Probstisms

Tim Probst
Tim Probst
@Tim@www.timprobst.com

Early adopting super geek, musician, father, resident tech guru.

1,035 posts
4 followers

  • So, Should I Be Excited about This Starbucks Thing?

    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.

  • Why The iPod Halo Effect Was Just The Beginning

    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.

  • Paul McCartney on BBC 1

    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.

  • More Evidence of NBC’s Stupidity

    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)

  • Rubin Knows Music, Not Consumers

    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)

  • Apple vs. NBC Part II

    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.

  • Apple and NBC Having A Bit of A Spat

    There has been a lot of noise bouncing around the Internet this morning that NBC has chosen not to renew their agreement with Apple’s iTunes Store. NBC had to give Apple a 90 day notice to pull out of their deal or it would have renewed automatically at the end of this year.

    I’m not sure if NBC is using this as a negotiating tool or what, but it seems like an awfully dumb move on their part to pull their content from one of the largest digital media retailers in the world. I understand that all of the television and movie studios are experimenting with online delivery, but the iTunes Store is a proven model that works very well for all parties involved. Do you think that NBC would ever pull their DVD box sets out of Best Buy or Wal-Mart stores? That wouldn’t happen in a million years. iTunes Store provides a way for the studios to make money on each individual episode of their shows that they distribute freely over the airwaves. This just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

    read more | digg story

  • Apple and VW to Get Together for iCar?

    I read on Mac Rumors yesterday that Apple and Volkswagen may be getting together to work on integrating Apple products more tightly into VW cars. If this is true, I think it’s a great move by both companies. They both target the same demographic of customers, and they both have the “cool” factor.

    Let’s think about what Apple products would work in an iCar. There will definitely be iPod and iPhone integration. The VW will come with a radio head unit that is completely integrated with the iPod and iPhone. Perhaps the controls will be displayed on a large screen in the center of the dashboard powered by Mac OS X. From that display, the driver can control the phone, music, video, and Internet assuming an iPhone was connected to the car. An iPod would provide music and video. Besides the large dashboard display, each headrest will have its own display, and the displays will be capable of playing different media at the same time. The passengers in the back seat will be able to plug in their headphones and enjoy their very own entertainment.

    Now, just imagine if you and three of your friends jumped into your iCar, and all four of you have your own iPhone. Near each seat is an iPod/iPhone connector so each of you can plug in your iPhone. Not only will the connector charge your iPhone, the driver and front seat passenger will be able to control the media on all of the devices from the dashboard display. How cool would that be?

    Besides iPod/iPhone integration, the iCar will have HD Radio and Satellite Radio built in as well as a GPS system completely integrated with Google Maps. Of course, the interface will have Apple’s normal touch of style so all of the features are easily accessible while driving.

    Integrating Apple’s media products with a Volkswagen has a lot of potential. What do you think the iCar will be able to do?

  • Interesting New Ways to Present Data

    This Is Where We LiveMy day job requires me to wear many different hats depending on the projects that are active at any point in time. One of my main responsibilities is report design and development using the latest and greatest version of Business Objects. Basically, it’s my job to gather and present data in a way that is meaningful and helpful for our clients. I have always been a stickler about presentation regardless of the media so when I develop a report for a client, I want the layout and format of the report to be perfect. I want my clients to be able to look at a report and quickly and easily see how their business is doing. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using graphs to visually display the data.

    I read a post from Smashing Magazine that had some great examples of how companies are getting more and more creative about displaying data. Some of the examples make regular graphs look completely antiquated. My favorite example by far is a 3D map from Time showing the population density of the United States. Readers can easily understand how to read the map, and it is visually stunning. Companies like Business Objects need to be keeping an eye on these great new ways to visualize data so they can add the functionality to their products. I know our clients would love to see their data in new ways like the examples in Smashing Magazine. Very cool and exciting stuff.

    Via (How to Change the World)

  • Hate to Say It, But . . .

    Not that I find great pleasure in saying this, but I told you so! This morning I wrote that I thought Apple would be announcing a special event soon and that they would be introducing new iPods and the availability of the Beatles catalog on iTunes. Well, it looks like I may have been right on with this one. Check out this post from AppleInsider. The media invitation appears to be based on the Cover Flow feature in iTunes so the news is most likely related to the iTunes/iPod/iPhone businesses. The kicker is that Apple used a quotation from the Beatles final press release as the caption: “The beat goes on.” I am so glad I have next Wednesday off so I can keep up with all of the live blogging that is sure to happening.