the CRT iMac made big the impact though. 1) LCDs were still very expensive and not as common 2) the iMac was relatively cheap for a Mac. it was not the high performance machine, it was great for schoolwork and internet. the things that most people do on their computers. think of all the translucent colored things that came out following the original CRT iMac. it was "cute" as opposed to beige and ugly. i realize the power of that may be lost on people reading/., but to a lot of people it became a piece of art/decoration as much as a tool to to schoolwork. there is definitely a segment of people that feel that "if i HAVE to own a computer, it might as well look nice". obviously nice is subjective, but Apple hit it with a lot of people where other companies failed. when the original iMac shipped it was considered a disaster in the making, by techie people, because it lacked a floppy drive. i heard nrrdly fathers argue that exact point to their college bound daughters in computer stores. dropping that dinosaur thinking is what allowed Apple to break out from the 90s slump, while the rest of the industry scrambled to catch up. take that as opinion, but a lot of them came out with "iMac killers". they cared enough to design something specifically to compete with those little gumdrops.
actually Apple really only ships direct from the factory when something is brand spanking new. they even acknowledge this in quarterly earnings reports.... or did when they were more specific as to what models sold how many units. they would say something about how much they made from iBooks and follow it up by explaining that when the freighters with containers full of ibooks show up their profit margin will be a bit higher than when they pay to FedEx every early purchase direct from the factory to your door.
for example i just ordered one of the pretty new iMacs, and it was shipped from California, not Asia. they only came out a few weeks ago, but i guess long ago enough that Apple has *some* stock here. i am pretty sure a lot of resellers are still waiting to get them in volume though.
just as data disks for backup. that part kind of sucks. it seems to be a deal they could not make with the TV studios and now movie studios. considering every Mac is available with a DVD burner (except some base models), and includes DVD burning software, that would have been great. maybe it'll be cracked soon enough.
kind of OT there are some TV shows available free from the TV station as well as iTunes. i read somewhere (possibly here on/.?) that those shows (like LOST for example) are viewed many times more for free than sold as downloads. not sure if it is the same comparison. i would hope people that buy the shows watch them more than once? the free versions are only available for streaming and include commercials that i don't think can be skipped. all that aside, it sounds like it is still worth putting the shows up on iTunes. i also guess it was the stepping stone to full movies. the iTunes distribution channel is really optimum for more indie or oddball programs and music that may have a hard time getting distribution to a scattered audience. it's also great for people that are too impatient for mail order.
if Apple was really scared... wouldn't they do something to protect their iPod's popularity? wouldn't that be even worse for MS? right now MS has matched the 30 gig iPod price. i would bet their pricing has more to do with the price of the iPod than any other business and manufacturing formulas for profit margin. i am sure they hope to make money on the subscription service too.
to fight back..... Apple could just make their 30 gig a 40 gig for the same price and that would hurt MS (right?). they made the 60GB an 80GB AND lowered the price by $50. so, the new large iPod is 80 Gigs. a few weeks ago they offered 30 and 60 gig models. one can guess the 60 has twice the platter of the 30, so there may be the half-sized drive of the 80 GB model around the corner. just a seemingly logical guess?
honestly.... if the iPod (or some future iPod killer) had AM and/or FM radio in it i would think a good chunk of the motivation would be live info you could not have synced at home. something like weather updates, or sporting events (scores?). really most all of that is available on cell phones now.
personally i listen to the radio a lot, but it's a local non-commercial college station or NPR and that's it. i used to listen to an extinct local FM talk radio station, and since its demise i have not found any other talk station that can keep my interest. i suppose a part of me would like a radio tuner in my iPod, but not enough to buy a different device, or one of the after market FM tuner things (if they still exist?).
other people made good points that, for example, many local commercial stations have less songs in rotation that you could fit on an iPod shuffle. with the internet, radio is not as important as it used to be for exposure to new top 40 hits. a lot of the reason i listen to college radio is to learn about music i didn't know existed.... not to just hear my favorite songs that i already own. i know i am a minority in that one though.
the Mac version lets you select what directory and what HDD you store your music on. in the Mac world it's a selection under advanced options. is it not on the XP version? i have a G4 tower, and always put my MP3s on a separate HDD or at least another partition of a HDD. that way multiple accounts can easily access it, and when i backup my/home directory i do not have to worry about the MP3 repository. worst case scenario means i just have to re-rip CDs. i have never played with XP iTunes enough to look at this stuff, but i am surprised if it's that different.
i would assume for the default setup they envision the family computer that mom, dad and the kids have their own accounts and do not want to look at each other's music. while that idea seems valid for music, i would think people would be more inclined to share movies with the whole family? well.... the kind of movies (Disney) that you can buy from iTMS.... not THOSE kind of movies. i guess we'll see how iTV handles that in a few months.
