Ringles

The music industry is definitely in a bad spot. The same technology that made untold fortunes from the late eighties through the end of last century came back and bit us in our collective asses. The invention of music in digital form made it too easy for people to file share, burn cd's, stock mp3 players, and one-click download entire catalogs for free.
I firmly believe that once that same digital technology progresses even further and the G4 or maybe even G5 networks are up and blazing that our industry problems will be solved. No more owning music. Forget a CD, forget a hard drive, forget an Ipod (in its current storage form). Music will be streamed to us- whatever we wanna hear, whenever we wanna hear it. Beautiful, clean, convenient, and worth PAYING for. Without a need to own anything but the device that plays it.
BUT, until then, there is some desperate stuff going on out there. My esteemed colleagues have informed me of a new initiative to make people PAY for music- The Ringle. A Ringle consists of a little fun-pack that includes a single, a remix of that single, an album cut or catalog selection, a ringtone, and a wallpaper. For like $5.99.
I hate that shit. What? You wanna charge half the price of an album for a single in multiple forms and a picture of the artists face on your phone that plays the ringtone of the moment through a flat speaker the size of a dime? And you wanna know what's killing the music industry?
Bullshit temporary solutions like this don't help. They hurt the art of the album, and make the consumer want to stay away even more. Let's spend our time and money trying to make a long-term solution. Not on marketing songs for more money a piece than people are already NOT paying.
Where are people supposed to buy Ringles anyway? The record store? Good luck finding one. And what a name- Ringle. Come on...