Web1.0 Web2.0 sensibilities have merged with the Bit Torrent generation as Universal and Spiralfrog have joined forces to deliver free digital music — that is ad-supported. In a variety of reports around the ‘net, this new service, which launches this December, will have access to Universal’s entire catalogue of music which includes many popular artists such as U2 and be supported by advertising dollars …
… echoing almost every business plan of web2.0 startups.

I think that this plan is nothing short of seismic.
Clearly, they’ve got iTunes in their sites – and quite frankly, nothing is more attractive than being Free. And this isn’t just conjecture: the number one search terms in the AOL Data leak was, in fact, the word “Free”. People are looking for it, people want it, and to quote Paris Hilton, its hot.

Will an ad-supported service run into similar challenges that web2.0 startups run into?
I don’t think so. As I see it, ad-supported models run into problems when there isn’t enough traffic at the beginning to create enough revenue to support costs. When no one knows you, its hard for Adsense to pay the bills. Yet, when the business gets larger — let’s take an extreme example, such as AOL, which is moving to 100% free (no more subscribers), bu ad supported — its another dimension of the problem. Traffic is high, but will the revenue generated be *enough* to cover your overhead and capital costs?

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So I’ll be upfront — there are a few reviews already on the net about AllPeers, the firefox extension that helps people share files between each other. I’ll list a few of the good ones below. I’m not going into gory details about it but I did want to share some initial opinions

AllPeers has been hailed as the “best thing to happen to Firefox since Firefox”. That’s some lofty praise (or hype?).

For those not following this sort of thing, AllPeers is a Firefox Extension that allows folks to share files via a ‘personal’ p2p connection. Because its a Firefox Extension, it’ll be persistently “on” when you surf — and won’t require you to load up separate client software. Also, you don’t need to be on at the same time as the person you’re sharing with. Its been in anticipation for a few years already, and as a beta, it has recently flung open its doors to the public.

I have raved previously about using Pando to share files between friends, principally because it is so insanely easy to use, and the restrictions are actually quite generous. You can send files up to 1 gigabyte — but I’ve heard about people busting this restriction, and sending files up to 2 gigs.

I like to use these sorts of services because I like to rip and share TV shows with friends, but also large media content such as home movies and high quality digital photos (2meg each, for example).

I’ve tried AllPeers now for a few days, and I think my overall feeling is … meh.

I think this is driven by the fact that there are a TON of competitors in the “filesharing” arena, now that with the proliferation of broad band connections is driving demand, while the price of storage has dropped (and continues to drop) precipitously.

For a filesharing application to gain any traction in a competitive field, I think that they should contain the following characteristics:

1. easy to use: and this means, its got to be easy to install, a fast and unobstructive load time, use minimal resources while operating, and a design that is both pleasing and functional. Does it require a separate client to use? Is it part of the browser?

2. easy to share: putting the “sharing” into filesharing, these programs MUST be as frictionless as possible not JUST to actually send files back and forth, but also in introducing other participants into the program’s way of doing things; the instructions, the registration … they must all be easy for first adopters to share with non-first-adopters, in my opinion.

3. generous restrictions: its not an oxymoron — if the service is tiered, then it should have the least restrictive limits in terms of its use … both in terms of bandwidth or filesize. Sure, nothing’s free, but for it to be appealing in a competitive landscape, you can’t scrape the bottom of the barrel with this one. Filesizes need to be > 500megs and preferably up to 1 gigabyte. Bandwidth restrictions should probably be no less than 20-25 gigs per month.

If the software is really constructed to take advantage of a distrbuted system, and not centralized where the files are stored on one large server, I don’ t think there’s any reason to put huge restrictions on … well, the restrictions.

How does AllPeers fare under this sort of criteria? Check it out.

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As noted by Katie Fuhrenbacher, over at GigaOm, reports that Pando Reached its One Millionth Install today. Well, to quote the eternal thespian Austin Powers, “YEAH, baby, YEAH!”

I’ve already given Pando props before, and I think I’m not the only one who’s noticing.

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So on my machine, portforwarding is kind of a must to get the p2p factory working right.

If its not done right, there is a noticable difference … d/l rates can go from 5kbs –> 100kbs if done right.

Currently using uTorrent: great, because its small footprint (compared to azureus), and ease of use.

There is another post on this topic somewhere (I may have to actually input into this system!) but my tips goes as follows

1) Make sure that the network IP is correct!
a) Start –> Run –> cmd –> “ipconfig”
b) Determine the ip for this machine
c) 192.168.0.3 is the most common one
d) It will dynamically change if your computer reboots.
Go to NetRouter, and change the port forwarding so it recognizes the computer you’re operating from …
… that is, give THAT ip address!

2) For uTorrent anyway — UNDO the “uPNP”
a) For some reason uTorrent tries to automatically “map” the port, which  may not be as effective as “port forwarding”, therefore (since it does this trhough upnp) UNDO this!

http://www.pando.com — one of the new web2.0-ish personal p2p services, allows you to send large bulky files pretty effortlessly.  However, it requires a small download-of-a-client.  Apparently, it works by (I think) two non-competing ways; both the sender AND giant “telenodes” can act as a ’sender’ of sorts of the file.  I think the telenode will act if your computer isn’t on, or isn’t running Pando.  I haven’t bothered looking harder than that.  At any rate, the sending rate is pretty good … it vascillates between 5kb — 300kbs pretty quickly; nevertheless … its able to send about 300mb/h –> 300mb/60min –>5mb/60sec –>80kb/s … not too shabby!

Have tried this with Darren, Dorothy and Jason, all to great success so far.

NB, you can even “forward” a file once you’ve “sent” it once, saving you the bother of ‘uploading’ it or ‘packaging’ it.
However — the uploaded file only stays valid for about 14d, otherwise you’ll need to do it again.