Ramblings
July 28, 2003
Dave Barry gives me a glimpse into my not-too-distant future with "The prince and the toddler: It's a doll world after all". 
July 25, 2003
Daring Fireball on Apple's 2 percent market share:
The idea of overall PC market share, as currently conceived by IDC, is ... like counting everything from golf carts to tractor trailers as a single category, thus making the "overall market share" look worse than it is for a company that only makes actual passenger cars.
In the markets where Apple actually wants to compete, the Mac’s market share is certainly higher than 2 percent.
This is starting to make the rounds now: BuyMusic.com is the latest entry into the pay-per-download digital music world. In order to battle Apple's iTunes, BuyMusic.com is Windows-only:
All I can assume is that they're doing Win IE only because that's all they had time to develop for. I doubt that the technical problems will be overcome, since so much of it is out of BuyMusic's hands (thanks to Windows Media). It's just a waiting game for Apple to come out with iTunes for Windows...then it's just a matter of people's preference:
BuyMusic founder Scott Blum called Apple CEO Steve Jobs "a visionary, but he's on the wrong platform." (Wired News)So Mac users are blocked from the site. So be it. From what I've seen of the site and read others' experiences with it, PC folks can have it:
- It's Windows-only (and IE only, for that matter)
- The ads are a lame rip-off of Apple's (and an attack on Apple, with an ad showing Tommy Lee smashing the same guitar used in Apple's ads)
- You don't really own the music you buy
- But most importantly, there are the annoyances and technical problems...
All I can assume is that they're doing Win IE only because that's all they had time to develop for. I doubt that the technical problems will be overcome, since so much of it is out of BuyMusic's hands (thanks to Windows Media). It's just a waiting game for Apple to come out with iTunes for Windows...then it's just a matter of people's preference:
Not that either service needs to kill of the other. Just as rival High Street record stores can co-exist, so too can online music retailers. Different punters will pick one over t'other, just as some buyers prefer HMV and others pick Virgin. (The Register)
Here's another positive story about the Apple Music Store, this one from personal experience:
Why would anyone need to buy an album RIGHT NOW? Can't you wait to get to a store, or order it from Amazon and get it in a couple days?
While Jill was in labor, she was listening to a CD of relaxing music. After a few listens, she was kind of getting sick of it and wished she had another: "Too bad we don't have a George Winston CD or something else." So I went to our office, checked iTunes, and in about 20 minutes had purchased, downloaded, and burned a CD for her. Perfect!
Why would anyone need to buy an album RIGHT NOW? Can't you wait to get to a store, or order it from Amazon and get it in a couple days?
While Jill was in labor, she was listening to a CD of relaxing music. After a few listens, she was kind of getting sick of it and wished she had another: "Too bad we don't have a George Winston CD or something else." So I went to our office, checked iTunes, and in about 20 minutes had purchased, downloaded, and burned a CD for her. Perfect!
July 23, 2003
AJ Schnack, director of the They Might Be Giants documentary Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns, is profiled on Apple.com.
July 17, 2003
Amelia Hope Chapman
July 16, 6:54 PM
These are the first of many, many photos to come...
July 16, 6:54 PM
These are the first of many, many photos to come...
Labels: amelia
July 14, 2003
This is probably already making its way around the web at light speed, but I'll link to it anyway: Matrix-style ping pong -- with live action "bullet time" (or, more accurately, "ping pong ball time") -- is cool, clever and funny. Though the video is small and a little hard to see, you get the idea.
July 10, 2003
I've been looking for years for the single version of New Order's "Confusion". I can't find it on CD, the iTunes Music Store, or even on LimeWire. I did come across the video (view with RealPlayer), which took me back to the days of staying up late on Sunday to watch "120 Minutes". Meanwhile, my MP3 search continues...
July 7, 2003
ChoiceStream (the company where I work) is featured in a nice little article in the latest Fortune magazine ("Drowning in Media? This new software tells you what you like").
July 6, 2003
I missed this one, but Apple's iChat AV adds a feature that was surprisingly omitted from the original iChat: the ability to put buddies into groups.
Under General Preferences, just check "Use groups in Buddy list" and the iChat buddy list window will include a "Buddies" menu to sort them by group.
Under General Preferences, just check "Use groups in Buddy list" and the iChat buddy list window will include a "Buddies" menu to sort them by group.
July 2, 2003
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