Recently, Apple announced that 100% of it’s iTunes library will be free of DRM by the end of the quarter. With Amazon and Wal-Mart running a DRM free operation as well, I think it’s safe to start buying music again.What the RIAA never understood is that people WANT to buy music. They just don’t want them ramming restrictions down our throats after we purchase it. That’d be like Samsung telling me what channels to watch on the TV I purchased. Or Audi Honda telling me where to go after I bought my car. Instead of realizing this and trying to fix it, they sue twelve year old girls that bootleg a $20 Pussycat Dolls album and wonder why she’s doing it.
In the end, piracy isn’t to blame for the recently decline in record sales, it’s DRM. Piracy is but a protest towards the RIAA’s shady practices. Services like iTunes, who provide a la carte options or whole albums at very reasonable prices are no doubt the future of this business. Maybe thats why iTunes is now the #1 music store, and after axing DRM will be for a long time. The CD is dead (if you don’t believe me come check out the stack of CD-Rs I bought at Costco three years ago) and the DRM free MP3 shall live on.
Just finished browsing Engadget’s live blog of Apple’s final Macworld keynote, it was the best nap of my life.
Phil “The Schill” Schiller was manning the engine room on this one, as Steve was on the sidelines for reasons I am sure you have read everywhere. Schiller first introduced a much expected new version of iLife ‘09, that adds facial recognition and geotagging to iPhoto, along with compatibility with Facebook and Flickr. iMovie gets a few new tricks up it’s sleeve as well. The new iMovie will have image stabilization, for those shaky camera shots, and visual effects (similar to Photobooth) just to name a few. Garageband ‘09 has a new feature called “artistic lessons” where for $4.99 you get a lesson on how to play an instrument from the people who play them best. Frankly I am a little surprised Sting decided to play the guitar instead of the lute. I don’t really care for this feature but hey, it seems pretty cool and maybe someone out there will love it.
Next up is the new version of iWork, which adds a lot of features to Keynote and Pages. I do like how they have a new Remote app for the iPhone/iPod Touch that will allow you to control a keynote presentation from your handheld. But other than that all the new updates to iWork were boringminor. Apple announced a beta of iWork.com, a sort of Google Docs killer. It will be in beta for a while but be a paid service later on…something Google Docs is not. And if it’s anything like MobileMe get ready for some crazy bugs and crashes.
Shortly after the nap inducing lecture and demo of the new iWork and iLife, The Schill brought us the only hardware offering of the day, the very much expected new 17″ Macbook Pro. This thing is a beast. Check out the specs on the Apple website but make sure you have something to collect the drool. The reason I am not listing the specs here is because I forgot them, and I want to prove a point. The reason I don’t remember it is because my mind was too distracted by all the attention given to the battery. Schiller went in to excruciating detail about how great this battery is, to the point where I really almost hated the battery.
One more thing…
I hate DRM. So when I saw that not only iTunes would be 100% DRM free (8,000,000 songs now, another 2,000,000 by the end of the quarter) but that it would be slashing prices to $0.69 per song, I was amazed. Take that Amazon MP3! This is a major step in the right direction for Apple and iTunes. Being DRM free and competitively priced will definitely keep iTunes at the #1 music retailer spot for a while.
So in the end we didn’t get the iPhone nano, nor the new Mac Mini, nor the nine inch wide iPod Touch. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers. Maybe Steve is saving the good stuff for WWDC?
I have been an Apple user for a little over three years now, and will continue to be an Apple user till my unavoidable end. Apple has always made great, reliable hardware that pushes the envelope in terms of technology and innovation. And for that reason, coupled with my admiration for the company itself I choose Apple. But lately after a few blogs on the matter I, along with other iPhone users still feel a bit left out in the cold.
Since the introduction of the first generation iPhone, Apple has made it clear that it values customer feedback and looks to continue to develop the iPhone around the specific demands of iPhone users. We all begged for GPS functionality and compatibility with a 3G network, and we got it…reluctantly. We asked for third party applications, and we got that too…sort of. In exchange for third party apps we got a closed distribution system with various flaming hoops to jump through before you get your app out there. But hey, I’m not complaining.
