Friday, May 31, 2002
Top Stories
Insiee The Apple iPod Design Triumph
No doubt subsequent versions of the iPod will yield a revised design chain as different components and optimizations are discovered and needed. But for now, Apple's first design chain strategy and product have been a success.
News
FireWire Picking Up Speed
The biggest change for FireWire may not be the doubling of speed, but the distance provided by the specification.
Schools To Spend Billions On Technology
Public schools in the United States will spend $9.5 billion on information technology by 2006, up almost 16 percent from this year, according to a new report.
“Blue Car” Arrives
Final Cut Pro and Cinema Tools tune indie feature "Blue Car" for Sundance and Miramax.
Review
New Netscape Browser Merely Plays Catch-Up
Browsers are now evolving like word processors. New releases are greeted with more yawns than cheers as developers pile on more mostly unused bells and whistles.
Sidetrack
The Color Black
There are more and more restaurants / cafes / coffeshops that are getting on my blacklist due to poor service. I just added yet another one this morning. (Always acknowledge your customers, even when you are busy and cannot serve at that time. Of course, always follow up with service. But this coffeeshop failed even the first test.)
Luckily (for me), Singapore is such a great place for food that I am not in danger of going hungry even while my blacklist is expanding.
The Color Red
Imagine a scenario along this line...
I bought a CD album from a singer I like. I play it on my hi-fi, and it sound great. I want to listen to it on my iPod, so I insert the CD into my iMac, ready to import it into my iTunes. The CD killed my iMac.
After not able to use the computer for an entire week, my son, returning from summer camp, fixed my computer. He also warned me about putting copy-protected CDs into the iMac. I did some research on the web, and find out that one can download those songs I wanted instead of buying.
The next time I went shopping at HMV, I spotted another CD from another singer I like. This time though, I am careful. I jotted the song titles into my memory. I go home. And downloaded the songs.
My iMac is happy. My wallet is happy. Guess who is not?
Copy-protected audio CDs will educate more customers about downloading music for free.
Random
Rumor-monger: 17 and 19-inch iMacs coming soon.
Dave Winer: There was a report on NPR this morning about a woman who lost her husband in the disaster. They found his car, it was parked in the garage, and was mostly undamaged. They called her, and she came down, for a ceremony to open the trunk. There was a present in the trunk. September 11 is her birthday.
Wintel
Microsoft: Don't Blame Us
Once again, Microsoft substitutes arrogance for thoughtful consideration of a serious issue.