Applepalooza
Obviously Steve Jobs wasn’t raised by old Jewish ladies. Otherwise, he’d know how to pronounce MAH JONG!
For a control freak who’s known to rehearse ad infinitum, and even bristled today during a minor glitch when the screen he wanted didn’t appear INSTANTLY, I’m stunned that Steve could fuck up so badly. Or, is it that like a record company, no one’s got the balls to stand up to Mr. Jobs. It’s not like there aren’t any Jews working at Apple, SOMEONE had to come up with the new iPod version of Mah Jong, couldn’t they tell Steve how to pronounce it?
But that was about all Steve got wrong. For, unlike Edgar Bronfman, Jr., or Doug Morris, he’s a seer. He seems to be able to look into the future and come up with EXACTLY what people want, before they even know they want it.
But although the products were interesting, more interesting is how every damn analyst got it wrong. Oh, they were dissecting movements in China better than the CIA tracks Al Qaeda in Pakistan, saying that there was no way Apple could come up with new iPods before Christmas, but they were wrong, Apple did.
And, jumping almost to the end, what’s also interesting is how fucking dumb the movie companies are. Dumber than the record companies, in fact. The only reason the studios are getting away with their ignorance is because of the cost of production. But at some point the holier than thou Ivy Leaguers who run these behemoths are going to be eclipsed by street nobodies without degrees who know how to use the EQUIPMENT!
To be clear, why in HELL did the other studios, that is every one other than the Jobs-controlled Disney, not offer their flicks up for distribution at the iTunes Music Store? Oh YEAH, they wanted to teach Jobs a lesson, show him who’s boss.
So where in hell do they plan to SELL said movies? Have you read about the new Amazon service? An utter DISASTER!Â
But maybe, just maybe, it’s about DVDs. That’s what’s been said, the studios are afraid of Wal-Mart
Why is it that the troubled retailer (not quite as troubled as Dell), single-handedly keeps content providers locked to the past? Can’t music and movie companies see that digital distribution is key, and that Wal-Mart will NEVER succeed there? After all, Wal-Mart sells tracks CHEAPER than Apple, but nobody seems to care. And when has a physical retailer triumphed in the area of software ANYWAY?  Didn’t the bankrupt Tower have a digital strategy? Hell, how about beleaguered Sony, tech is their BEAT!
This is how the story plays out. Jobs starts selling Disney product and trumpeting his success at doing so and then each of the other studios makes a deal one by one. This is what happened with TV shows, why should movies be any different? Once confronted with demand, the studios will cave. Because they can’t turn away the revenue, because they’re stumped by the future and as soon as they see some movement they jump just like the record companies DON’T (fearful of repeating the labels’ mistakes). Yup, you PROVE that you can make money, and then the studios sign on.
As for the money… Rumor has it the recalcitrant studios wanted more. Didn’t they make all that money by LOWERING home video prices? Wasn’t it only when Warren Lieberfarb undercut VHS prices dramatically that they sold TEN MILLION COPIES OF A MOVIE? You get no packaging, there’s no manufacturing, no shipping, no DISC, but the studios want more! Isn’t this like record labels charging more for a movie soundtrack CD than the studio charges for the DVD containing all the music?
Then again, the studios don’t want to make the "mistake" the record companies did, giving Apple too much control.
But the reason that Apple has gained control is not because of bullying, like Microsoft, but SUPERIOR PRODUCTS!
Watching the presentation
do you have any doubt that the system WORKS?? You figure it’ll be glitch-free, that’s the Apple REPUTATION!
But I guess the studios, like the record companies, are not interested in reputation. Figuring they’ll just come up with some new retread that everybody will buy. Which doesn’t seem to be happening as both industries’ revenues decline.
Buying the movie… All you need is one click. You can play it within a minute of download. And in the first quarter of 2007, you can stream it to your plasma/LCD via iTV, which appears easier to hook up than a set-top box, no buttons appearing on it AT ALL!
I don’t give a shit about streaming movies wirelessly through my house to a big screen TV I don’t have. Sitting through "Pirates Of The Caribbean" ONCE was as much time as I want to waste on vapid visual entertainment. But the drones of America, THE WORLD, with dreary lives looking for escape, THEY WILL! And suddenly, Apple owns home entertainment. Oh, Microsoft was there before, but their system was too complicated and didn’t deliver what people WANTED!
Usability. That’s what Apple delivers. Unlike Palm, with all those Pilots now sitting in drawers.
As for the aforementioned iPods…Â The big story is the rumored to be discontinued Shuffle.
No one would EXPECT a screen, it would fuck with the cool factor.
The Shuffle is jewelry. And if you don’t covet one, you haven’t seen one. Just like the white earbuds before it, having a Shuffle attached to your clothing will be de rigueur for hipsters. And the PRICE! $79! Including a dock and the newfangled headphones, never mind a built-in clip. THIS was the star of the presentation.
And the Nano?
Funny how Apple steals the music industry term "remastered" and it has positive spin. Yup, the record companies have redone CDs so many times, people are balking. How many CD versions of Elvis Costello’s albums do you NEED? The definitive versions came out recently, but now there’s going to be ANOTHER set of definitive versions! Utterly ridiculous.
Actually, it’s the same old Nano, except it’s in color and cheaper. AND it has a better battery life. It’s like a redo of the Porsche 911. There was nothing wrong with it the first time, it’s just tweaks/improvements. And notice how you can only get the coveted black if you buy the most expensive 8 gig unit. BRILLIANT marketing. More for less. That’s what tech delivers, that’s what the movie and music companies have to adopt as their mantra in cyberspace. But they’re wedded to the old ways.
The new regular/traditional/standard iPods?
Nanos are where the action is, but if you want to play in the video sphere, you need one of these. The prices are insane, compared to what came before. $249 for the 30 gig! Hell, five years ago, it was $399 for 5 gigs! And, $349 for 80 gigs! I covet one, so I can synch my whole library. But with my 40 still working, I guess I’ve got to wait to get one as a gift.
And battery life is longer. And, the 30 is the same price as the black Nano… Brilliant pricing throughout the line. Always moving you up the ladder, spending more than you want to, because it’s SUCH A GOOD DEAL! We used to have this in the record business, with the multiple purchase, before CDs cost eighteen bucks.
Bottom line, the Microsoft Zune is dead on arrival. You just can’t compete. Apple has flash memory locked up at the lowest price and has a truly integrated system that WORKS, whereas Microsoft can’t even launch Vista, never mind a desirable hand-held media player that does audio and video.
I’d love to tell you that today’s special event was astounding, blow your mind good. But no, I was not dazzled. Because I’ve come to expect development and hits just as I did during Mo Ostin’s reign at Warner Brothers.
Apple’s on a roll. Buy stock.