What I am complaining about is Apple’s cryptic responses to the addition of some basic features to the iPhone, namely copy & paste and MMS messaging. With each software update, we tend to gasp slightly hoping that when our iPhones boot up again we will have some innovative, multi-touchy way of being able to copy and paste text. Or the ability to send and receive MMS messages without having to log on to that stupid AT&T website with the generated login and password. But alas, as each update passes, we are left high and dry.
As I sit at my local coffee shop (not Starbucks) I see all these Blackberry and WinMo users copy and pasting the night away. When I argue with a Blackberry user about how much better my iPhone is, the question “ah but can you copy & paste?” is the final death blow. The iPhone is like the Death Star, everything is perfect except for that poorly design exhaust port that leads directly to the main reactor. When will Apple finally concede and give us copy & paste?
So far it feels like never. Apple has made it clear that copy & paste and MMS is not their main concern. I know it has nothing to do with the fact that they can’t figure out how to do it. I mean…it’s Apple. They designed a touchscreen phone that changed the world forever, they can’t figure out how to do copy & paste? Or for that matter shoot us an MMS app on our iPhone?
I guess with all of these shortcomings, and the fact that the new Push Notification Server is officially MIA, seeing as though it’s September 2008 release date has come and gone, and gone some more, Apple seems to be dropping the ball a bit. Look, don’t get me wrong, I knew how Apple is, and how Apple lives by this idea that the customer is dumb and we must tell them what to love, but I was hoping that by now, December 2008, we would have some sort of definitive response to our pleas.
With that being said I have made a deadline. If in one year, Apple has not given the people what they want, what they ask for constantly, I will go out and buy a Blackberry Bold (or whatever ridiculous name they have for the next model). I love my iPhone, but I don’t love that my iPhone can’t do what a RAZR can. And the reason I am not at an AT&T store buying a Blackberry Bold now is because of my loyalty to Apple, my curiousity as to what will be in store for the iPhone in 2009, and my current lack of funds. This isn’t a declaration, this isn’t a threat, this is a plea. Please Apple, help a fellow nerd out and show us some update love.
Apple at the stroke of midnight released iPhone/iPod Touch v2.2. The update is greatly anticipated, as not only does it add cool new features, a revamped Google Maps, new Safari, and the ability to directly download podcasts, but fixes a lot of glitches. But before I begin to rant and rave about how this update STILL doesn’t contain the basic features, like MMS, like C&P, we need to keep in mind that we are at Apple’s mercy. So we take what we can get, and we wait for more.
That being said, go download this patch right now. It’s great, fixes the email fetch problem among adding some nice new features. iPod Touch users, unfortunately you guys aren’t getting as much love as we are. You won’t be receiving the nice Google Maps remake, or any of the phone feature updates. Then again just be happy this one doesn’t cost $9.99. Peace Out!
I was writing a great email on my iPhone today. And what would have made it greater is if I could copy and paste it a part of a website in it. I have lived without copy & paste for so long, yet I still yearn for it. It’s like asking me to live life with both arms behind my back. I love my iPhone, I really do. And I am not going to threaten to go to the Blackberry Bold or the T-Mobile G1 (barf) or anything like that. It’s not my style to cut and run. I’ve been with the iPhone from the ground floor up. Now is the time to repay me. You gave us 3G, you gave us GPS, you gave us third party apps. Why not copy & paste? Have we not been faithful? Have we not been loyal?
Please Apple. I beg you, I need my copy & paste now. This is not an angry iPhone user talking, I am not ungrateful. I am just sad, and I figure seeing the economy is bad, and times are rough, you guys could maybe cheer us up with some Copy & Paste. I…along with all the iPhone users of the world, would be fully cheered up. Thank you Your Steveness.
I’ll keep this brief, so as to not go on and on about how amazing this album is. It literally came out today, and it has already become an irremovable album in my CD changer. By the time you hit track 5 this thing almost starts changing your life. You want to run outside and yell at the thunderstorm and have some sort of existential breakthrough. Fantastic album a definite must buy (and I mean BUY, trust me after you listen to it you’ll wonder why they didn’t charge more). Here is a link to iTunes. Enjoy it!
