Archive for the 'Apple' Category

Go Put Your Records On: A Review of iTunes LP

Published by Jarred on September 10, 2009 in Apple, Business and Music. Comments

A while ago, I suggested that physical books may become to reading what vinyl records have become to music: produced in limited numbers, used by the very few who know it to be the best quality experience, but mostly collected for their nostalgic value.  It appears that this comparison may be inapt, because record companies, with some help from Apple, are trying to bring the vinyl experience back to life.

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOeSNQDltM0">http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOeSNQDltM0</a>

I am a pretty rabid fan of a little music ensemble called Dave Matthews Band.  You might have heard of them.  I just returned from a trip with my brother to the ostensible Mecca of DMB fandom: the band’s annual three-night stand at The Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington.  Counting this weekend, I have been to 16 of their concerts.  I have all of their studio albums, most of their official live releases (they number in the double digits), and countless (legal) amateur recordings of other shows.  The total track count in my iTunes library for the band and their side projects numbers over 800.

But if you think those numbers are sickening, try these on for size.  I am such an unabashed fanboy of the band that when they released their latest studio album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, I ended up buying it in two different formats:

  • the iTunes Pass version ($20), because along with the album tracks it also came with (so far) 16 extra pieces of exclusive video, studio audio, and live audio content delivered piecemeal over time;
  • the (physical) Deluxe Box Set ($60) which included the same extra studio audio as above, did not include video or live audio, but added in extra artwork and photos.

Let’s pass over the rather obvious and self-admitted fact that I have obsession issues.  The interesting thing about the information above is that I had to pay $80 – eight times the album price – to get what might be called the total media experience available in physical or digital form.  Isn’t there a way to merge these two, and make it less expensive (and therefore more attractive) to feel like you truly own not only the music, but the album experience itself?  This is the question Apple has asked as sales of entire albums in the iTunes Store have dwindled, with consumers instead opting to buy tracks piecemeal.  Their first answer was a service called iTunes Pass.

iTunes Pass was Apple’s first attempt at solving the riddle of how to replicate the experience of buying a box set or, to go even further back in time, a vinyl.  You pay twice the normal album price, but in addition to the entire album itself, you get extra “special” content: early track releases ahead of the full album sale date, demo tracks, live tracks, the entire cover leaflet, videos, and more.  What makes it more interesting is that this extra content is not delivered all at once, but it is sent to you over time.  So every week or two, you have a nice little mini-Christmas when you find a new video or exclusive track to enjoy.  This rolling delivery method also enables access to content that might not otherwise be available on the album release date — like, say, live versions of tracks from the band’s tour.

I am not aware of how successful iTunes Pass has been, but it apparently was not satisfactory.  Yesterday, Apple supplemented that service with the long-rumored iTunes LP.  Both Apple and the record labels were interested in going beyond iTunes Pass to renew the “retro” experience of going to a store and buying a big, beautiful LP, and combining that with the feeling of exclusivity that comes with owning an exclusive content-filled box set.

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Lala: Send Your Music To The Cloud

Published by Jarred on December 9, 2008 in Apple, Business, Music, Social Networks and Web 2.0. Comments

There are a whole lot of companies and products trying to be “The Next Big Thing” in digital music.  Apple’s iTunes is clearly dominant these days, a combined result of its deep (and sometimes exclusive) catalog offerings, easy-to-use software, and killer hardware lineup.  Add to that the tight integration between those three, and you truly have a killer combo.  Amazon seems to have posed the biggest challenge to the Apple machine so far, competing agressively with lower prices (around $0.79/track and $5.00/album as opposed to $0.99 and $9.99 respectively for Apple) as well as DRM-free tracks.  One area in which both Apple and Amazon have failed to innovate, however, is universal accessibility to your music.

The Problem

First, let me describe my music set-up and listening habits:

  • My music, currently totaling 4,415 tracks, lives on my laptop’s hard drive.  That corpus of music is duplicated in its entirety in two other places: my backup hard drive, and on my iPod.  I use my iPod primarily to play along with music on the drums, but also in the car through an audio-in jack.
  • Using a playlist, I’ve designated a subset of that music (right now, 850 tracks, or about 20% of my total collection) to sync onto my iPhone; when I walked/bused/metroed for an hour every day in D.C., this came in handy.  Now that I bike to work most days in about 15 minutes, I have a no-music commute.
  • While I could take my iPod to work and have all my music on hand, I know that inevitably I’ll leave it there one night and want it for the drums, or it’ll run out of juice and I won’t have a cord, or something.  And given that there seems to have been a rash of disappearing devices at work recently — including my G1 and a coworker’s iPod — I try to minimize the gadgetry I have (and perhaps accidentally leave) at the office.  So, until recently, I would just fire up Pandora.