no, it really sounds better. i assumed it has something to do with the physical process of creating the stamping plates and pressing the vinyl. it's hard to explain. i guess, in a way, if you talk to a guitar player and ask them why a tube amp sounds better than a solid state? it just has that thickness to the sound that, for whatever reason, does not seem to come through with digital? i suppose i could try recording the vinyl with something that has better than CD quality and see what happens. i'm content to accept that vinyl just sounds better for whatever reason. i listen to mostly punk music. music with guitars and real drums and whatnot. maybe some other genres don't matter, but rock seems to.
i know a few people that in the last year or two just got a record player for the first time in a few years and they are going out and buying their favorite albums on vinyl again. they swear it sounds better, and it seems to be more than just nostalgia. there are also people with iPods, so they do like the convenience of being able to take everything with them. i can listen to, and enjoy, pretty lofi recorded music, crappy demos, live tracks whatever. i just really think that the vinyl sounds better.
as for the 100th play. my record player is not a $10,000 crazy one, but it's a copy of a Techniques 1200. it lives in my house, and i don't do DJ tricks, so it works great. it has a well balanced toner arm, and i replace the stylus when it needs it. i also take care of my records. i have played many of my records more than 100 times and they sound a-ok. i also work at a radio station that still plays vinyl and we have records that have had steady play for almost 30 years. the radio station has always used quality record players. if anything the records may have some dust in them and require a good cleaning. ok, the worst thing are ones that were stolen. second worst are ones that were dropped on a hard floor, or rolled over with a chair. that's just mistakes, but otherwise vinyl is really resilient. most people i know replace their CDs more than their vinyl. the durability of the CD seems to make people treat them like cassettes or something and they just don't last. i have CDs much less than 20 years old that have no scratches, but the ink and foil is coming off and they are skiptastic. it's annoying when the CD is out of print now. i'll take a record skip to a CD skip any day!
i don't agree. i have been in a high quality audio listening place (in a sound studio) and listened to the same album on vinyl and cd. both brand new, neither was remastered or anything. the vinyl sounded infinitely better. everyone was shocked at how much better the vinyl sounded. we could control the levels of both so they were the same, no effects on either channel. the vinyl just sounds more full. it was a record i had a hand in releasing so i know that there was no special vinyl mixing/mastering done either.
to add to the mystery, the album was recorded on a Pro-Tools hard disk system. the pressing plants got master CDs. something about the vinyl making process just fills out the sound.
did they fail? or were they just phased out in favor of iTunes (with no overhead costs). we know the big labels hate the idea of a single if they think they can make you drop $18+ for the whole album. when you consider a Madonna album is probably popular for one or two songs, of course they need to figure out how to sell the whole thing. i know that was an early issue with Apple vs the record labels. the big labels had a hard time accepting that people could chose any individual track they wanted off the album. that was supposedly one of the big stumbling blocks for iTMS.
as pointed out, the big labels sold CD singles for $5ish. 7"s still mostly sell for what they did when i was a young punkrocker. $3-$4. with bands like White Stripes, it is a retro kinda thing. maybe they just like 7"s. in the indie/punk/hardcore scene you will often go to a show and see some band you know virtually nothing about. to buy their 7" for $3 or $4 is not a lot of financial commitment (granted these bands often sell their albums for about $10). you get to hear some of their songs and have supported a band.
about 50% of Apple's hardware sales are laptops, and they are going to possibly break a company record this quarter by selling over 1 million laptops. the previous record was last quarter and that was a bit under 800,000. the iMacs are selling well, and the Mac Pro and Xserve finished off the last of the PPC Macs. that should resolve some holdouts. it sounds like the above post explains it that they are not combining PPC and Intel based Mac OS X hits.
according to some guy i heard interviewed on NPR a few months ago, US citizens have always paid more like (on average) $6-$8/gallon. maybe it was more? i don't remember the guy's name or which show he was even on, but his reasoning was based on hidden expenses. one of the big hidden costs was the money spent for the US military to protect the ports where oil comes from, as well as the shipping channels and whatever else. i guess the US is so paranoid about the oil protection that our military provides protection all over the place, and the rest of the world gets that protection for free. there were some other expenses too. basically his point was that the rest of the world passes those fees on to the purchases of the gallon of fuel, where the USA has everyone pitch in. in the end it may be the same net effect... i don't know. even people who won't drive probably somehow benefit from stuff being transported by trucks or cars.
