In 1978, on a cold February day like this one, I sat in my freshman college dorm, forlorn and frustrated. I hadn’t written a song or lyric in months. In breakthrough, this simple poem spilled out from typewriter to paper.
Category: Media
Let’s Eat at the Audio Lunchbox
I discovered a cool, new music site today. I was looking around MusicMatch, which had profiled The Distillers album “Coral Fang.” I listened to the songs first on MusicMatch MX radio; some rad punk. So I checked out the band’s homepage where there was a post about The Distillers going digital, with songs for sale over at Audio Lunchbox.
Audo Lunchbox is a legal download site hawking indie music. Lots of it, and stuff you’d buy from Apple’s iTunes Music Store (that means rights protection) or one of those Windows Media Audio outfits like MusicMatch (that also means rights protection). The problem with the rights-protected (a.k.a. digital rights management) stuff isn’t the restriction on playback (three PC cap for most music) but the compatibility. Apple’s music format and WMA aren’t compatible. The songs usually won’t play in the same media player or portable music player.
Microsoft ADD
Earlier this week, over at O’Reilly Network, Alan Graham posted a rip-rourous blog about Microsoft’s Windows Media strategy. While I don’t agree with all his conclusions, his rat-tat-tat sarcasm had me in stitches. It’s a […]
If You’re Political, Then say So
Should journalists make political contributions? That’s a quandary raised in a today’s Washington Post story by reporter Howard Kurtz. The situation is this: Some news organizations allow staffers—and that includes editors and reporters—to make political contributions. Such contributions could infer bias and so tarnish the contributor’s and/or news operation’s neutrality.
As a former journalist too often disgusted by the news media misbehaviors, I’m in favor of the contributions, as long as there is full disclosure. My reasoning is simple. Reporters, editors, and publishers are people. That means they do have biases and even agendas. But the mask of so-called neutrality often hides the real story behind news stories. I like the idea of those purporting to deliver unbiased news stories and analyses offering readers insight into their political leanings.
Blog Break
I am working on another blog right now, while my 40+ wife dances to Fountain of Wayne’s “Stacey’s Mom.” She can move. It’s a fun song, too.
Microsoft vs Mac Marketing
I want to take a look at just one of the ways Apple, with its puny computer marketshare, out-markets Microsoft. It’s all in the presentation.
Gander at these two websites: Apple’s iLife `04 and Microsoft’s Plus! Digital Media Edition. Each site hawks the respective company’s digital media suite. But, Apple does a much better job making its product enticing. [Update: 10/2009: Links removed because the original websites are gone.]
United Against a Common Enemy
Mac users are singing a happy tune today, following news that HP would redistribute iTunes and the iPod music player. Or are they?
The deal makes plenty of sense for Apple. As one of the top two PC manufacturers, HP would help proliferate Apple’s Fairplay digital rights management (DRM)-wrapped Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) music files, further adoption of the iTunes music player and presumably lead to more sales of iPod.
Not So Fast, Music Suers
Yesterday, news that RIAA lawsuits had cut down file trading broke big headlines. But, I wonder. I’ve been experimenting with most major legal music stores—iTunes, MusicMatch, Napster, and Rhapsody—and wonder how much impact they have […]
My 10-Year PC Anniversary
Ten years ago this month, I bought my first home PC from a friend who built them for a living. Months earlier, I had read a story in what was then called Washington Journalism Review about the coming age of digital journalism. Few people had heard of the World Wide Web when the article published, but San Jose Mercury News and other publications had started appearing on America Online and CompuServe.
That first computer was a whooper for its day: 486 processor, 8MB of RAM, 120GB hard drive, and Windows 3.11. The builder included WordPerfect 6, which was so buggy, I picked up the competitive Word 6 upgrade from my local Staples. My current cell phone, which also runs a version of Windows, has more power, storage, and memory than that first PC.
So, Do Bloggers Prefer Macs?
Longhorn evangelist Robert Scoble has posted the roaringly insightful blog, “Why Do Bloggers Prefer Macs?” Apparently, Macs have big presence at blogging conventions. I’d like to add another reason: Microsoft doesn’t make blogging software. By […]
You’ve Got the Music in You
Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t come out with a Windows version of iTunes as I had hoped. But that’s something the company can add later on, after people really interested in music buy Macs and […]
One Bad Apple
Apple is expected to launch a new online music service on April 28, 2003, that will work with a new version of the company’s iTunes digital music software. Rumors are buzzing loader than a ruptured hornet’s nest about the service. Most people believe Apple will make the new service available for Macs only. But I can’t imagine Apple CEO Steve Jobs is that dumb. If he’s smart, he’ll release an iTunes version for Windows and make a bold move into the digital media market.