So the biggest question I’ve faced with regards to music is this: “How do I access my entire collection of music remotely without having to bring along a separate device?”  Earlier this year, I tried a product from SimplifyMedia that let you listen remotely through iTunes (or the iPhone), but I encountered too much lag.  For the past month or two, however, I’ve been trying out a new service called Lala.  Lala is a completely web-based music jukebox and storefront.  While that’s pretty standard, the real beauty of Lala can be found in two key offerings: the Lala Music Mover and web-only purchases.

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Stepping Back from the Mac

Published by Jarred on June 30, 2008 in Apple, Consumer Behavior and Reading. Comments

Last Tuesday, my otherwise trusty MacBook sputtered out for the second time in six months.  In February, I returned home to find my white plastic-encased sidekick unable to boot up.  One new hard drive later, I was back in action (Apple’s awesome Time Machine utility saved me from any data loss).  Unfortunately, I had to relive this scenario last week when my MacBook wouldn’t revive after a routine reboot.  And so it was, after a painless call to AppleCare tech support, that I shipped my MacBook off to let the wizards work their magic on my poor, sick machine.

(Don’t worry, Mac lovers, this isn’t a hate-on-Apple post.  I’d much rather have my backed-up MacBook die every six to twelve months, and be bug-free in the interim, than have a constantly bogged down PC frustrate me on a daily basis.  What’s more, AppleCare was impeccable with their service.  I called them on Wednesday, and they had a box to me for my MacBook on Thursday morning.  They received, repaired, and reshipped it on Friday, and it’s been in D.C. since Saturday.)

In the period between shipping my computer to Apple’s repair depot and this moment, I’ve enjoyed a nice weekend away from the computer.  It’s true that I cheated a little and used my roommate’s iMac to do some quick e-mail checking and such.  And although I don’t exactly count the Kindle as a computer, I did spend some significant time with it as well.  My computer vacation, though,  has made me realize just how much of my free time revolves around my laptop.

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Monday Links: May 12, 2008

Published by Taylor on May 11, 2008 in Apple, Energy, Environment, Facebook, Monday Links, Politics, Social Networks and Sustainability. Comments

Since I was so focused on philanthropy blogging last week, I have a backlog of environmental and web 2.0 news to share. This could be a long list of links, but it should keep you busy for a while.

Social networking? Despite all of the attention paid to it in (occasionally breathless) media coverage . . . Facebook, MySpace, et al have not proven to be terribly effective tools for campaigns. Does anyone really think that the fact that Obama has five times as many Facebook friends as Hillary Clinton has turned out to be significant? Demographically interesting and revealing, sure, but actually relevant to how the Democratic primary process has gone so far?

  • Treehugger highlights a really simple, useful, accurate biofuels comparison chart from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I don’t mean to be a constant cheerleader for algae but…geewillikers, Batman, switch grass and algae look like the best possibilities in that graphic.

[Obama's] response to Clinton’s gas tax proposal was to reject it as a Washington gimmick that would . . . do nothing to address long-term energy issues. That rejection was coupled with a principled energy platform that would address those issues.

Why not try the same thing in WV and KY? Start by telling the truth: as president, he would stop the expansion of dirty coal. [...]

Of course, it’s crucial to couple this with a positive message . . . that means “green jobs,” but more than just that. It means stimulating the development of other industries and revenue sources by spending on infrastructure, education, public works programs, and a decent social safety net. An Obama administration will try to pay these areas back for the sacrifices they’ve made in the name of providing the country with cheap electricity.

It probably wouldn’t help him win WV or KY . . . [but] [m]aybe he could defy conventional wisdom by treating rural white voters like adults, helping them plan a real path to economic health and sustainability rather than telling them fairy tales about the continuing viability of earth’s dirtiest fuel.

  • The Library of Congress has a Flickr account. From what I can tell, there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the photos (relatively modest in number) that they post. Case in point, “Auto Polo.” Like polo only using early automobiles in place of horses…Jesus.

    • auto polo

After the auto polo photo, I don’t really have anything else to say. Happy Monday.

Conversation about the future of books

Published by Jarred on January 17, 2008 in Apple, Books, Business, Consumer Behavior, Culture, Gadgets and Reading. Comments

If you haven’t noticed, there is a great discussion taking place in the comments of my last post.  Several readers are chiming in with great insight about the Amazon Kindle, books, and reading in general.  Check it out, and join in!