Cult of Mac

So I just woke up and see that Apple is offering about a dozen new TV shows for download from NBC, USA Network and the Sci Fi Channel. Sorry for being the last person on the Net to post this.

The new shows include:

NBC’s “Law & Order,” “The Office,” “Surface,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,”

the USA Network’s Emmy Award-winning “Monk”

Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica”

classic TV shows including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dragnet,” “Adam-12” and “Knight Rider.”

Pricing is a bit weird. Entire episodes of “Law & Order” cost $1.99, but so does a 10-minute clip of Conan O’Brien.

CNET:

The Princeton researchers that have done much of the work deconstructing SonyBMG’s recent controversial copy protection software have found an interesting new tidbit. According to their new findings, the Sony software had a hidden component that could convert songs from the CD, or other ordinary MP3s, into a file compatible with Apple’s copy protected FairPlay format.

That would mean that the songs could be played on iPods, which hasn’t been the case with copy protected CDs in the past. It apparently accomplishes this by using open-source, yet copyrighted code, a practice deemed a no-no in programming circles.

It’s not yet clear how this came about. Record labels have hoped to establish compatibility with the iPod for their copy protected CDs for some time, and EMI Music has even said that its CDs are close to reaching that point. Apple, for its part, denied EMI’s contention.

This is a big deal:

Britain’s independent music labels are about to make music available for podcasts, reports the BBC. Britain’s indie acts include Franz Ferdinand and The Prodigy.

Songs by acts signed to UK indie record labels are to be made available to podcasters on a trial basis.

The Association of Independent Music is selling six-month worldwide licence deals for its members’ music to be used on download radio programmes.

… “We believe there will be huge global demand for the AIM podcast licence,” (said an AIM spokeswoman)

As one of the BBC’s interviewees points out: “I see podcasting and subscription services as playing a big role in where the music consumer wants to go.”

Steve Wozniak:

My best computer prank involved counterfeiting twenty thousand brochures for a phony computer. I did it at the West Coast Computer Faire, where the Apple was introduced.

Bruce Damer’s ever-excellent Digibarn Computer Museum has a scan of Wozniak’s proudest prank.

What’s the most expensive Mac money can buy?

According to Gadget Madness, it’s a “2.5Ghz Quad-core PowerPC G5 with 16GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, Quadro FX 4500 graphics card with 512MB of memory, 16X dual-layer Superdrive, and two 30″ Apple Cinema HD displays.”

Cost — a cool $24,000 — but shipping is free.

UK blogs Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny have named the iPod Shuffle as this year’s “Must Chav Gadget.”

A chav is slang for a member of Britain’s “peasant underclass” — a lowlife, in other words.

Says Tech digest:

The shuffle is perfect for chavs. It’s cheap. It’s by a cool brand, and you can let others know you have one as it is designed to be worn round your neck. As it is white it also accessorises well with those classy gold chains Chavs wear. The sad part is that the shuffle is the worst player in the Apple range — more like some dodgy back street knock-off than the excellent other iPods. The fact it has no screen so you can’t program it or choose a track — it chooses the music for you — also saves Chav brain cells for the much more important business of, ahem, pimping their rides.

Second prize went to the Motorla Razr — “standard fixture for every Tom Dick and Chav.”

The New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen “podcast” as the Word of the Year for 2005.

Podcast will be added to the next online update of the dictionary in early 2006.

EIC Erin McKean said, “Podcast was considered for inclusion last year, but we found that not enough people were using it, or were even familiar with the concept. This year it’s a completely different story. The word has finally caught up with the rest of the iPod phenomenon.”

The runners-up included:

bird flu
IED
lifehack
persistent vegetative state
reggaeton
rootkit
squick (“cause immediate and thorough revulsion”)
sudoku
trans fat

Here’s a cheap way to boost the range of your Airport Express Wi-Fi base station: stick it inside a steel wire-basket ladle.

This idea is to put the Airport Express in the middle of the parabolic kitchenware. In other words to make a kind of a passive wifi antenna enhancer. Et voila!

… Positioning this area of the AE in the focal point of the parabola with some sticky tape can even marginally improve the range extension. You could also use a bigger chinese kitchenware.

(Via MacBidouille)

Apple’s mega Cinema Display is to about get some competition: Dell is prepping its own 30-inch flat panel, according to a post on the NeoWin forums.