I give today’s Apple event a resounding yawn. Though some of the upgrades were very nice. The event as a whole was a bit bland. And Phil Schiller playing iPod Soccer was such an obvious time filler. As was Jack Johnson.
The Good
New iPod Nano
Photo Source: Engadget
I like the new nano a lot. I think the fact that the iPhone/iPod Touch’s features are bleeding down to the nano is a great thing. Though the new features are nice in regards to the nano, they are things we have already seen. All in all a decent upgrade for the second littlest iPod.
Photo Source: Engadget
The colors are nice too. I am totally feeling the orange one.
iTunes 8 & Genius
Photo Source: Engadget
I am glad they updated iTunes. They are really pushing this Genius thing pretty hard in my opinion. I have yet to download the new iTunes, but I just hope this isn’t some BS feature that I will soon forget about. I will jump back on later and give you an idea of how Genius feels as soon as I use it. Browsing on iTunes 8 looks real nice, though being someone who has a large amount of music, I would most likely stick to the standard view. That grid view looks like it’ll take forever for me to scroll through…again we’ll see.
Photo Source: Engadget
The Bad
iPod Touch Update
This one is pretty straight forward. New, curved look, cleaner interface, blah blah. Comes preinstalled with the App Store (fortunately they aren’t making you pay for that update again). But I was expecting some price cut and was let down. I mean $399 for 32GB’s is still a bit much IMO. The built in Nike+ is great, however I still think this is hardly worth an upgrade from the original.
iPod Classic Update
OK, this one really has me scratching my head. Apple bumped the 80GB Classic to 120GB and eliminated the 160GB all together. I love the 160GB iPod and honestly have about 40GB of free space on it. Now I have to worry if my iPod breaks, that I will be forced to downgrade to a 120GB. People who buy the classic, buy it because it has the space that the other models lack. I’d love to have an iPod touch, but unfortunately it doesn’t accomodate my needs. In the end, when if my iPod breaks, I’d rather go with a 32GB touch. If I am going to be forced to leave some things out, I’d rather leave some more things out and have a touch. All in all a disappointing move in regards to the Classic line.
iPhone 2.1 Update
Steve was VERY vague about this update. He mention it would fix bugs, issues with dropped calls, and app crashes. That’s It. He didn’t mention anything about the Notification Server being part of it, or even anything about anything else expected. Either we will be dazzled on Friday when the update hits or the update doesn’t contain anything we didn’t expect (Copy & Paste) or anything we did expect (Notification Server). The Apple shroud of secrecy still covers this a bit. I guess time will tell, though it seems with the iPhone it’s always a waiting game. “Here is what you want, it’s ready but we won’t give it to you until the end of the week.” Apple no doubt probably testing to make sure it’ll work.
Engadget just broke a new story about an Apple event for the 9th. I always like to write something up before the event, and make some predictions and see if they come true one week from now. This is what I think His Steveness will bestow upon us next Tuesday:
The Expected
A New iPod Nano: This is I think a no brainer. The net has been a buzz with leaked photos and case designs for the new nano. The shots show the alleged new nano going from the chubby short version (that I once hated until I held it in my hand) to a longer, narrower design with a vertical wide screen. It is almost a little Zune like. I doubt they will hold more than 8GBs.
Refreshened iPod Touch: This I think is coming too. The new iPod Touch would probably refreshed a bit to maybe jive with the iPhone a bit. Most important, rumor is Apple is going to debut the 2.1 update on the touch first…then on to the iPhone, so definitely pay attention for that. I would like to see a large capacity iPod Touch (64GB or higher). Though the only way I would consider an upgrade is if it exceeds 160GB (my current iPod Classics’s capacity) which I doubt highly. I do expect however, the Touch will see a major price drop (along with the nano and iPod Classic)
The Not So Expected
iTunes Subscription Service: There has been some buzz on this. I am still sitting on the fence whether I think this will be coming or not. For every reason I think Apple might go for this, there is a reason I think they won’t. At the same time, having access to the iTunes store would be great, I like to keep my music. And I HATE DRM subscription services. I think a lot of Apple users feel the same way, so this may not be so popular.
