FT.com — Music labels ask Apple to adopt subscription:

The world’s biggest music companies are expected to ask Apple to introduce a music subscription service to its iTunes digital media store as part of negotiations to renew their agreements with the computer company.

Ars Technica — Why Apple can’t sell movies:

There are at least five problems the Apple TV alone cannot solve for the iTunes Store:

3. Access: At present, there is no option to rent movies on the iTunes Store, and, unlike music purchases versus subscription services, renting movies is a preferred method of consuming content. Further, purchasing movies through the iTunes Store still requires a computer, rather than direct shopping using the touted Apple TV.

Webomatica — Apple iTunes: Music Subscription No, Movie Subscription Yes:

If Apple is even remotely thinking about offering iTunes Store subscriptions for its music, I really hope they don’t – and instead apply the subscription model to iTunes Movies instead.

Two news nuggets suggest the Beatles catalog is getting close to release online:

Yesterday Reuters reported that Neil Aspinall, the long-time head of Apple Corps., had stepped aside:

A combative, media-shy executive fiercely protective of the Beatles’ legacy and Apple Corps Ltd., Aspinall kept busy in recent years waging a legal battle against computer company Apple Inc. over their similar logos.

A bigger issue was the Beatles’ noted refusal to license tunes to online retailers, such as the technology firm’s iTunes store….
His slow-and-sensible approach to the band’s affairs paid off in the 1980s when compact discs were introduced. He refused to join the rush, and held out for a higher royalty rate. The band’s crowning moment, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band,” finally came out on CD in 1987, amid a worldwide publicity blitz marking the album’s 20th anniversary.

Aspinall was also the main reason why Beatles tracks are not heard on multi-artist compilation CDs, because he said they cheapened the band’s image.

On Thursday Reuters reported Apple Corps. settled a long-running royalty dispute with EMI:

The company representing The Beatles has settled a 30 million-pound ($59 million) royalty dispute with EMI Group, in a deal that could finally pave the way for the Liverpool band’s music to go online… “It seems like it is heading in that direction,” Jupiter analyst Mark Mulligan told Reuters of the Beatles catalogue. “The conversation has changed from an ‘if’ to a ‘when’.

Apple on Monday triumphantly announced it has sold 100 million iPods in five years with a big splashy ad in the New York Times and across the front page of its website. Apple claims the iPod is the “fastest selling music player in history.” That may be so, but it’s not yet the biggest seller: Sony sold 340 million Walkmans (and others sold countless millions of knockoffs).
But Apple watchers are actually more interested in the growth of iTunes. Carl Howe at Blackfriars Marketing notes that iTunes has now sold 2.5 billion songs — 1 billion more songs than 6 months ago. These numbers are only semi-official (Jobs mentioned them casually in an interview), but if Apple is now selling 1 billion songs every six months, that’s a very sharp growth curve.
Also, Howe points out that Apple is also beginning to dominate online sales of movies and TV shows. Wal-Mart revealed on Monday that its online movie store sold just 3,000 movies in the first month. By contrast, Apple sold 125,000 movies in the first week.
“Once you’ve bested the largest American retailer, the sky is the limit,” Howe writes.

Everyone is loving the story of the iPod that allegedly saved the life of U.S. Infantryman Kevin Garrad in Tikrit (read more at Gadget Lab). Though it seems like the perfect story, there is actually more to this tale than you might assume. First of all, the iPod didn’t save his life. His body armor did. And it isn’t even an Apple model. Click through for the rest of the story.

Technorati Tags: ipod, iRaq

One of Apple’s greatest feature introductions of the last few years is the use of two fingers to turn a PowerBook or MacBook trackpad into a two-button wonder. It’s an incredibly elegant solution that feels significantly better than awkward multi-button Windows trackpad laptops.
But it also only works on 2005 or later PowerBooks, which left, well, almost everyone out of the party. Until now. iScroll2 is an open-source project that promises to bring the two-finger scroll dance to older PowerBooks. It’s very early in development, so try it at your own risk. My 2003 12″ PowerBook is not supported, so I’m still out in the cold. Anyone got it working? Is it worth our time?

Via Digg.