yeah, there may be some of that sneaky code protected by the DMCA involved? i know some of the after market adapter boxes that make your car's head unit basically think it is talking to a CD changer will display info like track name. i would assume there is some licensing deal going on there? if that is the case, then i guess Apple might just deny the license to somebody making a Zune-iPod adapter plug. who knows.
i read somewhere today that Microsoft claims it will take the Zune 5 years to catch on. i could be a dick and point out that the iPod's 5 year birthday is not for another month (i had to look this up). who knows what the ipod will be like in 5 years, if it even still exists. when you consider 5 years of advancements JUST in terms of data storage and battery size/life.... yikes.
there are a few people that make the interface hardware. http://www.elgato.com/ has been at it for a while. i just saw on a few weeks ago that is the same footprint as a Mac Mini and has the TV tunercard as well as AV in/out. it hooks to the Mini via USB2 or firewire (i think USB2 actually?). sorry i forget the details, but if i remember right it is made by a 3rd party, and support is provided by the people at El Gato (it runs their software). i don't see it on their website though..... hmmmm
there have been some 3rd party freeware apps that will fill in your iTunes album art. some would query ITMS and some used Amazon. it is optional to turn it on when you install/upgrade iTunes. after installed, the option is in the preferences for it to constantly check for missing album art. don't use it if you are paranoid? somebody can scan the traffic if they are curious, but i assume it only looks for missing artwork, not submitting the index of your entire library. that would probably bog things down in a big way.
there was something in a previous version of iTunes that made people initially sketchy. possibly the optional (on by default) links from your artists to the ITMS. if it was that, it turned out to just submit a query when clicked or something.
locally when they first talked about this school it really sounded like M$ was going to pay for a good chunk/all of it. honestly, that scared the hell out of me. it maybe stirred up some vision in my head of the outsourced police department in RoboCop or something..... but it did not sit well.
i am sure the school is teaching kids how to use microsoft products as much as how to use high tech tools (computers) to make learning easier. completely stupid since the software they learn on may not even exist when they graduate college.
i wonder why it keeps being referred to as "the microsoft school of the future" when all they did was throw some advisors for design and setup. they did not contribute and hardware or software, though i am sure we can all guess what software the school is primarily using! the school was paid for by taxpayers, as any public school would be. it is nice that they are not only taking students with the highest test scores (as many urban magnet schools do). they are giving all kinds of students and opportunity to try this new system. yeah, they are almost like M$ beta testers, and as scary as that is..... i am sure the school will be accountable to somebody with some integrity. with the rest of the urban school systems in such hell, this might be a great new thing. of note, the city said the annual operating budget for this school is no higher (per pupil) than any other school in the system. it's quite possible that giving a student one laptop with electronic textbooks is a lot cheaper than a ton of textbooks that may become obsolete in a few years.
on a definitely positive note, the school is using green building techniques. offhand i know it has a green roof, and uses captured rainwater to flush toilets. it should be a positive environmental building since they swiped a chunk of Fairmont Park to build it, and it is about a block from the Philadelphia Zoo.
how often does a Mac need to reboot? seriously..... it's like linux is that respect (as opposed to MS Windows). personally i always have liked the Mac startup chimes. i'm not sure i have ever heard the microsoft windows one. i guess my housemate has his deactivated? i just hear a normal *BEEP* kind of thing when he gets home.
nrrdy people can see that the problem was an issue with Sony's manufacturing. that has little effect on the headlines. basically you are upset with the media and how they are reporting news. yeah, it happens. if it was flaming iPods, i am sure Apple would have gotten more negative attention.
think about it: 1) Dell had to recall many times the number of batteries that Apple did. that just makes it a bigger issue. if Ford recalled 75,000,000 cars and GM recalled 100,000 for the same defective brake pads i am sure Ford would get the headlines. Dell was shipping the batteries for over two years. that's a LOT of machines for them. 2) you may be reading biased blogging sites? 3) Apple does not even use that type of battery in the MacBook/Pro. they now are using lithium-polymer, and not lithium-ion, for the laptops. (li-ion still in iPods though). maybe analysts like that? 4) in terms of fault, i am sure that can be argued forever, and we'll never know the true facts. yes, Sony made the batteries. at what point did Dell or Apple know the issue was serious and widespread enough to issue a recall. did Sony tie them up figuring out which models were at risk? did their own internal management tie up the recall hoping it would go away? did you read/see Fight Club? the whole part about car recalls and why they take so long to happen. yeah...... Apple spent years being dissed for "the flaming powerbook" thing from 1995, that was a battery issue that was resolved before any machines got out to consumers. just for history/fun: http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/5300.shtml 5) if you do some poking online you will see that the Dell recall hot them at a time that Wall Street analysts have been unpleased with them about other issues, including customer service. the estimated $500 million recall is a bad thing for Dell and Sony in a biz sense. both stocks took a (temporary?) hit. 6) it sounds like there may be other manufacturers besides Apple and Dell that got the wonky batteries, but who knows if it will be so large scale.
