Date Archive > October 2004
October 29, 2004
Geek Emails CBS
In perhaps what is my geekiest act ever, I used the CBS.com contact form to send them a note. You see, I'm a big fan of Survivor - not reality TV in general mind you, just the show Survivor. It's something about wondering what they're using to wipe their butts that piques my interest. Anyway, this is the message that I sent them:
Regarding the talk show Survivor Live: I would be interested in listening to it. I have two suggestions to make it more popular. (1) Put it into Quicktime or Windows Media format. Realplayer is really not that good and many people don't like to even install the software on their computer. (2) Podcast it! Make the audio available in mp3 format, or even better, provide an RSS feed for it.
I'm sure the development team has jumped into action.
Category: Not directly iPod related… | Comments (0)
October 21, 2004
Steve Jobs Comments on the iPod Supply for the Holiday Season
At a recent appearance to open a new mini store in Palo Alto, California, Steve Jobs had this to say:
"We've taken our best guess, and we're building a lot, but the demand may be even larger... So if you want to be sure to get an iPod this holiday season, I'd get one soon."
Sure, some of that is marketing hype designed to sell more merchandise, but since demand has outstripped supply before (remember when the mini came out?), this could be an honest protrayal of Apple's position.
Category: News | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
Do You Have What it Takes to be in an iTunes Commercial? (and no, I’m not talking about Saint Vitus’ Dance)
Craigslist Los Angeles lists a casting call for dancers for an upcoming iTunes commercial. They're looking for people who enjoy listening to their iPod and appear monochromatic when filmed in silhouette.
Category: Culture | Comments (0)
MP3 Format Still Favorite
CNET reports that the MP3 format is losing some of its popularity to other music file formats. This is not surprising, with Apple embracing the AAC and Microsoft pushing its WMA format. Down from 82% a year ago to a still dominant 72%, the MP3 file format will probably stick around for years to come.
BTW, I promise never to put the verb rip into quotes.
Category: News | Comments (0)
October 12, 2004
Has the iPod following gotten this big already?
Wired has posted a thoughtful and well written article about how some people resist the idea of being part of the iPod crowd. Like any movement or group, there are those that feel the need to set themselves apart from the crowd. Well, I'm not going to rehash the whole article (I wouldn't do it justice anyway). Personally, I enjoy how the iPod is a conversation starter and I enjoy talking to people about it (you never would have guessed, right?)
Category: Culture | Comments (0)
October 06, 2004
South Africa Gets their Own Music Download Site
SAmp3.com has launched to track South Africa's online music charts and present sample tracks for listening. Any place that features artists with names like Helmut and Deepak is pretty cool in my book.
Category: Not directly iPod related… | Comments (0)
October 05, 2004
AT&T Wireless Launches Really Lame Mobile Phone Music Store
The music/mobile phone relationship is in its infancy and we'll have to wait to see how it develops. However, this weak entry by AT&T called the mMode Music Store does not bode well. The facts: You have to have an mMode-enabled cellular plan. You must have an AT&T e-Wallet account. The mMode store has over 750,000 tracks priced at .99 cents each. You can use the store from either a phone or a computer. Tracks ordered with the phone must them be downloaded from a computer. Music tracks are in WMA format.
Sam Hall, AT&T Wireless' vice president of mMode Services says, "From our view, it really turns the mobile phone into kind of a remote control for buying music." Um, unless I'm missing something here, buying a track on my phone then having to go to my computer, access the web site, download the track, then sync the phone is not making things any easier.
Category: Not directly iPod related… | Comments (0)
October 04, 2004
Sweaty Steve Ballmer says, “The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen.”
Speaking at a press conference (of all places you'd guess that he would think before speaking) Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, inferred that iPod users are thieves and the iPod is the tool of choice for these devil-worshipping, soul-steeling music lovers.
As if that wasn't insulting enough, he went on to state, "Most people still steal music... We can build the [DRM] technology but there are still ways for people to steal music."
Well, if he was going to say something stupid again, I'm glad he did it in a room full of reporters at least.
Category: News | Comments (2)
