That’s the problem.\u00c2\u00a0 iPods are too hard to use.\u00c2\u00a0 You can never find a USB cable.\u00c2\u00a0 And what’s with iTunes launching automatically, that SCARES PEOPLE!\u00c2\u00a0 And thank god you can turn off automatic sync, to make it harder.\u00c2\u00a0 And can you PLEASE tell me how to buy from the iTunes Store!\u00c2\u00a0 What’s this credit card information they keep asking for?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you know what that is?\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t want to borrow any money…\u00c2\u00a0 Or is it a credit like at the Zune Store?\u00c2\u00a0 A point?\u00c2\u00a0 That you can use to purchase music?<\/p>\n
Thank god we’ve got people like Rio Caraeff over at Universal Music to help me.\u00c2\u00a0 To make it easy.\u00c2\u00a0 Now selling music on micro-SD cards.<\/p>\n
Yes, I’ve got a phone with a micro-SD slot.\u00c2\u00a0 I always take the back off my GSM phone.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I decided on GSM because I travel the world.\u00c2\u00a0 I believe CDMA carriers provide better service in the States, but…\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I’m aware that you can buy a BlackBerry with both chips.\u00c2\u00a0 But usually when I go to Europe I take my U.S. phone and purchase a local chip and then go on Twitter and let everybody know my overseas number.\u00c2\u00a0 Now I can bring a collection of micro-SD albums with me overseas!\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve purchased a tiny little binder to collect all of them.\u00c2\u00a0 And I’ve got a special rubber glove that allows me to pick them up.\u00c2\u00a0 I love reading the liner notes on my mobile phone.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so informative.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I search via 3G technology and look up all the other credits of the players.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so great living in the material world.<\/p>\n
ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?<\/p>\n
That’s what’s wrong with newspapers.\u00c2\u00a0 Writing articles so neutral as to be uninformative.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s that cliche?\u00c2\u00a0 If tomorrow Dick Cheney said the earth was flat, even the "New York Times" would write: "Roundness of the Earth in question."<\/p>\n
I’d be happier if newspapers didn’t even give any ink to this inane business concept.\u00c2\u00a0 Or were at least more critical.\u00c2\u00a0 The L.A. "Times" article linked below did have some negative comments, but what about the whopper they failed to contradict?\u00c2\u00a0 That the iPod and iTunes are just too difficult to use and that the micro-SD card is the solution?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like saying telephones are too hard to use, that’s why everybody’s switching to VOIP.\u00c2\u00a0 No, it’s worse…\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like saying Mac OS X is too hard to use and everybody’s switching to LINUX!<\/p>\n
Do you even know if you have a micro-SD slot in your phone?\u00c2\u00a0 And, if you do, what are you going to do with the card inside when you buy an album?\u00c2\u00a0 Talk about easy to lose…\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s go even worse…\u00c2\u00a0 Can you remove the back off your phone?\u00c2\u00a0 On the BlackBerries I’ve had it’s nigh near impossible.\u00c2\u00a0 As for the tiny card, you’ve got to raise a door, insert it just so, close the door, put the back back on…\u00c2\u00a0 FOR EACH AND EVERY ALBUM?<\/p>\n
Oh, it’s easy on an iPhone.\u00c2\u00a0 Which doesn’t have a slot, but has built-in GIGS of memory!\u00c2\u00a0 But that syncs to the impossible iTunes.<\/p>\n
As for the BlackBerry itself.\u00c2\u00a0 I won’t say it’s counterintuitive, but now that there’s push e-mail on the iPhone, I’d switch if AT&T’s connections weren’t so heinous.<\/p>\n
slotMusic is an insane idea.\u00c2\u00a0 Dreamed up by a company that has difficulty competing with Apple because it’s got no software and is a heartbeat away from being taken over by Samsung.\u00c2\u00a0 As for the labels running with this idea…\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, they endorse nonstarters like this, but come up with an idea to actually give people what they want, online, and they say no.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, any success in music retail is going to come from LOWER prices, not higher.\u00c2\u00a0 And, to quote the business cliche, companies are going to make it up on volume.<\/p>\n
And one more thing.\u00c2\u00a0 For those so ignorant, for those at the labels getting their music for free…\u00c2\u00a0 The only people who care about DRM\/copyright protection ARE THOSE WHO ARE STEALING THEIR MUSIC!\u00c2\u00a0 People who pay at the iTunes Store don’t give a shit.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why the DRM-free tracks at Amazon and eventually MySpace Music are not taking over the market.\u00c2\u00a0 You hear a lot of noise from the Net prognosticators, but those savvy enough to bitch online are also savvy enough to use BitTorrent.<\/p>\n
Utterly ridiculous idea doomed to failure.<\/p>\n
Next!<\/p>\n
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