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Is what one analyst is saying Apple is doing with iTunes Music Store and the iPod. The New York Times article compared that to Microsoft's idea of selling the XBox at a loss so that they could make a profit on software. But the Microsoft Home Entertainment division lost nearly $1 Billion last year. It is available at the New York Times web site, but it is a paid archive also by now.
Notice how more and more sites are doing this as they determine that advertising alone won't pay the bills. Even when they are selling names to spammers.
Sidebar: Lynn, twenty years ago the product development department would drive the marketing department... today it's the other way around. Microsoft drove the concept to an art, now the others follow. They discovered all the benefits of locking a popular software to another 'new' software or hardware add-ons. The printer industry caught on big time; they practicaly give away the printers knowing the user will have to return again and again to buy exorbitantly inflated ink cartridges. Cheap tunes from the Apple Music store are MP4, which require the new QuickTime. It's not such a big deal to have millions of users upgrade to the latest QuickTime -- it's the marketing data they're after. At least they were smart enough not to require an iPod to play those tunes. And, as predicted, the users are smart enough to break the music files out of the iTunes lock. . . Fred
Got comments? Suggestions? Gripes? Praise? Let us know about it...
Dave Storm who writes a weekly column called the "Web Informant" took on storage devices this week. Starting out by saying "Remember the floppy disk? I haven't had one on any of my computers that I routinely use and I don't miss them at all." But he goes on moving through each generation of media until he gets to a portable hard drive. Of course, his drive of choice is the iPod. I think that is one thing that people never stop to think about when talking about the price of the iPod over another music player. That is, it isn't just a music player. MP3s are nice, but, to be able to transport useful files in the drive that also can play MP3s really makes it worth while. Read Dave's article!
Technology Research News on January 9, 2004 reported that by using layers of molecules as bits in hybrid organic/silicon devices, they can make smaller storage devices. It says that hybrid semiconductor/organic memory could become practical in two to five years. They were quoting a November 2003 article in Science magazine. (Note: as of this writing it is still available for free. It might not be by the time you read this.)Technology Research News
The New Zealand Herald ran an article about how the law firm of Brookfield decided to spend $165,000 to upgrade to Macs as opposed to buying new PCs. It was already a large Mac user with 64 iMacs in use. The new upgrade will be to replace 145 PCs. They specifically said that they would need to double the size of their support staff to stay with PCs. The article is only available through a paid archive at this point.
CinemaNow, which has been renting movies via download has started selling the films. To see what you can purchase go to http://www.cinemanow.com/browse.aspx?channelId=30. Prices are generally $14.99. More recent titles are not yet available, but should help prove that the business model works. Blockbuster and Microsoft are investors in the program. So it sounds like you can download and then burn to your own DVD.
Apple has released updates for Appleworks. There are three updates available, one each for classic OS, Mac OSX and for Windows. All three updates are free to registered users of AppleWorks 6.0 and later. Get them at: Apple dot com ... or read about what the updates do at TidBits.com
The Baltimore Sun had an article about how Palm is building Wi-Fi coffee shops near upscale stores to get people easy Internet access via their Palm computers. So far, they have open 8 stores. That is a far cry from Apple's 74 stores, let alone comparing them to one of the big electronic firms, but it is a start. Hopefully it will catch on. It's in the Baltimore Sun
User group friend Andy Ihnatko appeared on Your Mac Life last week and said that all his Internet material has now been moved to a new URL. I guess it is no longer a waste of bandwidth as it is now. It' called Andy "i" dot com
I was really hoping that Apple would put out a second "20th Anniversary Mac." The first was done in 1997 in honor of Apple's 20th year. But I don't think it will happen. I write this on Friday the 23rd. So it is still possible. Meanwhile, PC World magazine has a good article about what Apple taught and learned with the Macintosh. Read it at: pcworld.com
Found a new product or program you really like? Found some new shareware you like? Read any good computer books lately?
Why not share your reviews and opinions with thousands of other user group members as well as non user group readers! Or perhaps you just like to have your articles or reviews published to a much wider audience. It's as easy as copy and paste. UGN Submit Articles
You won't be after you read this software review from Frank Petrie. He picks up Boinx Software's new iRecordNow shareware to show you some pretty cool tricks you can do with iSite. UGN Articles Department
OmniWeb was the first state of the art browser for OS X. It lacked some desired functions, but kept improving with each subsequent release. Today it's even more integrated with OS X -- OmniWeb v4.5
If you run ethernet, broadband, or any "always connected" network on the Mac OS X, then you need to monitor outgoing network connections. "Once you see how many people are trying to get into your system, you'll gladly pay the shareware fee!" -- Try it now
If you need to have Macs and PCs at peace with each other over the network you should take a look at Lava Software. Their new PC-Mac-Net FileShare allows you to share files easily and securely between computers connected over a Local Area Network (LAN) or the Internet -- and -- across the Windows, MacOS X and MacOS Classic platforms
Aladdin claims that IC will: Remove Spyware; Protect privacy; Block Ads; Delete Tracking Devices; Shred confidential files". Well, let's see.
This multimedia flashcard application makes it easy for educators, parents and trainers to build self-paced lessons, quizzes and even game shows with lots of features. See: Studycard
Sick and tired of seeing all those drag-n-drop iPhoto gallerys on the web? We cringe each time a someone sends an invitation to their gallery. But they don't have to be boring. Quickie Web Albums are easy to create and offer a lot of power for customization including CSS style sheets! Read more. . .
View your images through this unique, intuitive interface including full screen mode, quick image sorting, printing -- with easy digital camera import. (Mac OS X) Read more. . .
The Mac OSs called ScrapBook returns for OS X in a uber-Clipboard app that will rekindle your respect for the clipboard! Read more. . .
If you want to control many aspects of OS X, throw away all those many apps to handle these functions -- replace them all with Mac Pilot's extensive collection of tools for Mac OS X Read more. . .
"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field."
- Niels Bohr
"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."
- Donald Laird
"Sleep is the best meditation."
- Dalai Lama
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
Have a great week...
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