Friday, June 30, 2006

Blue Ray comment

I have educated myself about Blue Ray vs HD DVD and here are my findings. HD DVD also uses a blue laser like blue ray. So the difference is in the technology. The Blue Ray can hold more than HD DVD ( 26GB vs 15GB per layer compared to 4.7GB for DVD ). Of course it would seem that the higher capacity would always win out but this is not always the case. If the current content available is not enough to fill the new blue ray disks then 15GB may be good enough and given they are cheaper, people may adopt this just out of confusion.

So I would say that it depends on the marketing and content. If the Blue Ray group ( not to be confused with Blue Man group) is able to convince people that you will have a richer experience and they have content to back it up, then this may become the standard. One problem that I see is how many people now currently have a TV which will play such a high definition quality. I would guess only about 25% if that. So the market may not be as big as regular DVD's.

I remember thinking that when SVHS came out that it would eliminate regular VHS but it never really caught on. I think there has to be a big enough leap in quality to make it justifiable for the extra expense. I am sure you can fit a full length HD movie on a HD DVD so the incentive to go Blue Ray not be too strong.

Net Neutrality Doomed?

I don't know if you have heard much about this Net Neutrality issue but it looks like the Congress is getting ready to sell the internet to the highest bidder. A Senete subcommited has basically done that. Even Apple and Microsoft are on the same side of Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality is the push to keep the internet open. Currently the carriers such as Cox or Quest do not monitor what goes through the pipe to your house they only charge you for having the pipe. What carriers want to do now is to monitor what is going through the pipe and charge an extra charge for "premium" content. Such as high speed video. In this way they can make deals with big content providers to to charge a premium for a certain type of content and then pass some of this charge to the content providers.

The big concern is that with this new potential stream of big dollars, the basic internet will be stuck at the current speeds or lower. In effect marginalizing other sites and making them seem of poorer quality. Eventually, all you will have is the premium content. The internet will turn into something like television networks.

It isn't a done deal yet. The full Senate has to vote on it and then of course the House. Personally, I wouldn't have any problem with this if you had many choices for service providers. But most people only have Cable or DSL, with one provider each. For me it is cable only since DSL requires being close to a substation to work.

Stanley Cup comes to the Apple Store in NY

My name is on the second ring from the bottom!

The Story

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Sony boss: Microsoft copies everything we do

There was an interview with the CEO of Sony who made the following statement about MS.

"We seem to. Every time we go down a path, we look behind and they're right there - we just can't shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own, but they seem to be going down the path of everything we do. If you look at their strategy in other business areas as well, they tend to do that."

How would MS survive without other companies to copy and innovate for them?

Link

Welcome Back, MacMinni!


I never forgot your comment on the widgets and how much memory they take up. Well, I downloaded a cool Automator action called "Widget Killer" which you can run to enable or disable the dashboard with one click! Don't get me wrong, I still love the dashboard, but I also like having tons of Ram available when I'm doing work.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

iTalk?

Check out this video of someone's concept of the potential new Apple cell phone with touchscreen. It looks pretty cool.

iTalk phone

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Apple iMovieTunes

Have you heard the latest rumor about Apple offering full length movies for download by the end of the year. The rumored price would be $9.99 per movie. Of course since this is still a vague rumor, there are few details about the service. The prices could change and what DRM and rights as a consumer do you have. Does Apple require that you have some iPod equivalent for the TV? But this story does seem to have some traction and is being followed by many news services.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Apple and India Revisited

I recently read an article about Apple's pullout of India for it's call center. {Article Link} In it they give an explanation as to why Apple did pull out. The main points were that India is becoming more expensive everyday. Entry level pay has been increasing by 13% year after year, and manager pay has been increasing by 30% year after year. There is also more and more competition for employees so turnover has been high.

So it looks like the world is getting flatter. India's economy has grown so quickly that the very large cost incentive which drove corporations to flock to India has dried up. Now India will have to compete on merits alone in a more fair competitive environment. Of course there are many other countrys where pay is still very inexpensive so the cycle will continue. And Apple has stated they are looking at other countries as alternatives. But the pace at how pay equalizes I think is very surprising.

Friday, June 16, 2006

The Ultimate iPod Accessory


It's so Cool.

Next iPod

Gents,

Any commentary on the none-touch iPod rumor?

-Le

iCool Device

Wow, this is one cool device. It allows you to basically turn your video ipod into a DVR. You can plug this box into your TV, either with S-video or Coax and then setup the onscreen timer to record prespecified shows to your iPod hard drive. The TV does not even need to be on. They will play on your iPod video too without a lenghty conversion process. Plus the price is only $200!! They also have two other devices. One is an iLoad which will load a CD of music directly into the iPod without iTunes. Another is a small device which allows you to take the SIM card from you cell phone, insert it into iLoad-C and then download music from the cell phone carrier directly into your iPod nano.