New MacBooks & MacBook Pros: These are highly expected, though I don’t think they’ll pop up tomorrow. Again, they might so they can take advantage of the holiday season, however I would think to save this for a MacWorld Expo type event. However, if they did debut tomorrow they would be welcomed. I think they will jive to match their new sibling the MacBook Air (my preferred daily driver). I guess only time will tell.
One More Thing…
Steve is notorious for dropping something crazy on us. I have no idea what it could be. It may be the new MacBooks, the subscription service, or maybe even an Mac Tablet (hmmmmmm)? Anyway, if you’d like weigh in. I’d like to see what you all think might go down on Tuesday.
P.S.
One more quick thing. I am in math class so I am typing this out on my iPhone so forgive the typos. I am pretty optimistic that the iPhone notification server will show itself in some way on the 9th. It might not go live but I think we definitely will be getting some details and a hard release date. That would be great…AIM sucks without it.
For a price that is. This broke on TUAW today about how there was a rumor coming down the rumor pipe about Apple offering access to half the music library for a flat fee ($129.99) and bundling that with Mobile Me in some way (hoping Mobile Me…you know works when this happens). I think this is a definite step forward down a dead end path. This is obviously some way to appease the RIAA, who is rather perturbed about the .99 cent price points on the iTunes store, and the fact that iTunes sells albums 3 to 5 dollars cheaper than any place that sells CDs. Steve is no doubt on the high horse here. He has a product refresh coming up for his iPod line, and I am willing to be that he is secretly hoping this would fail. Because frankly I think people that use iTunes, audiophiles who not only value the high quality but the ease of use, want to OWN their music. I want my music to be MY MUSIC. I don’t want my music to suddenly end after the subscription up.
Honestly, the failure of this Apple service would be a hug slap in the face to the RIAA. The RIAA needs to wake up and realize that stopping piracy is not about DRM software or strong arming carriers to block large bandwidth download to stop torrents. They will stop piracy when they make their involvement with music end at the point of sale. Price those songs reasonably, price them fairly, give people an a la carte option and completely eliminate DRM. I don’t want to download an mp3 that I can only burn 8 times. People burn a lot of mixes and stuff. Thats unfair. I bought that song and if I want to burn it on 1,000 CDs and litter the streets with them I can. But the RIAA wants to squeeze every single penny out of every single track. Will they learn? Probably not. They will continue fighting this, the consumer will continue to resent them and find new ways of getting all their product out for free and the world will keep turning. Steve Jobs knows this, I wouldn’t put it past the man who has single handedly started one of the most innovative companies on the planet to not know this. But the RIAA is slowly hanging itself. A lot of artists are signing with Indie labels and releasing their stuff at competitive prices (like free…) and are sticking it to the man in their own way. Peace Out.
I had sent my iPod in for service after it was having trouble connecting to iTunes. Normally this would surprise me, but this time…I saw it coming. I had really given this iPod a beating, more of a beating than any other. I had chipped away at it’s painted aluminum in a few places, and I even dented the casing here and there. It was by far the most resilient one I had, we had been through many wars together. Many washed cars, many falls, many good times listening to good music. It had serenaded many girlfriends, it had entertained many family members during long road trips. But now, it’s time for you to rest. My unusual amount of abuse, and your predisposition to break in crazy ways has finally led to your demise. I have missed you…for the 10 minutes it took the rude Best Buy customer service rep to look up my extended warranty and give me a new…silver one. Peace Out Bat Pod.
I totally caved, and in the worse possible way no less.
I did the line at the Aventura Apple Store. It wasn’t terrible though, I think the entire experience lasted about an hour. I waited in line and made friends with some people and we bonded in our nerdyness. As new people walked in, the Apple employees would start to clap and cheer excitedly, as if they were making a dollar off of every iPhone sold. With the entire store being white and very brightly lit it kind of made me think that this is what would it be like when I arrive in Heaven. I almost cried. After finally making it inside I sat for a minute while I waited for an Apple employee to hook up my new iPhone. I decided to go with the 16GB in black. The white looked VERY nice however, I am not big on holding a big white phone to my face. Even though you can’t see the smudges as clearly. Whatever, they hooked it up and I was on my way.