we designed our own incredibly simply shelves. we are a low budget college radio station that still plays actual CDs and vinyl, as opposed to digital files. one of our members designed these maybe 14 years ago. they allow for easy shuffling because we add about 100 CDs a week to our collection.
not sure if this is quite what you would want, but we have a zillion CDs and these shelves work well. we just keep running out of space to put more. our shelves are basically 8 feet tall (can be as tall as the ceiling allows) and made from 1"x6" wood at whatever length. we left about 8" between shelves for filing simplicity. in our case that works. if you pull one CD to play it, you rotate the CDs next to it 90 degrees so it's quick to file after your show. that shelf spacing makes them fit DVDs perfectly. the original WKDU shelves were built 4'x8x or 2'x8' because the backerboard sheets come in standard 4x8 foot dimensions (needed for the freestanding shelves).
i have made some for my house and some friends. they would be simple to make, or have made. they literally require a saw, router and some nails or screws. they could be made with nicer wood and stained and whatever, or they can be made cheap for under $40 each 4'x8' shelf.
i went to one of the Thursday night screenings and there is no way the crowd would have been sooooooooo rowdy if it were not for the hype. the theater i went to off and on would do 00:01 Thursday night/friday morning showings of new releases. they were usually pretty empty no matter what the film was. they had Snakes on multiple screens, and the theaters were totally packed (almost sold out). kids were chanting things before the film started. they cheered like an opening night Star Wars crowd, though they did not get quiet when the film started. a lot of them were pretty drunk (including the girl next to us that was throwing up). i think it was all the hype instigated by the internet.
i honestly don't think that conventional promotion would get kids that psyched up for a movie that was so goofy. i would have believed that everyone else in the theater knew each other. i think it was more that so many kids were basically promoting it to each other, so it was more.... personal?.... than just seeing billboards and tv commercials.
i had a feeling the movie would have a (relatively) strong opening weekend, and then drop pretty quick. i'm sure that people are picking apart the phenomenon and trying to figure out how to apply that kind of unconventional low budget hype to some other movie/product. i really think a lot of it was a fluke. the name is brilliant, and makes you wonder "what the hell?". i don't think the same thing could be intentionally orchestrated for something like Coke3.0. remember, for a movie you just need each person to "buy" the product once. even if every review out there said it was the worst movie of all time, the opening weekend crowd (especially in this case) was a bunch of kids that don't care what the conventional reviewers think.
my ibook is one of the early dual USB models (chicklet/icebook/whatever). i drag it around everywhere, don't clean my hands carefully before using it etc. i have used it to guide me through fixing things on my motorcycle or car. basically it is exposed to me being less than clean and it has no stains. actually the palm wrest area is probably cleaner than the keyboard and corners of the trackpad because it's easier to wipe off (no cleaning solution).
they did change at least some of the plastic in the ibooks though. i know the outer shells were clear with white paint inside (so you can remove the paint with rubbing alcohol). the G4 ibook is probably the solid white outer shell. maybe the inside plastic changed too?
i do agree with the above poster that some people have drastically different body chemistries. i don't know how a computer manufacturer would test a computer part against all the potential situations. i would think that would be more the job of the people actually selling the plastic? i do not means in terms of blame, but just in terms of them having a durable product.
look at some of the pictures of the stains. people suspect they were manipulated in photoshop to look worse. the color difference between their keyboard keys and surrounding plastic is far far more drastic than any MacBook i have seen in person.
it literally goes from street level down to the store (and back up) and that's it. in theory you really could have a single "GO!" button. it was still broken as of last saturday when i was there... not that i was going to ride it, but the staircase spirals around it so you can't miss it. it is a really nice looking design with the glass stairs and glass elevator under the glass cube. it had to suck for those students being trapped in a transparent fishtank. heh.
as for the store itself, it is really nothing more than a larger version of your nearest Apple store. there is no theater or anything like the other NYC Apple store. they do have a crapload of computers out for people to play with (check email etc). i would expect a ton of the people that come in there do not actually own a Mac. they are either possible switchers, iPod owners, or people looking for free net access.
