The best of 'Reader Comments': Sainsbury's thinks inside the box, Bertelsmann applauded, and the WAP debate continues

Sainsbury's announced that it would trial a service that may make home deliveries easier (http://www.silicon.com/a41146 )

--Finally, good e-delivery
From: Eric Samuels

It seems that Sainsbury's have come up with a good idea for once. I don't know how useful it will be though, as my local branch is so out of stock of even basic items, that they won't need a very big lockable box. Still, it should keep the cost down!

--Not thinking it through
From: Raymond Russell

Here is another example of not thinking through consequences. Putting a delivery box outside one's home advertises that there is no one in - an invitation to the opportunist burglar. Do they seriously expect house contents insurance companies to pay out? If there were a solution to this problem more experienced companies than Sainsbury's would have found it. Of course this is the very reason why home delivery died out in the first case. Forty years ago it was normal.

--An easier answer
From: Dan Pointer

Instead of all these boxes and contraptions bolted to people's homes why not just change the delivery times? Instead of delivering during the day when everybody is at work, deliver in the evening when most people are at home. It's so simple it hurts!

--A money spinning opportunity
From: Will Sheward

Oh, come on people, stop being so negative. Just think of the extra revenue generating possibilities this could bring to householders. We're constantly being advertised to, now's our chance to get our own back by offering to sell ad space on our boxes targeted to that desirable and evidently fast growing demographic, the web-bought-goods delivery driver!
I for one am going to sit down right now and try and work out what my CPM rate should be. I'm even thinking of raising some venture capital to 'tart up' my delivery box to make it more visually attractive to van drivers and a more desirable location for advertisers. IPO anyone...?

Meanwhile, the announcement that German media giant Bertelsmann has teamed up with Napster provoked some passionate responses (http://www.silicon.com/a41186 )

--Bravo Bertelsmann
From: Stacy Kohmetscher

I know everyone wants to hold onto what is near and dear, but come on! Let's move on.
Bravo Bertelsmann for grasping modern technology and finding a way to make it work. The artists and media agents that create a new mode of compensation will be the winners! Rock on....

--Bertelswon
From: Anon.

When all this lawsuit stuff has 'died the death' Bertelsmann will be the winner, as they have got on the bandwagon of the biggest thing on the net. Napster is big and will only get bigger, unless of course some other company decides to do a similar deal!!

--Whatever happened to Napster?
From: Michael Skinner

Any true musician should love Napster. It allows a wide audience to listen to their music, which is the idea. If you are playing music to make money then the chances are you are not worth listening to anyway. Making music is about passion, performance and talent. Making money is about business.

And would Reader Comments ever be complete without reference to various WAP stories? This week we heard more than the usual WAP is crap feedback (http://www.silicon.com/a)

--Waving goodbye to WAP?
From: Ainsley Charles Ward

I've tried to get an answer from the people that I work with. I've tried speaking to professionals at companies developing next generation web content. I've tried asking the testing team at what is about to be the largest internet bank in the world. And still no-one actually knows why WAP has appeared and what value it adds. I get a few light answers - the internet bank are going to use a WAP page to allow customers to check their balance on their mobile phone (they could just call armchair banking from the mobile). The WAP content writers are busy downgrading web pages so that they can be viewed as lines of text on a minuscule screen. Even m-Payment schemes rely on SMS technology - which is generally cheaper to implement and run than WAP. So why are all of these massive companies in the WAP forum (Nokia, Ericsson, Vodafone etc.) pushing WAP so heavily? I think the real answer is that they haven't come up with anything better yet - and when they do we can WWWave goodbye to WAP.

--Waving goodbye to WAP?
From: Michelle Edwards

Did we not here the same of the internet five years ago? WAP technology is still in its infancy, and it's too soon yet to judge how popular it will be. Also, mobile phone use seems to have grown exponentially over the past four years. WAP still has a long way to go. The sites need to be made more user-friendly, and graphically more aesthetically pleasing (hardware permitting), but without a doubt, we will see the same surge in usage over the coming years as the technology matures.