Month: September 2007

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At the special Apple event on Wednesday, Apple introduced a collaboration with Starbucks. Basically, if you go into a Starbucks Coffee shop with an iPhone, iPod touch, or laptop running the latest version of iTunes, you will be automatically connected to the iTunes Store and Starbucks Now Playing content for free. Really, how many times have you walked into a Starbucks and wondered what song was playing? Now, you can buy the song right from your iPhone, iPod touch, or laptop.

The announcement was pushed to the side by most of the media, but this partnership has huge potential. Let’s think for a minute about other restaurants that play music as part of their concept. Two that come to mind immediately are Chipotle and Potbelly Sandwich Works. Surely other restaurants will want to get in on the action.

If we take this a step further, where else do people listen to music while they may have an iPhone or iPod touch with them? Now, concert venues of all shapes and sizes come into the picture. It would be pretty cool if while you were at a place like the House of Blues listening to a concert, you could buy the song being played or perhaps even the entire album from the artist. This is especially true of opening acts that just blow you away.

Apple and Starbucks may have started something truly revolutionary with this new partnership.

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As a long time Apple computer user, it is sometimes hard for me to understand why Windows users are so afraid of giving a Macintosh a chance. Working in a Windows world, I have had countless conversations with co-workers about which computer they should buy next, and, of course, I always suggest they should buy a Macintosh. This statement is always countered with the normal Mac-bashing comments: “They’re more expensive,” “I don’t know how to use one,” “There’s no software.” When you think about it, Microsoft has done a fantastic job at convincing the world that these comments are actually true. When I hear comments like this, I often go into my usual speech about how Macs are competitively priced with Windows computers of the same quality and because Macs use the same processors as Windows
machines, it is possible to run Windows and all of their favorite Windows applications if they really want to. This information is usually received with a bit of shock as if it’s the first time they have ever heard it. Occasionally, someone will come back and thank me because they went with a Mac and will never go back. What a great feeling it is to save yet another soul from Microsoft.

I do have to say that the iPod has made these conversations much easier over the last five years. Now, people usually come to me and say, “Hey, I really love my iPod. Is a Mac this easy to use?” Gladly, I can answer this question with a resounding “Yes!” I have no doubt that people are buying Macintosh computers for the first time because the iPod has given them a glimpse into why Mac users are so loyal to their computers. iPod users see the ease of use, they see the attention to detail, and they see the high quality of the product. The iPod Halo Effect is clearly working.

With the introduction of the iPhone and now the iPod touch, Apple has made it even easier for millions to see why a Macintosh is so easy and fun to use. On each one of those little devices is Apple’s Trojan Horse, Mac OS X. Without even knowing it, iPhone and iPod touch users are enjoying the benefits of an operating system built to just work. Like the iPod before them, every one of those iPhones and iPod touches is a portable demonstration of the power and ease of Mac OS X. As Apple introduces more products based on OS X, it will become clearer and clearer for more consumers that Apple truly makes the best computing products available today.

The iPod was just the beginning. The iPhone and iPod touch have kicked the halo effect into high gear.

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So, Fake Steve Jobs says that Apple will change the world all over again today. Even though I know he’s fake, he gives a sweet little tidbit of information on his blog this morning. Paul McCartney will be doing some sort of announcement at 10:00 AM PDT. Is it just coincidence that this is exactly the same time Steve Jobs will be starting the Apple special event in San Francisco? I think not! Go out and get your free trial for Sirius radio and listen in a little less than an hour.

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I’ve already written about the silliness going on between Apple and NBC here and here. Now, NBC and Amazon announce that NBC’s shows are now available through Amazon Unbox. Let me paint the picture for you. Shows like The Office are available for $1.99 per episode and can be played on two PCs (Windows) and two portable devices (PlaysForSure) at the same time. The shows can also be downloaded directly to networked TiVo devices. You can download entire seasons at discounted prices. Does all of this sound familiar? This is basically the same pricing that we saw on the iTunes Store.

So what’s the big difference here? Well, with iTunes, you can play the shows on five computers and any number of iPods at the same time. Is this possibly what NBC was complaining about when they decided to not renew their contract? So, they basically went from iTunes which runs on virtually 100% of personal computers and the iPod which holds over 70% of the digital media player market to a Windows only Amazon application and PlaysForSure devices which account for less than 30% of the market. How in the world did NBC think they were making the right decision here? This seems like an enormous step backwards to me. This has to be a bargaining ploy by NBC to try to get Apple to let them tighten up the number of devices on which their content can be played. Because the pricing is the same, this has to be the sticking point between Apple and NBC.

Via (TechCrunch)

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The New York Times ran an article in The Times Magazine on Sunday about Rick Rubin. For those of you who don’t know who Rick Rubin is, he is a legendary music producer that has been around the block with the likes of LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Johnny Cash. Rubin recently took on the challenge of leading Columbia Records with Steve Barnett. For the sake of a great record label like Columbia Records and the sake of the music industry in general, I hope Rubin is successful at transforming Columbia into a new kind of label.

In his interview with The Times, he made some comments about how the future of music was going to be a subscription model. I cannot disagree more with Rubin on this point. It has been proven time and again that consumers have little to no desire to rent their music. The success of iTunes provides enough evidence for most to understand this. Music is a very personal thing. Music stirs emotions. Music brings back memories of certain times in your life. Who would want to rent something that important? This is the fundamental difference between music and video, and this is why all subscription based music products have failed to date.

People want to own their music, period. There is something to be said about flipping through your old albums to find something you listened to in high school or college or when your kids were born. Who would want to pay subscription fees for decades to be able to relive memories like that? Let’s hope Rick changes his mind and leads Columbia in the right direction.

Via (CrunchGear)

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A couple days ago, I first wrote about the spat between Apple and NBC over iTunes pricing and policies. A couple press releases have gone back and forth with the two companies basically blaming each other for the contract problems. At this point, it’s really difficult to believe who’s being honest with the public. The biggest problem with the whole situation is that now that the two companies have started fighting in public, it will be even more difficult to come together for an agreement that makes it look like both companies win. Let’s hope that both companies make the best decision for the consumers who have come to rely on buying episodes from iTunes when they miss them on television. It doesn’t make any business sense for Apple to block NBC shows from being on iTunes, and it doesn’t make sense for NBC to not sell their shows on the best digital media store on the Internet. I have to agree with The Unofficial Apple Weblog on this one. The two companies will come together and come up with an agreement before the end of the year. Nothing else makes any sense.