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the CRT iMac made big the impact though. 1) LCDs were still very expensive and not as common 2) the iMac was relatively cheap for a Mac. it was not the high performance machine, it was great for schoolwork and internet. the things that most people do on their computers. /., but to a lot of people it became a piece of art/decoration as much as a tool to to schoolwork. there is definitely a segment of people that feel that "if i HAVE to own a computer, it might as well look nice".
think of all the translucent colored things that came out following the original CRT iMac. it was "cute" as opposed to beige and ugly. i realize the power of that may be lost on people reading
obviously nice is subjective, but Apple hit it with a lot of people where other companies failed. when the original iMac shipped it was considered a disaster in the making, by techie people, because it lacked a floppy drive. i heard nrrdly fathers argue that exact point to their college bound daughters in computer stores. dropping that dinosaur thinking is what allowed Apple to break out from the 90s slump, while the rest of the industry scrambled to catch up. take that as opinion, but a lot of them came out with "iMac killers". they cared enough to design something specifically to compete with those little gumdrops.
actually Apple really only ships direct from the factory when something is brand spanking new. they even acknowledge this in quarterly earnings reports.... or did when they were more specific as to what models sold how many units. they would say something about how much they made from iBooks and follow it up by explaining that when the freighters with containers full of ibooks show up their profit margin will be a bit higher than when they pay to FedEx every early purchase direct from the factory to your door.
for example i just ordered one of the pretty new iMacs, and it was shipped from California, not Asia. they only came out a few weeks ago, but i guess long ago enough that Apple has *some* stock here. i am pretty sure a lot of resellers are still waiting to get them in volume though.
ahhhhh gotcha. interesting.
i don't use BootCamp, so i was just sharing it between OS X users.
just as data disks for backup. that part kind of sucks. it seems to be a deal they could not make with the TV studios and now movie studios. considering every Mac is available with a DVD burner (except some base models), and includes DVD burning software, that would have been great. maybe it'll be cracked soon enough.
/.?) that those shows (like LOST for example) are viewed many times more for free than sold as downloads. not sure if it is the same comparison. i would hope people that buy the shows watch them more than once? the free versions are only available for streaming and include commercials that i don't think can be skipped. all that aside, it sounds like it is still worth putting the shows up on iTunes. i also guess it was the stepping stone to full movies. the iTunes distribution channel is really optimum for more indie or oddball programs and music that may have a hard time getting distribution to a scattered audience. it's also great for people that are too impatient for mail order.
kind of OT
there are some TV shows available free from the TV station as well as iTunes. i read somewhere (possibly here on
if Apple was really scared... wouldn't they do something to protect their iPod's popularity? wouldn't that be even worse for MS? right now MS has matched the 30 gig iPod price. i would bet their pricing has more to do with the price of the iPod than any other business and manufacturing formulas for profit margin. i am sure they hope to make money on the subscription service too.
to fight back..... Apple could just make their 30 gig a 40 gig for the same price and that would hurt MS (right?). they made the 60GB an 80GB AND lowered the price by $50. so, the new large iPod is 80 Gigs. a few weeks ago they offered 30 and 60 gig models. one can guess the 60 has twice the platter of the 30, so there may be the half-sized drive of the 80 GB model around the corner. just a seemingly logical guess?
honestly.... if the iPod (or some future iPod killer) had AM and/or FM radio in it i would think a good chunk of the motivation would be live info you could not have synced at home. something like weather updates, or sporting events (scores?). really most all of that is available on cell phones now.
personally i listen to the radio a lot, but it's a local non-commercial college station or NPR and that's it. i used to listen to an extinct local FM talk radio station, and since its demise i have not found any other talk station that can keep my interest. i suppose a part of me would like a radio tuner in my iPod, but not enough to buy a different device, or one of the after market FM tuner things (if they still exist?).
other people made good points that, for example, many local commercial stations have less songs in rotation that you could fit on an iPod shuffle. with the internet, radio is not as important as it used to be for exposure to new top 40 hits. a lot of the reason i listen to college radio is to learn about music i didn't know existed.... not to just hear my favorite songs that i already own. i know i am a minority in that one though.
the Mac version lets you select what directory and what HDD you store your music on. in the Mac world it's a selection under advanced options. is it not on the XP version? i have a G4 tower, and always put my MP3s on a separate HDD or at least another partition of a HDD. that way multiple accounts can easily access it, and when i backup my /home directory i do not have to worry about the MP3 repository. worst case scenario means i just have to re-rip CDs. i have never played with XP iTunes enough to look at this stuff, but i am surprised if it's that different.
i would assume for the default setup they envision the family computer that mom, dad and the kids have their own accounts and do not want to look at each other's music. while that idea seems valid for music, i would think people would be more inclined to share movies with the whole family? well.... the kind of movies (Disney) that you can buy from iTMS.... not THOSE kind of movies. i guess we'll see how iTV handles that in a few months.
