Because Steve Jobs Reads My Blog, OBVS.
Oof, heading jokes. The only obvious thing here is that I've been reading too many trolltastic stereogum comments and not been getting enough sleep.
About Jobs, his speech, and what probably constitutes the spectrum of my peers' reactions:
1) Duh, Jobs is looking out for Apple, but he's sandwiched between the "Big Four" and the consumers in such a way that his concerns and the consumer's concerns tend to merge.
2)Taking DRM off of digital downloads isn't going to save the majors, but it also won't hurt them; it might even help. They've all gotten their feet wet in this "internet" thing but they're still acting like the water is hot lava. How about getting some of your artists to put out short, cheap digital-only EPs and singles? Remix collections? Some sort of in-house mixtape?
3) Jobs failed to mention the Sony rootkit debacle.
4) I'm not so ready to call the iPod a superior product -- or at least not so ready to give its design and specs complete credit for (what is obviously) the iPod's domination of the market. Mostly they were just there first, made the smart move (eventually) to offer a subtle but significant array of products, and (most importantly) marketed the hell out of it. I would not own an iPod right now if none of them cost less than a hundred bucks. (I might have paid more eventually -- and I might still -- but I have a shuffle on right this second because they're eighty bucks. Plus the clippy thing.) Also I know plenty of people who have had lots of problems with theirs (hi, Jane!).
5) Someone pointed out that he could probably offer DRM-free music from minor labels (or whomever) alongside his current cripples. This occurred to me, too, but there are probably either contractual obligations to consider or (maybe) technical obstacles.
BONUS RANT:
How to improve my Shuffle (aka The Plan for the Shuffle+).
Make it hold a little to a lot more (but only if it makes it a little bigger and not too much more expensive). Research in solid state tech is going to continue to miniaturize the flash drives. If my Shuffle was 50% larger, stored twice or so as much (2+ gig), and only cost an extra, say, $20? Awesome! I'll leave the actual research (and fact-finding) to the professionals, but I'm pretty sure this is doable (just take a quick look at the relative sizes and costs of different jump drives).
Add a "trash" or "flag" button. The first thing I do when I get new music is decide what to take off of my Shuffle in order to put the new stuff on. Now, while actually listening to it I always find myself skipping over familiar-sounding songs and even sometimes wondering who the hell it is I'm listening to, and/or why the hell are they taking up space? Then it occurred to me that it would be great to have a button that would automatically drop something out of the playlist on the fly, and then delete it once it was hooked back up to my computer. Instant space! On the other hand, a more ambiguous "flag" button that would just pop a list out to me might be more useful. That way I could also see what songs I like, or just what songs I want to know who sings, or whatever. A time stamp might also be useful in figuring out just what I was thinking when, and adding a small external clock might be good for the joggers and whomever. I guess at this point it's getting pretty cluttered, though, so maybe nix the clock. I would probably never use it, anyway.
You might be thinking that all of this would be easier if you just added a screen, but I think a screen would be a bad idea. The cheapest Nano is only twice as big as a Shuffle but costs nearly twice as much; I can only assume it's largely because of the screen. If I want a portable HDD with a mini-monitor, it's going to need to be a lot bigger than 8 gig, anyway (that's the biggest Nano size). Plus you have its elegant design and rugged lifestyle to conserve. Lifestyle is not the best word, but you probably know what I mean. For like people who exercise and whatever.
So, Apple, whenever you would like to hire me for product design, or even just run some beta-testing my way, you'll know where to find me. That's right: in the Comments Box.
About Jobs, his speech, and what probably constitutes the spectrum of my peers' reactions:
1) Duh, Jobs is looking out for Apple, but he's sandwiched between the "Big Four" and the consumers in such a way that his concerns and the consumer's concerns tend to merge.
2)Taking DRM off of digital downloads isn't going to save the majors, but it also won't hurt them; it might even help. They've all gotten their feet wet in this "internet" thing but they're still acting like the water is hot lava. How about getting some of your artists to put out short, cheap digital-only EPs and singles? Remix collections? Some sort of in-house mixtape?
3) Jobs failed to mention the Sony rootkit debacle.
4) I'm not so ready to call the iPod a superior product -- or at least not so ready to give its design and specs complete credit for (what is obviously) the iPod's domination of the market. Mostly they were just there first, made the smart move (eventually) to offer a subtle but significant array of products, and (most importantly) marketed the hell out of it. I would not own an iPod right now if none of them cost less than a hundred bucks. (I might have paid more eventually -- and I might still -- but I have a shuffle on right this second because they're eighty bucks. Plus the clippy thing.) Also I know plenty of people who have had lots of problems with theirs (hi, Jane!).
5) Someone pointed out that he could probably offer DRM-free music from minor labels (or whomever) alongside his current cripples. This occurred to me, too, but there are probably either contractual obligations to consider or (maybe) technical obstacles.
BONUS RANT:
How to improve my Shuffle (aka The Plan for the Shuffle+).
Make it hold a little to a lot more (but only if it makes it a little bigger and not too much more expensive). Research in solid state tech is going to continue to miniaturize the flash drives. If my Shuffle was 50% larger, stored twice or so as much (2+ gig), and only cost an extra, say, $20? Awesome! I'll leave the actual research (and fact-finding) to the professionals, but I'm pretty sure this is doable (just take a quick look at the relative sizes and costs of different jump drives).
Add a "trash" or "flag" button. The first thing I do when I get new music is decide what to take off of my Shuffle in order to put the new stuff on. Now, while actually listening to it I always find myself skipping over familiar-sounding songs and even sometimes wondering who the hell it is I'm listening to, and/or why the hell are they taking up space? Then it occurred to me that it would be great to have a button that would automatically drop something out of the playlist on the fly, and then delete it once it was hooked back up to my computer. Instant space! On the other hand, a more ambiguous "flag" button that would just pop a list out to me might be more useful. That way I could also see what songs I like, or just what songs I want to know who sings, or whatever. A time stamp might also be useful in figuring out just what I was thinking when, and adding a small external clock might be good for the joggers and whomever. I guess at this point it's getting pretty cluttered, though, so maybe nix the clock. I would probably never use it, anyway.
You might be thinking that all of this would be easier if you just added a screen, but I think a screen would be a bad idea. The cheapest Nano is only twice as big as a Shuffle but costs nearly twice as much; I can only assume it's largely because of the screen. If I want a portable HDD with a mini-monitor, it's going to need to be a lot bigger than 8 gig, anyway (that's the biggest Nano size). Plus you have its elegant design and rugged lifestyle to conserve. Lifestyle is not the best word, but you probably know what I mean. For like people who exercise and whatever.
So, Apple, whenever you would like to hire me for product design, or even just run some beta-testing my way, you'll know where to find me. That's right: in the Comments Box.
posted by PearJack at 4:46 AM
1 Comments:
Wow, I post pretty good for an insomniac; maybe I've found my muse. I'd really wanted to shoehorn in a joke about how all of Brightblack Morning Light's songs sound exactly alike, but...well, I guess here it is.
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