Question is, will these help or hurt Apple's market? I think it will help because it could push more iPod video sales which is where Apple makes more money. iTunes may become less relavent though. The cell phone version I believe will be hindered by the high download costs from cell phone carriers. Apples plans for download video from iTunes may also take a hit. Although the Dish Network also has three models of portable video DVR's which are priced reasonably from about $299-$700 depending on the screen size and capacity. These download off of your home DVR so there are no per show charges.

The Format Wars Commence


Gentlemen, Samsung has fired Blue Ray's first shot over the bow, and the wars are set to begin. According to a Samsung representative, although the Blue Ray player that just started shipping is twice as expensive, they feel optimistic about sales. Even the new Blue Ray Movies are $30 as compared to $20 for the HD discs. They must have some huge huevos to feel so confident with those price differences. Additionally, the rep says there are 10 manufacturers working on Blue Ray players, and only one (Toshiba) working on HD players.

Are the cards stacked in favor of Blue Ray for superior technology, or HD for lower price point? We stand at the threshold of massive changes in our media existence, so choose your arguments carefully!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Bill Gates has left the building !

Its official, Bill Gates will be retiring from Microsoft after 2008. It is also rumored that Steve Balmer will leaving soon after. A changing of the guard you might say. I guess you can only make such mundane products for so long before you start pulling hair out of your head. No matter how much money you make.

Actually Bill is leaving for a noble cause. To give away his fortune to help needy people around the world. Well Bill, its been a fun ride.

Just thought this book was funny.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Future iPod??

I just found this. If it's real, it warms the heart to think of where the iPod might go! (Click on the title to go to this fascinating article)

New RAZR...


It was recently anounced that a new RAZR with iTunes capability was coming out soon this year. As you both know, I have been going through life "sans cell phone". Is this the phone I have been waiting for? Note that there is still a 100 song limit, but what I would like to know is, does it matter? Would one feel deprived without more songs? And lastly, is the much ballyhooed "iPhone" nothing more than "vapor hardware"? I could use the input, as I drool over Le's phone too much these days!

White or Black?

Le, we must set aside our petty differences, as there is serious work to be done! We must address the truly salient issue at hand: is the black Macbook worth the extra cost? I am inclined to opt for the white Macbook myself, but for the less than practical reason that it pays homage to the white iBook predecessor! What do you think, gentlemen?

Monday, June 12, 2006

iTunes boycott

Did you hear about a small iTunes boycott which was held over the weekend at a few of the Apple stores. The complaint is that the DRM (Digital Rights Management) is locking you into Apple and iTunes. If you want to leave with music you bought on iTunes you don't have a clean way to take your music with you.

Commentary:
I believe there will always be some people who complain that you cannot have all of your music for free and be able to freely copy it and give it to all of your friends. But the music industry will never be able to survive in this mode. They argue that when you owned CD's you were free to give it to anyone you wished. In a digital world, I think things are a bit different. You can make exact duplicates which until recently was not possible with CD's. You can still make a copy but the copy now as in the past was a little inferior to the original.

Core 2 Duo



Gentlemen, the revolution is not over by a long shot. The next generation of Intel chips is right around the corner, signified by the "Core 2 Duo", as compared to the Core Duo chip that has just shipped with the consumer iMac and Portables. Where will this next generation chip fit into the scheme? Additionally, will Apple make use of the so called "Core 2 Duo Extreme", which will appeal to the hard core gamers? These are exciting times!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Apple tops Beer on college survey

Did you hear about the survey of college students which asked "What is hip on campus?". The Apple iPod was number one in the survey followed by Beer. The company which does this survey has been doing it for years and it has been over 25 years since something has displaced beer as the number one item. Way to go Apple. Maybe they could have a Beer mug iPod and get the best of both worlds.

Speaking of Mac Mini

So, you can buy a Mac Mini for $800 that has a Core Duo. But, you can get a Core Duo for $1,100 in the form of a laptop in the MacBook. Isn't the pricing a little too close together?

-Le

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Nike deal


What do you guys think of this Apple-Nike-iPod deal? A special sensor in a Nike shoe, and you have access to all kinds of information while running, like distance, etc. Will people use it? I think you also have access to special Nike music to inspire!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

India Call Center is History!

Gentlemen, Apple just changed course and will NOT open a technical support center in India. Why the change of heart? Is it because they are not sure they can maintain their level of service to the Mac faithful? What's your take?