no, it really sounds better. i assumed it has something to do with the physical process of creating the stamping plates and pressing the vinyl. it's hard to explain. i guess, in a way, if you talk to a guitar player and ask them why a tube amp sounds better than a solid state? it just has that thickness to the sound that, for whatever reason, does not seem to come through with digital? i suppose i could try recording the vinyl with something that has better than CD quality and see what happens. i'm content to accept that vinyl just sounds better for whatever reason. i listen to mostly punk music. music with guitars and real drums and whatnot. maybe some other genres don't matter, but rock seems to.
i know a few people that in the last year or two just got a record player for the first time in a few years and they are going out and buying their favorite albums on vinyl again. they swear it sounds better, and it seems to be more than just nostalgia. there are also people with iPods, so they do like the convenience of being able to take everything with them. i can listen to, and enjoy, pretty lofi recorded music, crappy demos, live tracks whatever. i just really think that the vinyl sounds better.
as for the 100th play. my record player is not a $10,000 crazy one, but it's a copy of a Techniques 1200. it lives in my house, and i don't do DJ tricks, so it works great. it has a well balanced toner arm, and i replace the stylus when it needs it. i also take care of my records. i have played many of my records more than 100 times and they sound a-ok. i also work at a radio station that still plays vinyl and we have records that have had steady play for almost 30 years. the radio station has always used quality record players. if anything the records may have some dust in them and require a good cleaning. ok, the worst thing are ones that were stolen. second worst are ones that were dropped on a hard floor, or rolled over with a chair. that's just mistakes, but otherwise vinyl is really resilient. most people i know replace their CDs more than their vinyl. the durability of the CD seems to make people treat them like cassettes or something and they just don't last. i have CDs much less than 20 years old that have no scratches, but the ink and foil is coming off and they are skiptastic. it's annoying when the CD is out of print now. i'll take a record skip to a CD skip any day!
i don't agree. i have been in a high quality audio listening place (in a sound studio) and listened to the same album on vinyl and cd. both brand new, neither was remastered or anything. the vinyl sounded infinitely better. everyone was shocked at how much better the vinyl sounded. we could control the levels of both so they were the same, no effects on either channel. the vinyl just sounds more full. it was a record i had a hand in releasing so i know that there was no special vinyl mixing/mastering done either.
to add to the mystery, the album was recorded on a Pro-Tools hard disk system. the pressing plants got master CDs. something about the vinyl making process just fills out the sound.
did they fail? or were they just phased out in favor of iTunes (with no overhead costs). we know the big labels hate the idea of a single if they think they can make you drop $18+ for the whole album. when you consider a Madonna album is probably popular for one or two songs, of course they need to figure out how to sell the whole thing. i know that was an early issue with Apple vs the record labels. the big labels had a hard time accepting that people could chose any individual track they wanted off the album. that was supposedly one of the big stumbling blocks for iTMS.
as pointed out, the big labels sold CD singles for $5ish. 7"s still mostly sell for what they did when i was a young punkrocker. $3-$4. with bands like White Stripes, it is a retro kinda thing. maybe they just like 7"s. in the indie/punk/hardcore scene you will often go to a show and see some band you know virtually nothing about. to buy their 7" for $3 or $4 is not a lot of financial commitment (granted these bands often sell their albums for about $10). you get to hear some of their songs and have supported a band.
about 50% of Apple's hardware sales are laptops, and they are going to possibly break a company record this quarter by selling over 1 million laptops. the previous record was last quarter and that was a bit under 800,000. the iMacs are selling well, and the Mac Pro and Xserve finished off the last of the PPC Macs. that should resolve some holdouts. it sounds like the above post explains it that they are not combining PPC and Intel based Mac OS X hits.
l e-laptop-sales-to-push-past-the-million-mark.html
just one source of this:
http://macuser.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/news/93513/app
just to save you some time..... if you look for more info on google you may want to do a -recall if you put in: Apple million laptop
according to some guy i heard interviewed on NPR a few months ago, US citizens have always paid more like (on average) $6-$8/gallon. maybe it was more? i don't remember the guy's name or which show he was even on, but his reasoning was based on hidden expenses. one of the big hidden costs was the money spent for the US military to protect the ports where oil comes from, as well as the shipping channels and whatever else. i guess the US is so paranoid about the oil protection that our military provides protection all over the place, and the rest of the world gets that protection for free. there were some other expenses too. basically his point was that the rest of the world passes those fees on to the purchases of the gallon of fuel, where the USA has everyone pitch in. in the end it may be the same net effect... i don't know. even people who won't drive probably somehow benefit from stuff being transported by trucks or cars.
just an interesting point.....
dammit! all the super top secret information i have sent through their servers!