Once I got home I synced it up, and started fiddling around with it. The 3G is blinding fast. It definitely supplements the apps well. The GPS is spot on too, even though you have to be outside to really use it. The only qualm I have with it is that it is a MASSIVE battery hog. I mean seriously, I am not going to be to quick to bash yet because I haven’t really broken the battery in yet, I am still in the process. I charged it last night to full, unplugged it at around 10 pm. With moderate use and it running on just 3G (WiFi, Location Services, and Bluetooth off.) it’s about a little less than half way used. I don’t think that it is the phone, but rather the software itself. I remember when the EDGE iPhone had just been released it was a battery hog as well. After a few updates, and a nicely conditioned battery everything was right as rain. This should be no different. After loading the 2.0 software on the EDGE iPhone, I noticed it too ran out of battery quickly. Other than the the phone is excellent, and in my totally unbiased opinion worth the upgrade. 3G makes this phone work better. Mail (coupled with MobileMe) is much more fluent and reliable, and Apple despite not including copy & paste and MMS added a few other minor details I missed. Such as the ability to change the email address you are sending an email from in the compose window, this is helpful since I have more than one address. Also I like that you can save pictures and attachments now, a very missed feature.
Another thing that makes the iPhone 2.0 great is the App Store. It’s really nicely executed and has I believe about 500 or so apps with more to come. While I am waiting for Spore, I found these apps pretty cool…
AIM (FREE): Of course, this is a much anticipated app. It works really well over 3G though it can be a bit buggy, then again most early software is, so be cool.\
Facebook (FREE): This app is pretty good. It could have been great if it included stuff like wall posting, and album viewing, much like the web app did. I say, download this for your inbox and chat, and keep the web app around for everything else.
iTunes Remote (FREE): This allows your iPhone to control your iTunes or AppleTV. Freaking awesome, I love it.
Big Tipper ($1.99): This is the mack daddy of tip calculators. And at $1.99 it’s not terribly over priced.
Pandora (FREE): Basically this is the app to stream Pandora to your iPhone. It’s good, though I wish it would let you use it while you used another app.
Shazam (FREE): This is a nice app that can identify a track by listening to it. I heard that they may, down the road, charge a monthly fee for this, so take advantage now.
Urbanspoon (FREE): This one is a nice add if you can never decide what to eat when you go out. It’s like a magic eight ball but that gives you restaurant suggestions. Trust me, that’ll make sense once you use it.
BoxOffice (FREE): A nice movie times app.
Super Monkey Ball ($9.99): OK, I will admit this is a bit much to pay. But I love Super Monkey Ball. And you will too.
Tap Tap Revenge (FREE): Guitar Hero had a love affair with Dance Dance Revolution. This is their unplanned child.
Bloomberg (FREE): If Stocks didn’t already exist on the iPhone, I would totally have this. This is for the hardcore economics nerd.
So all in all, I love the iPhone 3G. Sure it has it’s problems, but the great thing about it is that it has plenty of room to grow, and plenty of changes to be made. With it’s support for exchange and MobileMe, it is now a great Blackberry alternative. And App Store will ensure that the iPhone will have an endless supply of fresh new apps that take advantage of all it’s abilities. Peace Out.
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Apple at the stroke of midnight released iPhone/iPod Touch v2.2. The update is greatly anticipated, as not only does it add cool new features, a revamped Google Maps, new Safari, and the ability to directly download podcasts, but fixes a lot of glitches. But before I begin to rant and rave about how this update STILL doesn’t contain the basic features, like MMS, like C&P, we need to keep in mind that we are at Apple’s mercy. So we take what we can get, and we wait for more.
I’ll keep this brief, so as to not go on and on about how amazing this album is. It literally came out today, and it has already become an irremovable album in my CD changer. By the time you hit track 5 this thing almost starts changing your life. You want to run outside and yell at the thunderstorm and have some sort of existential breakthrough. Fantastic album a definite must buy (and I mean BUY, trust me after you listen to it you’ll wonder why they didn’t charge more). Here is a link to 
