Al’s email is full of inaccuracies and misinformation. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, i’ll assume he doesn’t know any better as opposed to being a grumpy old man. Well, maybe it’s a bit of both. 1. iTunes is a store. It has never pretended to be anything else. The store never offered "universal" […]

You & I have usually been on different sides of the fence re: iTunes. Last year Apple made SO many errors in the planning and running of iTunes, that I finally was badly alienated. Now I still PARTICIPATE, because a successor hasn’t shown its head yet, unfortunately. Microsoft, perhaps? Here’s what’s wrong with iTunes: a) […]

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 […]

We used to have Jon Landau. And John Mendelssohn. Charles M. Young. And, of course, Lester Bangs. Now there’s not a single damn music writer you can trust, except maybe Kelefa Sanneh in the "New York Times". Then again, he’s in the "New York Times", precluding the edginess and honesty of Messrs. Young and Bangs. […]