So you don't think you need an iPad?

Here's a reason for you...


Shame it was an April Fools day joke over at ThinkGeek.

I think there may be potential here...

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Now that iTunes has finally caught up with all our recent computer and hard-drive switches, we are facing the dreaded limits of DRM protection on some of our music.

I know that there are solutions to all of this, and that you can go through the whole rigamarole of deauthorizing computers or burning encrypted tunes so you can then reload them, but frankly, I can't be bothered.

Listening to my music -- that we paid for -- shouldn't be so complicated.

So the iTunes Store is now officially banned in our house until they unchain my music.

For the most part, this is easy. We're still old school and buy most things on CD. At least that way you know you own your music, and it provides a handy backup copy, just in case.

That said, there's something to be said for DRM-free, click-and-download convenience.

So tonight, on a lark, wanting to hear some stuff by the The Script, a new Irish band that I missed as a free iTunes single last week, I decided to test drive AmazonMP3 for some instant gratification.

The result?

Suprisingly simple, and, more-importantly, easily transferable.

Amazon has set up a program that downloads seamlessly into iTunes, making the process hassle-free. Copying the files over to our other computer worked perfectly.

I know this is exactly what the music labels want to hear. That the marketplace is shifting to Amazon, providing competition to Apple's dominance in online music.

Unfortunately this all just continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

The bottom line is that I want to buy my music on iTunes. I like my iPod and iPhone just fine, and like the convenience of having a one-stop hub for it all.

I know it's all a silly old pissing war between the dominant online music store and the still-petrified old-school labels, but come on guys, why aggravate a customer who still doesn't mind paying for the songs?

Oh yeah, The Script album is actually really good. Here's a taste of them live, singing The Man Who Can't Be Moved:

Pocket Rocket

If you've hung around me, you know how addicted I already was to my good ol' iPhone. When bored, instant Internet access is a dangerous thing to have in your pocket.

Now with the new application store, you'll be lucky to ever see me without the phone in my hands. It's almost as if Apple had given me a shiny new toy last week.

Now, not only can I surf and check my e-mail way more than anyone really should, I can kill brain cells with games and applications galore.

Changing my status on Facebook is way too easy now. Bored? Instant Sudoku.

Imagine my surprise today to stumble upon an iPhone version of De Blob, an upcoming Wii game that I have been looking forward to for a while.

Oh this iPhone is a dangerous, dangerous rocket to have in your pocket.

3G would be a very dangerous upgrade to have now too.

I can hold off the temptation for now.

The question is: For how long...

Leopard smokes the Vista

My office smelled of smoke this morning, and I knew it wasn't a good sign. A quick check of the air conditioning ducts and I was able to rule out something being on fire, since it was just my office.

Then I noticed it.

My desktop computer, dead to the world. Something fried and went to electronic heaven.

Now, in every crisis lays opportunity, and in this case, that meant buying a new computer, which is always fun. But therein layed a moral quandry of loyalties. A few months ago I switched back to the Mac side of the world at home, could I do it at work too?

Sadly, no. I did look longinly at the iMacs, but there are still some pretty compelling reasons to stick to the Microsoft side of the universe for work.

So, off I lumbered back to my office with a new HP desktop ready to set it up. Keep in mind that I recently had to set up a new Macbook Pro laptop recently, which was a breeze to do.

Microsoft's Vista fails where Apple's Leopard soars: It's a godawful mess of an operating system. You can almost see where engineers sat together in dimly lit rooms saying, "Ooooooh lets make things translucent so people think they look pretty, and let's see how we can clutter the screen with widgets and why don't we hide the shutdown buttons so that anyone already used to our crap systems can figure out how to restart the damn machine when it crashes two minutes into setup."

Yes, it crashed two minutes into setup. To the point I had to shut it down on the box -- even after realizing what the inconspicuous round little power button on the ugly new START menu was for -- because the programs were unresponsive, even after a CTRL-ALT-DEL or two.

I only played around with Vista for a little bit today, and I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'm just amazed how Microsoft took a clean, relatively workable XP and came up with this mess. I may still need my Windows, but my heart is clearly back where it belongs: My Macbook is a worthy successor to my old black-and-white Mac 128k that I loved.

As far as the HP, it will do. I just don't have any grand hopes for it.

A return to civilization

It was an odd return from vacation today.

I awoke to markets tumbling and fed rates chopping, with RECESSION in big letters being splashed all over the news. Then the Oscar nominations were announced, nominees overshadowed by the pissing war into which the writer's strike has evolved. As the markets finally calmed and calamity seemed averted, news came from New York that another young actor died, with pills found around him. And then to top it all off, I'm sitting rinkside at a hockey game realizing there is not a single player out there whose name I recognize.

The puck that flew over our heads was kinda cool, though. Maybe one can knock out the suddenly annoying politicians all bickering their way to the White House.

I miss the beach already.

At least my iPhone has some new bells and whistles to keep me entertained.

Hello, Mr. Yakamoto! Welcome back to the Gap! How'd those assorted tank tops work out for you?

Remember Minority Report, the Tom Cruise blockbuster set in a future with neat virtual touch screen computers and Gap stores that tailor their sales pitch with a scan of the eyes?

I couldn't help but be reminded of that eerie vision of the future this week after Apple announced their deal with Starbucks to sell us music in their stores.

At face value, this is a really great idea.

How many times have you been somewhere, heard a song and then said to yourself, "This is really cool! I should get this!" Only, of course, to forget about it while figuring out that what you REALLY crave is an iced vanilla latte. With this deal, it's instant gratification: You click while in line, and by the time you have your drink in hand, you have a new song playing on your earphones.

The creepy part about this, though, is that if the technology is there to push music to you by noticing your iphone in the store, it's not that far a stretch to picture the day that the coffee giant's computer recognizes your particular iPhone and the clerk gets a message on the register suggesting she upsell you on a venti iced vanilla latte.

This has long been the holy grail of cell phone companies: Pushing advertising targeted to individual phones. Picture walking by a store and suddenly getting a text message offering you a digital coupon for 20% off your purchase. It's an advertising gold mine -- if you can get it to work effectively.

Other countries, such as Japan, have long tied everyday commerce to the cell phone. Apple's announcement this week is huge in that they've basically beaten the cell phone companies to the punch here in the United States. By hitching a ride on the wi-fi bandwagon, they are also leapfrogging the cell phone companies worldwide. Heck, the fancier new iPods will even do it!

While most things in this connected world of ours can be tracked, at which point do we willingly open the door too far and lose any sense of privacy? Apple is only the first to roll this out so ambitiously. They won't be the last.

Maybe Minority Report had it wrong. It's not what's in our eyes. It's the addictive touchscreen computers we put in our very own pockets. The iced vanilla lattes are just the sugar coating.