The entertainment industry is not our focus but Jon Fine over at BusinessWeek has a nice piece "Late To The Download Dance" that describes how the beleaguered radio industry has come up with this wacky new idea: sell downloads on their Web sites for the songs that they broadcast! Gosh, what will they think of next. It's amazing how this scenario gets played over again and again as media outlets encounter new technologies. Hey, I've got a great idea: why don't we start selling DVDs in the lobbies of movie theatres so that they can capitalize on people's enthusiasm for a movie when it's at its peak? Better yet, why not feature funky films that are developing a cult online following that can build "long tail" demand for in-lobby DVD sales, which in turn can build demand for on-screen presentations? What, you mean we movie theatre operators can survive on something other than tickets and popcorn? You mean we can choose what films we want to market? Or why not take the multiplex concept one step further and have premium "home theatre" screening rooms that people can rent out for on-demand custom small-scale showings at premium prices?

But no, it's just the same old folks hawking the same old ideas to the usual suspects...thank goodness for the Web.