yeah, there may be some of that sneaky code protected by the DMCA involved? i know some of the after market adapter boxes that make your car's head unit basically think it is talking to a CD changer will display info like track name. i would assume there is some licensing deal going on there? if that is the case, then i guess Apple might just deny the license to somebody making a Zune-iPod adapter plug. who knows.
i read somewhere today that Microsoft claims it will take the Zune 5 years to catch on. i could be a dick and point out that the iPod's 5 year birthday is not for another month (i had to look this up). who knows what the ipod will be like in 5 years, if it even still exists. when you consider 5 years of advancements JUST in terms of data storage and battery size/life.... yikes.
there are a few people that make the interface hardware. http://www.elgato.com/ has been at it for a while. i just saw on a few weeks ago that is the same footprint as a Mac Mini and has the TV tunercard as well as AV in/out. it hooks to the Mini via USB2 or firewire (i think USB2 actually?). sorry i forget the details, but if i remember right it is made by a 3rd party, and support is provided by the people at El Gato (it runs their software). i don't see it on their website though..... hmmmm
there have been some 3rd party freeware apps that will fill in your iTunes album art. some would query ITMS and some used Amazon. it is optional to turn it on when you install/upgrade iTunes. after installed, the option is in the preferences for it to constantly check for missing album art. don't use it if you are paranoid? somebody can scan the traffic if they are curious, but i assume it only looks for missing artwork, not submitting the index of your entire library. that would probably bog things down in a big way.
there was something in a previous version of iTunes that made people initially sketchy. possibly the optional (on by default) links from your artists to the ITMS. if it was that, it turned out to just submit a query when clicked or something.
locally when they first talked about this school it really sounded like M$ was going to pay for a good chunk/all of it. honestly, that scared the hell out of me. it maybe stirred up some vision in my head of the outsourced police department in RoboCop or something..... but it did not sit well.
i am sure the school is teaching kids how to use microsoft products as much as how to use high tech tools (computers) to make learning easier. completely stupid since the software they learn on may not even exist when they graduate college.
i wonder why it keeps being referred to as "the microsoft school of the future" when all they did was throw some advisors for design and setup. they did not contribute and hardware or software, though i am sure we can all guess what software the school is primarily using! the school was paid for by taxpayers, as any public school would be. it is nice that they are not only taking students with the highest test scores (as many urban magnet schools do). they are giving all kinds of students and opportunity to try this new system. yeah, they are almost like M$ beta testers, and as scary as that is..... i am sure the school will be accountable to somebody with some integrity. with the rest of the urban school systems in such hell, this might be a great new thing. of note, the city said the annual operating budget for this school is no higher (per pupil) than any other school in the system. it's quite possible that giving a student one laptop with electronic textbooks is a lot cheaper than a ton of textbooks that may become obsolete in a few years.
on a definitely positive note, the school is using green building techniques. offhand i know it has a green roof, and uses captured rainwater to flush toilets. it should be a positive environmental building since they swiped a chunk of Fairmont Park to build it, and it is about a block from the Philadelphia Zoo.
so your reaction is to post what happened on slashdot?
i got a bed feeling you are getting another talking to right now!
how often does a Mac need to reboot? seriously..... it's like linux is that respect (as opposed to MS Windows).
personally i always have liked the Mac startup chimes. i'm not sure i have ever heard the microsoft windows one. i guess my housemate has his deactivated? i just hear a normal *BEEP* kind of thing when he gets home.
nrrdy people can see that the problem was an issue with Sony's manufacturing. that has little effect on the headlines. basically you are upset with the media and how they are reporting news. yeah, it happens. if it was flaming iPods, i am sure Apple would have gotten more negative attention.
think about it:
1) Dell had to recall many times the number of batteries that Apple did. that just makes it a bigger issue. if Ford recalled 75,000,000 cars and GM recalled 100,000 for the same defective brake pads i am sure Ford would get the headlines. Dell was shipping the batteries for over two years. that's a LOT of machines for them.
2) you may be reading biased blogging sites?
3) Apple does not even use that type of battery in the MacBook/Pro. they now are using lithium-polymer, and not lithium-ion, for the laptops. (li-ion still in iPods though). maybe analysts like that?
4) in terms of fault, i am sure that can be argued forever, and we'll never know the true facts. yes, Sony made the batteries. at what point did Dell or Apple know the issue was serious and widespread enough to issue a recall. did Sony tie them up figuring out which models were at risk? did their own internal management tie up the recall hoping it would go away? did you read/see Fight Club? the whole part about car recalls and why they take so long to happen. yeah......
