FEATURE ARTICLES

• Simple Crack Revealed for CD Copy Protection
• Could You Use a 2GB CD?
• IFPI Seizes Blanks Destined for Piracy
• Is DVD/R a viable source for mastering?

I am constantly amazed by the robustness of our industry. While companies have often failed to make the "technology transition" as new computer platforms of media formats emerge, the people continue to succeed. I am struck that the face of the industry continues to change; and yet there continues to be so many familiar faces.

When I was working for Trace Mountain, a company which at the time manufactured 85 percent of the world's floppy disk duplication equipment, our largest customers were former software giants Lotus, Ashton-Tate (Dbase) and Word Perfect. Trace Mountain is no more, but I continue to see old co-workers in companies like Mediatechnics, Eclipse, Bronway, MediaFORM, Macrovision, Trace Affex and R-Quest. In fact, they continue, in many cases, to provide products and services to the old Trace customers, those that survived and didn't go the way of the former software giants.

It is also striking how many of those former Trace customers I continue to encounter at industry events, companies like Corporate Disk, Kopy-Rite, ACP and Transmedia. These are companies that succeeded in making the "technological transition" and are now what we call "digital content service providers". They may have once considered themselves floppy duplicators or tape duplicators, but now they call themselves replicators, duplicators, or fulfillment houses. They also comprise a cottager industry that's been serving filmmakers, record labels, software companies and corporations for almost two decades. They have built strong relationships with customers, provided values-added services and helped their content owner customers make the media technology transition.

While we continue to focus on the giants of the movie, music, and software industries it seems not enough attention is paid to these companies. They broker replication, duplication, packaging distribution and are constantly expanding to offer the services the customers require. These companies have always been on the leading edge of digital content delivery, and today continue to be technology enablers for their customers. Managing large customer bases with small volumes, they manage to provide a product that looks as good as any on the retail shelf, and make their customer feel their project is as important as the latest DVD movie release or hit CD.

These small duplicators/replicators represent the 80 percent of companies doing 20 percent of the business in our industry. They don't purchase huge volumes of product, but represent solid, less volatile companies with a demonstrated ability to adapt to a changing technology landscape. They represent a significant opportunity for companies wanting to sell products to digital content providers. They can teach many of the largest companies about customer service; and if you learn the lesson, they make great customers.