So, I might or might not be interviewed by On the Media soon regarding my thoughts about the Apple/EMI deal that will soon bring us DRM-free iTunes music downloads. It’ll basically depend on if they can find me a studio in Toronto or not — I’ll keep you posted. In collecting these thoughts, the following thing occurred to me: I have no idea if it’s a good thing or not. After giving it some more thought, it’s definitely good, bad and ugly…I mean, unclear. This is the most theoretical I’ve gotten in awhile, so definitely click through to see what it’s all about.

Look who Apple’s in bed with: the record company that fired the Sex Pistols.

But The Pistols had the last word:

There’s an ulimited supply
And there is no reason why
I tell you it was all a frame
They only did it cos the fame!
Who?

E.M.I.

Too many people had the suss
Too many people support us
An unlimited amount
Too many outlets in and out
Who?

E.M.I.

And sir and friends are crucified
A day they wish that we had died
We are an addition
We are ruled by none

Never ever neverrrrrraaa

And you thought that we were faking
That we were all just money making
You do not believe we’re for real
Or you would lose your cheap appeal ?

Don’t judge a book by the cover
Unless you cover just another
And blind acceptance is a sign
Of stupid fools who stand in line
Like

E.M.I.

Unlimited edition with an unlimited supply
That was the only reason we all had to say goodbye !

Unlimited supply
There is no reason why
I tell you it was all a frame
They only did it cos the fame !
I do not need the pressure
I can’t stand the useless fools !
Unlimited supply
Hallo E.M.I.
Goodbye A & M

Pic by Jeffrey Sharp 

Fake Steve Jobs is a hero. While the real Steve is locked away running Apple and guiding breakthroughs like the iPhone, Fake Steve, who invented the friggin’ iPod, is giving revealing interviews to media organizations.

Finally, in a new interview with Engadget, Fake Steve really opens up:

I was really into NeXT, whatever happened with that?

Well, we had some issues around pricing. Like, we figured out what the product should cost, and then we multiplied that by four and set our prices that way. Turns out we were over-overpricing. When I returned to Apple we figured out how to overprice correctly. About 50% more than the reasonable price is about what people are wiling to pay to get a product that makes them cooler than everyone else. So now instedad of over-overpricing, we’re just overpricing. And as our results indicate, it’s working.

That’s why they pay this man the big bucks.

Steve Jobs will go onstage at a special EMI press conference in London on Monday, sparking speculation that iTunes will finally sell Beatles songs.

Reports the BBC:

Beatles and iTunes talk growing Steve Jobs launches the iPhone Steve jobs teased fans with a Beatles song at the iPhone launch EMI is to hold a media event on Monday with Apple boss Steve Jobs as special guest, prompting speculation that Beatles songs will finally go online.

…

In an invite to media sent out on Sunday, EMI said it was announcing an “exciting new digital offering”.

There will also be a “special live performance” at the London event by an unnamed artist or band.

“Serious entertainment value.” –œVillage Voice, Oct., 2004 (Full review)

“Three weeks after its October 2004 release, The Cult of Mac”¦ returned to press after selling out its 10,000-copy first printing.” –œPublishers Weekly, Jan. 3, 2005 (Read article)

“Kahney embarked on his journey to chronicle the weird world of Mac addicts, and I think he nailed it.” –œSan Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2004 (Read More)

Winner: Outstanding Book of the Year — Most Unique Design, Independent Publisher Book Awards 2005. The Cult of Mac, by Leander Kahney; design by Octopod Studios.

“Sure to end up on Quadra-based coffee tables everywhere.” –œWired, October 2004

Cult of Mac earned a rare and prestigious “starred review” and was “highly recommended.” “Brimming with more than 500 color photos, this fun book won’t stay on the shelves long.” –œLibrary Journal, December 2004

“Leander Kahney’s coffee-table book, based on his stories for Wired News, documents the over-the-top behavior of these folks, only some of whom seem to be driven by the same nerdy demons as Trekkies.” –Newsweek, Feb. 21, 2005 (Full review)

“Connected to their machines like toddlers to teddy bears, some worshippers at the altar of Apple would sooner… give a defunct 128K Macintosh a second wind as a novelty goldfish tank than accept the popularly held belief that a computer becomes obsolete the moment it’s off the production line.” –Dwell Magazine, March 2005 (Read article)

“Kahney’s informal history of the Mac is interspersed with trivia and delightful details, and intriguing photos, and is wrapped up in an entertaining style”¦ one lots of people will enjoy reading.” –œWashington Times, Nov. 2004 (Read article)

