Sandy McMurray is a long-time technology journalist whose work has appeared in Time, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Sun, Report on Business, Profit, and other sources. Between 1995 - 2002, Sandy wrote a weekly column about technology for the Toronto Sun, and served as Technology Editor for five Sun Media newspapers. He has been publishing on the Web since 1996. Contact:readme@mac.com
AP reports that Yahoo plans to increase the price of its music rental service to $11.99 per month.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Yahoo's low rental prices didn't impress most consumers because the service isn't compatible with Apple's iPod--which boasts about 75 percent of the market for portable players.
"About 90 percent of the (iTunes) music store's success has to do with the devices that it works with," Munster said.
No word yet on whether the introductory pricing brought Yahoo a host of loyal customers.
The Financial Times says Apple has already won the battle for online music dominance, because so many consumers have made an investment in digital music that only works with iTunes and iPod.
Many analysts and pundits claim that Apple will suffer the same fate with its closed systems as it did in the computer business, when the company allowed Microsoft to gain critical mass. That is the gamble in this high-stakes game of controlling the next generation of music distribution.
But as it stands now, Apple has myself and tens of millions of other iTunes users all but locked in. Even if Microsoft comes up with a better system and Sony some day figures out how to design a decent MP3 Walkman, I will not be switching from Apple. I cannot, because those songs I purchased on iTunes can only be played on my iPod. The switching costs are too high now. It is that way for most iTunes and iPod users.
This thoughtful and entertaining rant by Charles Petzold is about programming with your bare hands rather than relying on tools that force you to program in a bad way. Along the way, he writes about the good, the bad, and the ugly of Microsoft's programming tool Visual Studio.
Some observers of our digital lives have noticed the way in which certain applications cause a user to think in very rigid prescribed ways, and these are not good. One of the biggest offenders, of course, is PowerPoint. Start putting what you want to communicate in PowerPoint slides, and everything you want to say is ordered into half a dozen bullet items.
The critiques of technology we see in the movies seem to use metaphors of power or slavery. I think there’s a more proper metaphor for our relationships with much of modern consumer technology, however, and that metaphor is addiction.
Creative Labs U.S. president complains that Apple is responsible for a shortage of flash memory.
"One of the key challenges we face in our MP3 business is an industry-wide shortage of 1GB flash memory," said Craig McHugh, president of Creative Labs, in a conference call with financial analysts. "Industry demand for high-capacity flash memory currently outstrips supply and this will impact availability of our 1G-byte flash MP3 players for the holiday quarter. The shortage of flash memory, according to industry analyst speculation, is primarily a result of a special deal that Apple has secured from a key supplier for the holiday season."
An unauthorized download of Apple's new Front Row software is floating around out there. Although Front Row is available only with new iMacs, the software is not copy-protected, and copies have been made.
Some users have been able to add Front Row to other Macs without any trouble, but others have experienced problems on non-iMacs after installing.
Beware. Remember that the new iMac G5 with Front Row ships with an updated version of OS X. Macs users with previous system software may experience problems with some or all of Front Row.
Still, it's encouraging to hear (and see) that Front Row can run on a Mac mini. I hope Apple will make Front Row available for other consumer machines soon.
After more than a year of speculation and false starts, Australia finally got its own iTunes Store today, with more than a million songs, music videos, exclusive content by local bands, podcasts, etc.
"While the Australian iTunes store has agreements with major record companies such as Warner Music Group Corp., Universal Music and EMI Group Plc. it won't include artists managed by Sony BMG."
I stumbled on Best Ads on TV today. The site is loaded with more than 500 entertaining ads from around the world.
There was a time when AdCritic.com did this (and did it better) -- showcasing entertaining TV advertising from around the world for free. Along with Apple's Movie Trailers site, AdCritic was one of the best reasons to have QuickTime on your computer.
My visit to Best Ads on TV got me wondering whether we might see an advertising showcase section in iTunes. Do you suppose people might even pay to download ads? Hmmm...
If you have ever wanted to have The Dock at the top of your screen, or pinned to one edge of the screen, this is for you.
toPositionTheDock is a tiny app that gives you a few extra options for Dock location. You can, for example, pin The Dock to the bottom-right of the screen, so the Trash can is always in the same place, no matter how cluttered your Dock gets.
Moving your Dock messes with muscle memory, but you'll get used to the new location after a few days.
