Music Pioneer Napster Tries Again, This Time With AI Chatbots (fastcompany.com) 18
Napster has returned with an AI-powered reinvention, launching a platform of specialized chatbots and holographic avatars. The former dot-com music file-sharing pioneer now offers dozens of "AI companions" trained as experts in fields from therapy to business strategy, plus the View device for 3D holographic video chats, FastCompany reports.
Infinite Reality acquired Napster for $207 million in March and rebranded itself under the nostalgic name. The platform charges $19 monthly or $199 bundled with hardware, marking Napster's latest attempt at relevance after previous owners tried VR concerts and crypto ventures.
Infinite Reality acquired Napster for $207 million in March and rebranded itself under the nostalgic name. The platform charges $19 monthly or $199 bundled with hardware, marking Napster's latest attempt at relevance after previous owners tried VR concerts and crypto ventures.
Awesome news (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Awesome news (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Awesome news (Score:5, Funny)
Don't know about them, but Winamp still really whips the llama's ass!
Re: (Score:2)
With AI? /s
Re: (Score:3)
Real News (Score:5, Insightful)
The real news is that someone still thinks the Napster name is worth $207 million
Re: (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)
So you take a brand that has been dead over 20 years now and try to revive it for a pitch that has zero relevance to the use case that made it famous?
At least VR concerts were still music themed, so I could see a *little* correlation between the brand and the product.
From what I've read, the crypto play was at least still in the ballpark of acquiring music, so again, a stretch but at least it had some thematic link.
This has no whiff of a logical connection to anything Napster was ever known for during it's
Music Pioneer? (Score:3)
File sharing pioneer, maybe. But music pioneer? That phrasing hurts my brain.
Why not AI music? (Score:2)
Why not try to be a Suno competitor and use the Napster name to generate an unlimited supply of fake music? TBH, they didn't even have to wait this long, "fake music" generation has been around for decades. All they had to do was insert a few automated polishing steps so it doesn't sound like it came straight out of a 1990s video game.
This is like buying a calculator with the Vivitar name on it (something I've done, but not for the name, I just liked the form factor) -- what's that got to do with an optics
Napster Is Dead (Score:2)
Napster is dead. It died many years ago.
Infinite Reality trading under Napster's name is like saying Polaroid is trying again. It's dead. Licensing the name doesn't bring it back.
"We'd have MP.15s by now, if not for Sleepy Joe!" (Score:2)
"Infinite Reality acquired Napster for $207 million in March..."
March of WHAT? 2000? Holy Tiamat-fucking Marduk, how long does it take to separate all the fools from all their money already?
Pathetic (Score:2)
Let it go already.
It's kind of like somebody resurrecting the Enron name to sell clothing. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/02... [cnn.com]
Tech buzzword bingo (Score:2)
Christ holographic avatars and AI and SaaS. Maybe they can fit in blockchain & IoT to go for the blackout bingo
Sad (Score:2)
2025 business strategy (Score:2)
If your business is failing, try adding some AI to it. Sure, none of your customers asked for it, and it's not clear how spending millions on data center fees translates into profit. But investors love it, and that's how a bubble rises to the top!
Out of the Vault (Score:3)
I come back to reading Slashdot after 20 years and this is what I find.
I'm . . .going to go back to the code vault now. Somebody recompile me when someone actually starts seeding again without ducking out immediately after file download.
My brother still has an AOL email address.... (Score:2)