The mystery of fhe missing iPhones.

Have you seen all the news hype about the missing iPhones? Apple claims they sold something like 4 million iPhones to date, but AT&T say only a little over 2 million have been activated. The question is what happened to the rest. Some website claimed the rest have been unlocked and running on other networks. Even some stock analysts are saying this and noting that it will be bad for Apple because they will lose the monthly revenue from the AT&T customers. The sudden drop in the Apple stock is also attributed to this.

I just have to laugh. To unlock the iPhone you would have to break it open, mess with the electronics, void your warrenty, and hope it works. I doubt millions of people have done this. My guess is that the Apple numbers and AT&T numbers were released at different times and that is why they don't jive.

One other guess was that the some Apple fanatics just bought them to keep as collectors items. McFan are you one of these people? It is amazing what conclusions people will jump to, no matter how far out there is is.

Total Music to kill off iTunes?

I just read an article in Wired magazine which said that the CEO of Universal Music is trying to take away the strangle hold that iTunes has on digital downloads. I know this is old news but there is something called "Total Music" which Universal is trying to push which would replace owning music with a subscription service. It has been gaining traction. Universal has been courting the other large record companies to do the same along with Microsoft and other MP3 player companies.

The basic idea is that the new "Total Music" players would allow a user to play any songs they want in the library but they don't get to own it. The most interesting part is that Universal wants the music players to either give away the subscription for 6 months or even forever. Footing the bill themselves. I guess based on them recuping this cost with the profits from the player. It looks like iTunes has become the Microsoft empire of music which many want to remove.

It was interesting that in the article, the Universal CEO said that iTunes does bring in a substantial amount of money right now and they would not want to lose that. So they are going to have to be delicate about how they go about doing this.

Link

HD-DVD Player Sales tank?

Gentlemen, are the consumers responding? The article:

HD-DVD Sales

suggests HD-DVD player sales fell precipitously after Warner announced its decision. Do you think it makes sense? If Blue Ray takes off, are either of you guys poised to pounce?

Will Apple beat estimates

Today is the day that Apple releases quarterly earnings. The buzz on the street is that they are expected to exceed estimates for the last quarter. But with the whole stock market tanking overall will Apple be one of the few stocks to stay positive? We will know at the end of the day when Apple gives its official release.

IBM Lotus Notes on iPhone

I just read that IBM has teamed up with Apple to release a client application for the iPhone which will allow the iPhone to interface with Lotus Notes. Notes is IBM's email client which a lot of large companies use. It is the main competitor to Microsoft. We use it at my work too. This could make the iPhone even more enticing to business users. Let the collaborations continue! ( hopefully to break the Microsoft noose )

Time Capsule is the winner

Even after all of the announcements, I think the Time Capsule is the coolest one. The fact that it has WiFi built in is what sets it apart. So you plug this in and have it setup as your central database for backups. All of your computers can wirelessly connect to this device without you realizing it. Backing up in the background whenever you are hooked to the wireless network. Now backups are effortless. With so many people having notebooks now, wireless makes so much sense. Simple setup, and automatic backups over the air. Cool.

Stitch, you're right!!

Macbook Air - the thinnest notebook around! Pull it out of a manilla envelope. Le, do you have your credit card ready? Let's go to the Apple Store, man!

AppleTV Take 2 Price

Gentlemen, how's about $229 for the new Apple TV? (Free software upgrade for existing users.) Any comments?

Apple hits another home run?

Have you heard about the Expo? Movie rentals with Apple TV take 2! No need to sync back with the computer! Download in HD or regular DVD quality! (Although to be fair we don't know what resolution Jobs is calling "HD"). Almost all major movie studios on board. Gentlemen, is this internet movie rentals done right?

There's something in the air

That's the headline on the Apple website in anticipation for MacWorld. The keynote is tomorrow (Tuesday). Any ideas of new releases. My top three will be: 1) High speed iPhone with more memory. 2) A new AppleTV device geared directly to movie rentals direct from iTunes. 3) The big new device will be an Apple tablet computer which uses the touchscreen technology and reinvents the so far dead market for tablets. Any ideas from the MacNight crowd?

