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?

Granted, the details have yet to be released to the media, but I think that this partnership will convey the best of both worlds without the pitfalls of each.

Universal has the marketing might behind it — both in an off-line and on-line sense. If they organize it right, they should be ramping up their buzz and marketing machines for the upcoming launch date in December. By the time Christmas comes along the meme “Free Digital Music” should be everywhere.

A torrential (no pun intended) flood of traffic should then hit SpiralFrog driving those advertising revenues through the roof; however, unlike AOL, this is a manuever that capitalizes on Universal’s existing works — and unlike AOL, Universal isn’t dependent on the revenues for anything. If anything, it represents another channel for Universal to market its wares.

Of course, with the huge influx of traffic, it could be used as a staging for other projects — and really, that’s how it should be played out. Using their existing catalogue of music as a “loss-leader” strategy is big brass ballsy, but the price of entry into the digital music arena is high; with Apple entrenched as it is, “Free” may be the only game-changing strategy left.

Now, we don’t know what the details will be with regards to downloading, the portability of the formats and so on — and these may also change things, but Free is an undeniably powerful word in Universal’s arsenal … it’ll be interesting to see how Apple responds to it.

In terms of what this means to the rest of the industry — if it becomes a breakthrough hit, we may be seeing free ad-supported movies next … essentially leapfrogging over the possibility of (micro)paying per download for high quality movie releases.

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.

1. Ease of Use: I think this is where it falls the flat. Once you install the firefox extension its sitting there as part of your browser — that part is pretty easy. However, the actual process of inviting friends, browsing for files, and ultimately send it to them is pretty clunky. Your browsing window gets divided on the left and the right. To actually send files, you 1) have to click on your own name on a separate browsing window to your right, THEN, click on a text link that says “share”. Why not just right click on your friends and send? Well, its a browser related function; right clicks are reserved for praticular functions. Furthermore, there is no real “faq” or “tour” to walk you through the process.

There have been some talk about it slowing Firefox down when you’re sharing; I haven’t actually found this to be the case, so this is good. On the other hand, the actual download rate is difficult to gauge, since there is no “speedometer”. There is no way to know how many kb/s you’re uploading OR downloading because it doesn’t quantify it. You just get a bar that’s moving.

When I timed it myself it looks like its comparable to, say Pando, but without some numbers, its hard to know for sure.

2. Ease of Sharing: Currently its in beta — so there’s a limitation to this. When I tried to “invite” people in the actual program in the few people I tried it out on a few of them never got an invitation. Seems like I have to actually enter them separately on a different page to invite them over. Then, they each get a separate activation code. THEN you have to “add” them on your own AllPeers screen PLUS each separate activation code. In all fairness, its in beta – but this *has* to be ironed out better.

3. Generous Resctrictions: Well, this is where it apparently shines. Seems like there are no detailed restrictions EITHER to the file size OR the bandwidth. Pretty cool. Well, hold on. In the community posts, it mentions that you should be try and be reasonable with the number of files or foldres you share. Not exactly sure what this means in any real quantitative fashion. Are we talking 1000′s of files? What happens if they’re each 5megs as opposed to 1 meg?

The Lowdown: AllPeers is kind of cool — but I think maybe mostly due to the hype around it. That is, in order for ANY of these new filesharing services to shine, it MUST be at least as good as the others, if not better.

I think that the biggest strength is the lack of restrictions on file size or bandwidth (officially … see above). However, its user interface is clunky, and the ability to get someone else to share stuff may not be that easy at all. Particularly because there’s no real “help” or “tour”.

IS it better than its competitors?
One has to wonder how much a “first mover” advantage some of the other services have. In order for someone to use another service, they’ve got to be *better* in so many ways that it has to overcome all of the current inertia of using an accepted system. More to the point, that person would have to start convincing their filesharing partners to ALSO change systems as well.

Almost reminds me of the Instant Messaging wars a while back!

To wrap things up, I’m not sure if it *is* better than its competitors right now. Unlimited file sharing needs to be balanced against an ungainly UI.

Personally, I’m sticking with Pando for now.
My own friends find that its super easy to use, is well documented, and although it requires an extra download and client to share things, its otherwise fast and transparent.
And quite frankly, they’re just used to it.

Other Reviews:

1. p2p blog has a nice one with screen caps; they seem to agree the lack of transparency with the filesharing speeds is a bit frustrating
2. Torrentfreak has a review, but also an interview with one of the Developers; has some nice insights into future plans for AllPeers.
3. The obligatory TechCrunch “review”.
4. NewsForge’s review does discuss the security of AllPeers.

PS, there are now unlimited invitations available. If you’re interested in trying it out, leave a comment and I will get back to you. ;)

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

Over at the Pando Blog, they note the love Techcrunch is giving them, but also the love from the Yahoo! Messenger group as well.

In other news, Pando is eliminating registration all together, which should make the whole process of sharing large files utterly frictionless.

SMOOTH. :)

Now only if they can get a plugin for Messenger, they’d be all set. ;)

If you’re still on the fence, give Pando a try if you’re interested in sharing home videos, large picture sets, or *whatever* your current email program still has fits over. Its fabulously easy to use and you’ll find your non-techie friends we’ll be able to use it (when you share your stuff) with utter ease as well … making you, of course, look like the Geek-Wizard you already are!

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!

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.