“If your favorite Mac geek has every Mac-related doodad, try the compelling new book ‘The Cult of Mac.’ –œSan Antonio Express-News, Dec. 12, 2004 (Read article)

“We challenge you to open to any page and not learn something about the Mac’s history or its fanatical devotees.” MacAddict, January 2005

The Cult of Mac was a Macworld UK cover story: “Techno Fetishism and Apple Mania.” –MacWorld UK, November 2004

“Fun book that any Mac addict will delight in displaying if he can keep wiping the drool off the pages.” –œMacNN, December 2004 (Full review)

“A diverting, sometimes quirky and always entertaining study of why owning a Mac computer means contracting a passion for an inanimate object”¦ a lovely book, full of great pictures and written with insight, knowledge and wit.” –œThe Age, Feb., 2005 (Full review)

“Journalist Leander Kahney has made much of Macintosh fanaticism in recent years. His interest in the subject has spawned a column at Wired News, a blog and now a book: The Cult of Mac.” –œThe Guardian, Mad for Macs, Jan. 6, 2005 (Read article)

“I am not a Mac addict like the people found in Leander Kahney’s new book, The Cult of Mac (No Starch Press), but I am a recreational user and I can relate to the Mac addict’s plight; the only difference is that when I was discovering crack, they were finding OS 6. Oddly enough, I think over all my years of drugging, I still spent significantly less money than any really serious Mac addict.” –œPaper magazine, Dec. 21, 2004 (Full review)

Average Customer review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

10 out of 10 rating: “This book is priceless. Even if someone you know has no interest in ever obtaining an iPod, they’ll love this book. Curl up in your favorite chair, make a steeping hot cup of tea, put in your buds, hit shuffle and then relax for a wonderful read.” –Macsimum News, November 23, 2005 (Read more)

“Leander Kahney offers a book to use like an iPod. Readers can joyfully skim the contents, as if set on random, to snack on the eye-catching imagery of everything iPod. Or you can select a playlist, like the chapter on the making of the iPod, for deeper insight into the creative process at Apple Computer Inc.” –Chicago Tribune, November 26, 2005 (Read more)

“The book exudes quality from start to finish”¦ Besides its gorgeous design, the principal strength of the book is Kahney’s precise way of describing the iPod phenomenon and putting it into context, as well as his impressions of the experience of using the iPod itself.” CreativeMac, November 4, 2005 (Read more)

“Although I initially intended to skim through the book, I ended up reading this book cover to cover in a single sitting as it was so interesting, informative and entertaining.” –œAbout.com Focus on Macs, Dec., 2005 (Read more)

Average rating for Cult of iPod at Amazon a perfect five stars!

“It’s the perfect holiday gift for your iPod lover. There is great information about the development of the iPod, the enthusiasts, and the technology of the iPod itself. A fun read and a nice complement to the “Cult of Mac” book, which was also excellent.”

“This is possibly the best book ever written on the subject.” Digital Dispatch, January 24, 2005

“A great, colorful, easy read. It’s exceptional.” –œOutsideLeft, January 2005 (Read more)

“Here is one book I had to read from cover to cover, twice.” –œMetro Mac, May/June 2005 (Full review)

“Without a doubt one of the very best books about the Macintosh to have been published for many years.” –œApple Lust, Dec. 23, 2004 (Full review)

“This book is a rare item, and extremely well turned out.” –œEdmonton Linux User Group, May 2005 (Full review)

“This book knocks me out”¦ such a fun read that I’d recommend it to anyone.” –œAlaskan Apple Users Group, Dec. 4, 2004 (Full review)

“A very entertaining read.” –œBlogcritics, Dec. 29, 2004 (Full review)

“A well-written, enjoyable, informative, and entertaining account of Mac culture. It is a must-read for Mac lovers everywhere!” –œAbout.com, May 2005 (Full review)

“Beautifully done from a design and production standpoint”¦ does a great job of chronicling why people merely USE Windows machines, but LOVE Macs.” –œMacTech, April 2005

“I was hooked on the book from its introductory pages and was disappointed when I had to put it down to get on with my life – you know, sleep, eat, and get on with other responsibilities.” –œMacCompanion, January 2005 (Full review)

“The ultimate Mac-lover’s coffee table book.” –œBusiness In Vancouver, Dec. 14, 2004 (Read article)

Click Here for More Cult of Mac Reviews.