I’ve no idea how reliable the post is, but it says the monster monitor will ship four days before Christmas, have WQXGA resolution (2560 x 1600), two DVI-D links and one HDCP port.

The big question though is price — will it be a lot less than the $2,500 Apple charges?

Unlike Sony, which is using fake graffiti to promote the PSP, this iPod graf from New Zealand appears genuine.

Think Secret says at Macworld in January Apple will unveil an online media distribution system for streaming tons of content to the living room, including feature-length movies.

One of the analysts interviewed wondered whether the Mac mini, which Think Secret says will be revamped, could be based on Intel’s new Viiv platform, a set of branded chip technologies for home entertainment devices.

Among other things, Viiv (which rhymes with “five”) provides a secure platform for sharing copy-protected media among devices in the home, as well as out of it — like loading TV shows on handhelds and laptops, for example.

Intel has been busy signing up dozens of partners in consumer electronics, as well as Hollywood and the music biz, according to the WSJ (registration required). Tivo is a partner, as is British Sky Broadcasting and Movielink, a joint movie-download service from five major movie studios.

Viiv works with Microsoft’s Media Center and the upcoming Windows Vista, but could Apple also be involved, basing the new Mac mini on Viiv?

Either way, publications like the Enquirer and Hardware Analysis, think Viiv is bad news for consumers.

The technology will allow content to be locked down, limiting what consumers can do with movies or music they buy in digital format, even if it’s within their “fair use” rights.

In addition, “unauthorized” hardware like homebrew Linux boxes will be locked out of the legitimate digital content market. As I suggested before — this is the real reason Apple is switching to Intel — so that it can sell copy-protected digital entertainment securely online.

It may not be all doom and gloom. Intel says Viiv will play unprotected content.

According to the WSJ: “With Viiv, Intel tried to make sure that consumers can still use unprotected content — such as CDs they rip — as they can now, Mr. Corbett said.”

But note the telling phrase: “Intel tried to make sure that consumers can still use unprotected content.”

Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be giving the first of three short talks in the Bay Area about my new book, Cult of iPod.

The talk will be a brief intro to the book and what it’s about: fast-growing iPod culture.

The other appearances will be at the Stanford Bookstore in Palo Alto on Dec. 8 at 2pm — where there’ll be a raffle of an iPod Shuffle — and Borders San Rafael on Dec. 10 at 7pm.

Here’s the details of Saturday’s event:

LOCATION/TIME
Borders Books (Stonestown) Details and MAP
415.731.2025
255 Winston Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94132

Sat 12/03/05 (4:00pm)

Hope to see you there.

Skwat is a Belgian T-Shirt designer who sells a range of Apple-themed “Wear Different” t-shirts featuring Japanese anime-style characters.

The shirts depict chibi iPod users giving the thumbs up, and Steve Jobs holding an iMac. There’s even Jobs and Steve Wozniak holding an early Mac.

The site (Flash — eugh) allows you to send some of the images as e-cards.

(Thanks Michael Agustin)

This bed from New Zealand has a built-in iPod dock. It’s billed as “the world’s first iPod compatible bed.”

Of all the attributes of a bed, iPod compatibility is about the last thing you’d look for, I’d think. But it’s actually quite handy if you use the iPod’s sleep timer and alarm.

Most of all it illustrates the iPod’s incredible impact on audio — the bed is now another iPod accessory!

Says the website:

“Optional accessories include a minimalist side lamp and aluminium tray, but perhaps the most exciting feature is how the shelves can seamlessly accommodate an iPod and Bose speaker system.”

(Via MacFeber)

If you’re worried about iPods selling out over the holidays, consider the alternative: a fantastic book about iPods and iPod culture — Cult of iPod.

And if you order it here, I’ll autograph the book and write a personal inscription to its lucky recipient. Just fill out the “Your Inscription Here” box on the Paypal order page.

Author Jim Heid has just posted a very nice review.

Earlier this week marked 20 years since the premiere of Windows 1.0.

Microsoft has been surprisingly quiet about the anniversary, except for a couple of things in Japan.

Over at Download Squad, there’s a list of 20 things you didn’t know about Windows 1.0.