For the third time in two months, Apple will host a special invitation-only media event today to announce new products. The rumor sites predict new professional hardware and software, including new Power Macs, new pro photo software, and possibly new PowerBooks as well. We'll see.
The run-up to the annual holiday season is always packed with new product announcements, and it's easy for your media message to get lost. So far, Apple has successfully held the spotlight by keeping its products secret until launch day, and by announcing new products at well-timed, high-profile "events." It's like shock and awe for tech journalists.
If the goal is to keep Apple and its products in the public eye for as long as possible, and to build momentum coming into the holiday season, I'd say it's working.
Signal vs. Noise (37 Signals) notes the branding problem presented by adding video sales to the iTunes Music Store.
Although iPod and iTunes are officially "music first" according to Apple, the iTunes Music Store has become Apple's main distribution channel for music and video sales, plus audio books, movie trailers, podcasts, and video casts.
If a new name is needed, what's the best candidate?
"Apple Store" is already taken (both online and retail). "iPod Store" isn't quite right, because it implies the sale of hardware, not media. And "Apple Media Store" is about a clunky as anything I can imagine.
One more thing turned out to be Apple's deal with Disney to sell ABC and Disney Channel programs for $1.99 each.
Why did the event invitation use a picture of red velvet curtains?
I think Tao of Mac was the first to describe Apple's big announcement as "the end of TV as we know it." If the post-announcement buzz is any indication, the deal was a big surprise to almost everyone, including the producers of the ABC shows now on sale via iTunes.
For TV affiliates, Apple's new offering "is really bad," says Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. "You don't get anything. You just get a smaller audience," he says.
Apple's little experiment is evolutionary, not revolutionary. It won't change the entire industry overnight.
But if enough viewers switch to downloads -- and they will, eventually -- it's curtains for the current television distribution system.
The pink Madonna iPod was a no-show, thank goodness, but there were several pleasant surprises at today's Apple media event, including new iPods with video and a new iMac with built-in media center software.
Updated iPod, available in black and white, adds larger screen and support for video content. iTunes store has 2,000 music videos at launch, plus Pixar short films, and -- for the U.S. market only -- TV programs from Disney and ABC.
Updated iMac G5 has built-in digital camera, new Front Row software for quick access to music, video, movie trailers, etc., The new Apple Remote lets you control Front Row from the couch. Apple Remote combined with new Universal Dock accessory gives you remote control of your iPod.
According to Inc. magazine, Apple wanted Cornice hard drives for the iPod mini, but demanded an exclusive deal. Cornice had existing relationships with RCA and Rio, and refused the exclusive offer. And that was that.
"Over a year ago, we set out to create revolutionary updates to our core iPod lineup and last quarter was the final quarter for the older product. We think we did rather well with the prior lineup and believe we will do even better with the new lineup that we have for the holiday season, including the iPod nano and some very innovative new products that we have yet to introduce."
Apple's financial results for Q4 2005 included the highest revenue and earnings in company history, a significant increase in computer sales and continued success for iPod. Details to follow after the conference call.
“We’re thrilled to have concluded the best year in Apple’s history, with 68 percent year-over-year revenue growth and 384 percent net profit growth,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “This is the direct result of our focus on innovation and the immense talent and creativity at Apple. We could not be more excited about the new products we’re working on for 2006.”
“We’re very pleased to report 48 percent year-over-year growth in Mac shipments in Q4, as well as our 10th consecutive quarter of record iPod sales,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2006 which will span 14 weeks, we expect revenue of about $4.7 billion. We expect GAAP earnings per diluted share of about $.46, including an estimated $.03 per share expense impact from non-cash share-based compensation, translating to non-GAAP EPS of about $.49.”
"I'm eager to begin working together with the team at Microsoft," the company's chief executive, Rob Glaser, said during a joint appearance with his former boss and longtime nemesis, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
When you review the details of the settlement, it's not hard to imagine that Microsoft will eventually acquire Real outright and abandon its own music service.
With its last real problem solved, Microsoft can focus on crushing, er, competing with iTunes.
In this environment, it's more important than ever that Safari work as expected on all Web sites, and users' frustration is compounded when the experience is less than perfect (or just less than the experience with Firefox or Internet Explorer).
An 
If you have ever wanted to have The Dock at the top of your screen, or pinned to one edge of the screen, this is for you.
The 