Making the iPhone

Gentlemen, check out the following Wired article:

iPhone story

I got chills reading it!

Great Article on the Music Business

Check out the following article:

CES Music Conversation

It talks about specifically what we have noted : the music industry cannot continue to operate the way they always have. The rules of the game have changed, and in fact, they changed 7 years ago with Napster. Interestingly, the article suggests the "subscription" model for music will become the standard. I don't know about that. Seems to me a heck of a lot of companies have tried the subscription model, and failed. Even Microsoft had to include the "buy" model because they weren't making it on subscriptions. The article is very interesting. I'd be interested in your take.

Paramount to dump HD-DVD?

Check out the article:

Paramount

Paramount originally backed HD-DVD, but is rumored to be considering a switch to Blue Ray. This would follow Warner's announcement that it will dump HD-DVD altogether. I think it would make sense so the consumer can move forward with adopting the more popular format, don't you think? It would be great to be able to buy an HD format with confidence!

HD-AAC

Gentlemen, check out the link:

HD-AAC

Do you think this is the knockout punch for the venerable CD and the record company executives who still daydream about the juicy profits they wrung out of it? Le, what is the audiophile's point of view on this format?

iTunes Movie Rental Model

What do you guys think of renting movies on iTunes?

iTunes Movie Rentals

I think it's a great idea. Supposedly Apple will team with Disney and Fox to rent movies on iTunes. It has been said before: people rent movies a lot more than they buy them. I almost feel that's how Apple should have approached movies right at the beginning. Do you guys think this move will spur additional sales of the Apple TV? I would hope so, but I'm a little concerned the average consumer won't feel that compelled to have to buy the Apple TV just because they can rent movies on iTunes. I put myself in that category, but then again I'm not the biggest consumer of movies rentals.

RIAA Reaches New Lows!

Gentlemen, check out the following Washington Post article:

Ripping CD's Illegal

According to the article, in a brief filed by the RIAA in an Arizona case, the RIAA has said it is illegal to simply rip your own personal CD onto your computer. Yeah, you may have bought the CD and have absolutely no intention to distribute the file, but as soon as you rip it so you can put it on your iPod, you've broken the copyright law. I think this is outrageous! What do you guys think? It seems to me the recording industry is digging their own grave.

Apple's heavy hand shuts down ThinkSecret

What do you think about the latest news that Apple has negotiated with the Apple rumor web site ThinkSecret to shut down for good. This is because of repeated leaking of Apple plans for future products and releases. The details of the agreement were not disclosed. But it seems to me that they bought them off. This seems to me that instead of silencing the free press, Apple should police their own employees for leaking the information to begin with. In my opinion, this latest tactic from Apple is not keeping with the good image Apple has built up over the past. A bit disappointing.

Apple's next Generation iPod HiFi?

Gentlemen, check out the link:

Boom Box

It appears that Apple may give the Boom Box concept another shot. Hopefully they'll be a little more realistic about how they describe it. I don't think any audiophile honestly believes one can get audiophile like sound out of any boom box. There is apparently a remote that allows "Front Row" like interaction with the device.

Great Apple ad on NyTimes.com!

Check out the new ad on NYTimes.com that has Mac guy and PC guy. I didn't even know the New York Times would allow this!

nytimes

Apple occupies 9 of 10 top spots on Amazon

As Christmas approaches and folks rush to buy the coolest stuff, the iPod is making a magnificent showing on Amazon. The cool thing is that Amazon reflects a small slice of the outlets where Apple is selling its products. Not only does Apple have the online and retail stores, there are also the big name retail stores that have begun selling Apple products. Thank goodness Apple found a way to work with these guys like Best Buy. No longer is Apple on the sideline in terms of outlets. Let the consumer choose!