the laws that do exist are rubbish....

 

But we are still at such an early stage with the internet and computers in general...

 

I think at some point they will just come up with sensible laws and very clever software to help protect people....

 

ALSO don't forget the plans for Internet 2.0.... ive read some stuff they are planning for that... now THAT is some scary stuff!!!!

[milod]

Rabs...

 

I don't think "they" want laws to protect individuals.

 

I'm getting cynical in my old age.

 

m

[quapman]

 

They are just trying to get us to store everything remotely and use their services.. It may happen one day, but I hate the idea of my information not being local... I mean what happens if something goes wrong with the "cloud" or it gets hacked and deleted or something stupid like that...

 

It just doesn't seem right to me. Even though that is the direction we are currently going in.

 

Who is trying to get you to store everything remotely? I have never experienced that once ever.

I'm sorry, but it won't happen one day.

I don't see it going in that direction whatsoever.

 

 

 

In most cases "we" have already given up much of our copyright privileges with a lot of internet stuff.

 

 

How so?

I'm no lawyer,, please explain.

 

 

yeah, I hate the idea too.

 

It won't happen 'til I'm gone, I think - but it's inevitable it appears at this point.

 

What is inevitable?

[rct]

I make my living in "the cloud".

 

GIVE ME BACK MY PORN AND REINSTATE MY CNN/DISQUS COMMENTING ACCOUNT

[quapman]

GIVE ME BACK MY PORN AND REINSTATE MY CNN/DISQUS COMMENTING ACCOUNT

 

 

LOL,,,

 

 

Last time I checked the porn is still there.

 

And I thought CCN only changed that to discourage Canadians from posting.... ?

[rct]

LOL,,,

 

 

Last time I checked the porn is still there.

 

And I thought CCN only changed that to discourage Canadians from posting.... ?

 

Yes, we can't have those pesky Canukistanians posting actual facts from one of those "socialistical" countries. You can have a Disqus, no? Anybody can.

 

rct

[Rabs]

Who is trying to get you to store everything remotely? I have never experienced that once ever.

I'm sorry, but it won't happen one day.

I don't see it going in that direction whatsoever.

 

Microsoft is the main one I see...

 

On Hotmail they want you to send your attachments through Skydive.. and office is totally going online (if it hasn't already)..... most movies and music are now streamed online... phones want to sync all your contacts online... every time I have installed a device like a printer or scanner (for the last few years) they also want you to store all of your pictures and organise them online so you can share it with all devices and people you want too... etc etc etc

 

 

Theres loads more but I cant be bothered to write any more.

 

The point is that at the moment they give you the option... One day you wont get that option and will have to store it online by default.. Then one day people will just grow up with that and be used to it.. Thus, that is the direction we are going in.