Over the last year, I have been a subscriber to the Napster-to-go program as a way to download music legally to use in my MP3 player. This past weekend, I decided to cancel my subscription and started to peruse their website for information as to how to go about doing this. After spending 20 minutes digging through their website I quickly found a link to submit a request to cancel subscription form, but having filled it out I found it was a dead end link. After hitting submit I was brought to an error page. Figuring it must have been my fault, i quickly hit back and tried again. A second time the form failed to submit my request and i became irritated.
My next step was to open the actual Napster-to-go program and look through that to find a way to end my now affliction with Napster. I after a few minutes found a 1-800 number to which i could call and cancel over the phone. After being placed on hold for 20 minutes I was finally able to talk to an operator to cancel my subscription.
I find this a noteworthy final posting for the IT course because it incorporates may ideas mentioned within this course. The first of which is the piracy issue. At its inception, Napster was a outlet for many college aged kids to illegally download music. From there it progress through dealings with recording labels to be able to provide the same service for a fee. The next issue is the technology issue it self. The digitization of music and other media has had a huge impact on our society. What was once the realm of nerds and geeks has in a few years become a pop culture craze. The next issue to consider is the flattening issue discussed by Friedman. In an inherently digital media that is Napster, i found the only way to officially cancel an account was to turn to the telephone and actually talk to a real live person to deal with the transaction. Friedman I'm sure would say that was the most ironic/asinine thing he has heard in a long time. A corporation that deals exclusively in digital media, cannot get the technology down to use the same Internet to end subscriptions as it does to take them. Is it their attempt to impede the transaction process and put up road blocks to cease accounts? I see it as an unneeded impediment to the flow of business. Napster of all companies should be embracing the digitization of all aspects of its business, not the the taking of subscriptions.
My next step was to open the actual Napster-to-go program and look through that to find a way to end my now affliction with Napster. I after a few minutes found a 1-800 number to which i could call and cancel over the phone. After being placed on hold for 20 minutes I was finally able to talk to an operator to cancel my subscription.
I find this a noteworthy final posting for the IT course because it incorporates may ideas mentioned within this course. The first of which is the piracy issue. At its inception, Napster was a outlet for many college aged kids to illegally download music. From there it progress through dealings with recording labels to be able to provide the same service for a fee. The next issue is the technology issue it self. The digitization of music and other media has had a huge impact on our society. What was once the realm of nerds and geeks has in a few years become a pop culture craze. The next issue to consider is the flattening issue discussed by Friedman. In an inherently digital media that is Napster, i found the only way to officially cancel an account was to turn to the telephone and actually talk to a real live person to deal with the transaction. Friedman I'm sure would say that was the most ironic/asinine thing he has heard in a long time. A corporation that deals exclusively in digital media, cannot get the technology down to use the same Internet to end subscriptions as it does to take them. Is it their attempt to impede the transaction process and put up road blocks to cease accounts? I see it as an unneeded impediment to the flow of business. Napster of all companies should be embracing the digitization of all aspects of its business, not the the taking of subscriptions.
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