One of the things on the list is that Bill Gates wanted to call the operating system “Interface Manager,” but was persuaded by marketing exec Rowland Hanson that Windows was the way to go.

(Via Maximac.se)

Coverbuddy is a program that lets you navigate your iTunes library via album artwork rather than lists of songs or artists. It’s nice, but pretty useless.

But now a new version of the software allows iTunes to be accessed via any web browser, including the browser on the Sony PSP, which turns the little game machine into a remote for iTunes.

The FluffPod is now available for the iPod nano, its NYC manufacturer announced:

Slip into something more comfortable.

Fluffpod nano comes in two silky bright colors, a fabulous white and luscious pink. Both feature super silky soft satin lining and a poofy soft fur top.

If you don’t get an iPod this Christmas because they’re all sold out, download and print out this gorgeous paperPod.

This Japanese site also has a charming classic Mac.

LaCie’s newest hard drive is a 500GB brick — literally.

The $400 hard drive is shaped like a Lego brick, and is stackable to boot.

Available in late December, the USB 2.0 drive will be available in a range of capacities, starting at 160GB for $120.

Crafted by the world-famous designer Ora-Ito, the new Brick expresses a ludic playfulness in a user-friendly high-performance hard drive. Stack & Play multiple LaCie Bricks together to brighten your desktop and your mood.

Microsoft’s MSN site suggests websurfers using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the Mac switch to another browser!

Fire up that dusty old copy of Explorer and — if you haven’t changed the default homepage — you’ll be greeted by a message at MSN that says:

“If you are using Internet Explorer for Mac, we recommend that you use another browser to have an optimal experience of MSN.”

Of course, Microsoft stopped updating Explorer in 2003, shortly after Apple released Safari.

It looks like Microsoft’s done an Apple with the XBox 360. Of all things, the standout feature in early reviews is not the graphics, but the user interface.

That’s surprising, given Microsoft’s reputation for astonishingly crappy interfaces.

In a discussion of the UI, BusinessWeek concluded: “Microsoft certainly seems to have done just about everything right.”

Wired News said: “What’s impressed me most thus far about the 360 is how it streamlines and refines the user interface.”

And Columnist John Dvorak said: “The Xbox 360 explores new menu structures with a unique and pleasant GUI… I have not seen a hardware/software system this well thought out for a decade or more.”

According to a press release, the UI was developed by a UK consultancy, Akqa, and was perfected using good-old usability testing:

To arrive at the new Xbox 360 player interface, Microsoft and AKQA formed a multidisciplinary team of user experience, interaction design, user insight and behavior specialists, who built several functioning prototypes, working hand-in-hand with the Xbox 360 industrial design team. In-depth testing of the prototypes followed, with immersive workshops, usability sessions and interviews with customers taking place worldwide. The prototypes were then refined and re-tested.

BetaNews has a bunch of screenshots, and it does look surprisingly clean and uncluttered.

This is a new player for Windows called Songbird. Recognize the layout?

It seems that they copied iTunes — and there are even links to music stores like Amazon in the player. A wild guess is that it works, and is intended for players other than the iPod.

Songbird.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched an illustrated podcast showcasing art in its paintings collection.

The podcasts feature reproductions of the art with commentary from curators and other art experts. The first episode tells “all about Botticelli and his wombats.” The V&A claims it’s the first podcast published by a UK museum or gallery.

“There are often audio guides for special exhibitions, but there tends to be a paucity of guides for existing collections, so this is a way to bring them to life,” Susan McFarland, editor of the V&A’s PR website, told 24 Hour Museum.

(Via MacWorld UK)

On Kroll’s Blog:

While I was at the Apple Store last night with my girlfriend getting my nano, some guy brought his old Mac in because he thought it was time to “upgrade”. He had been doing his banking on that machine since he got it, using quicken or something. This mac classic came out in 1990, had 1meg of RAM, and a 8mhz processor!

The machine appears to be a Mac SE, which came out in 1987 — making it almost two decades old. That’s a long time to be using the same computer.

When I was in New York a few years ago, I spent an afternoon at Tekserve, a big Mac repair shop in Chelsea.

While there, a couple of people bought in classic Macs for repair, and there were several on the shelves waiting to be picked up. I was surprised there were so many. Tekserve’s owner said they belonged to the many writers in the neighborhood, who considered them perfectly functional for scribbling on.