Apple spent years being dissed for "the flaming powerbook" thing from 1995, that was a battery issue that was resolved before any machines got out to consumers.
just for history/fun: http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/5300.shtml
5) if you do some poking online you will see that the Dell recall hot them at a time that Wall Street analysts have been unpleased with them about other issues, including customer service. the estimated $500 million recall is a bad thing for Dell and Sony in a biz sense. both stocks took a (temporary?) hit.
6) it sounds like there may be other manufacturers besides Apple and Dell that got the wonky batteries, but who knows if it will be so large scale.
we designed our own incredibly simply shelves. we are a low budget college radio station that still plays actual CDs and vinyl, as opposed to digital files. one of our members designed these maybe 14 years ago. they allow for easy shuffling because we add about 100 CDs a week to our collection.
c ts/56B6900B-020D-4A82-9E42-5C8D641E59A2.html
not sure if this is quite what you would want, but we have a zillion CDs and these shelves work well. we just keep running out of space to put more.
our shelves are basically 8 feet tall (can be as tall as the ceiling allows) and made from 1"x6" wood at whatever length. we left about 8" between shelves for filing simplicity. in our case that works. if you pull one CD to play it, you rotate the CDs next to it 90 degrees so it's quick to file after your show. that shelf spacing makes them fit DVDs perfectly. the original WKDU shelves were built 4'x8x or 2'x8' because the backerboard sheets come in standard 4x8 foot dimensions (needed for the freestanding shelves).
i have made some for my house and some friends. they would be simple to make, or have made. they literally require a saw, router and some nails or screws. they could be made with nicer wood and stained and whatever, or they can be made cheap for under $40 each 4'x8' shelf.
some pix here of my home brew version:
http://web.mac.com/johnpaul/iWeb/xjohnpaulx/Proje
i went to one of the Thursday night screenings and there is no way the crowd would have been sooooooooo rowdy if it were not for the hype. the theater i went to off and on would do 00:01 Thursday night/friday morning showings of new releases. they were usually pretty empty no matter what the film was. they had Snakes on multiple screens, and the theaters were totally packed (almost sold out). kids were chanting things before the film started. they cheered like an opening night Star Wars crowd, though they did not get quiet when the film started. a lot of them were pretty drunk (including the girl next to us that was throwing up). i think it was all the hype instigated by the internet.
.... personal?.... than just seeing billboards and tv commercials.
i honestly don't think that conventional promotion would get kids that psyched up for a movie that was so goofy. i would have believed that everyone else in the theater knew each other. i think it was more that so many kids were basically promoting it to each other, so it was more
i had a feeling the movie would have a (relatively) strong opening weekend, and then drop pretty quick. i'm sure that people are picking apart the phenomenon and trying to figure out how to apply that kind of unconventional low budget hype to some other movie/product. i really think a lot of it was a fluke. the name is brilliant, and makes you wonder "what the hell?". i don't think the same thing could be intentionally orchestrated for something like Coke3.0. remember, for a movie you just need each person to "buy" the product once. even if every review out there said it was the worst movie of all time, the opening weekend crowd (especially in this case) was a bunch of kids that don't care what the conventional reviewers think.
my ibook is one of the early dual USB models (chicklet/icebook/whatever). i drag it around everywhere, don't clean my hands carefully before using it etc. i have used it to guide me through fixing things on my motorcycle or car. basically it is exposed to me being less than clean and it has no stains. actually the palm wrest area is probably cleaner than the keyboard and corners of the trackpad because it's easier to wipe off (no cleaning solution).
they did change at least some of the plastic in the ibooks though. i know the outer shells were clear with white paint inside (so you can remove the paint with rubbing alcohol). the G4 ibook is probably the solid white outer shell. maybe the inside plastic changed too?
i do agree with the above poster that some people have drastically different body chemistries. i don't know how a computer manufacturer would test a computer part against all the potential situations. i would think that would be more the job of the people actually selling the plastic? i do not means in terms of blame, but just in terms of them having a durable product.
look at some of the pictures of the stains. people suspect they were manipulated in photoshop to look worse. the color difference between their keyboard keys and surrounding plastic is far far more drastic than any MacBook i have seen in person.
it literally goes from street level down to the store (and back up) and that's it. in theory you really could have a single "GO!" button. it was still broken as of last saturday when i was there... not that i was going to ride it, but the staircase spirals around it so you can't miss it. it is a really nice looking design with the glass stairs and glass elevator under the glass cube. it had to suck for those students being trapped in a transparent fishtank. heh.
as for the store itself, it is really nothing more than a larger version of your nearest Apple store. there is no theater or anything like the other NYC Apple store. they do have a crapload of computers out for people to play with (check email etc). i would expect a ton of the people that come in there do not actually own a Mac. they are either possible switchers, iPod owners, or people looking for free net access.