• online music

    Apple and other online music retailers get their way

    The Copyright Royalty Board, an obscure agency which has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to its role in arbitrating rates for digital music distribution, has frozen the price online music stores have to pay to artists and labels at a little over nine cents. The music industry had been lobbying for an increase to around fifteen cents, would likely have erased the notoriously slim margins Apple enjoys at the iTunes Music Store. Not that Apple would have cared, since it's all about the iPod business anyway and the company was ostensibly willing to shut down digital download sales if it didn't get its way.

    3:20 PM on Thu Oct 2 2008
    By Jackson West
    218 views, 1 comment

    Latest by WagCurious: Apple was as likely to shut down the iTunes store as you are likely to post the article on the more »

  • iphone

    Apple drops hated iPhone app NDA, obliquely blames Microsoft

    Apple made developers who wanted to write applications for the iPhone sign a non-disclosure agreement that was rigorous it even forbade them from publishing Apple's letters rejecting their app from its iTunes store. More seriously, the NDA also prevented developers from learning from each others mistakes and publishers from writing how-to manuals for would-be application developers. So after loud complaints, Apple today announced it would drop the non-disclosure agreement for released iPhone software. Developers rejoiced. Explaining the need for the NDA in the first place, Apple also landed a few only slightly veiled jabs at an old rival, Microsoft. I couldn't help but be reminded of a scene from Pirates of Silicon Valley, which I've embedded below. More »

    8:40 AM on Wed Oct 1 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    970 views, 5 comments

    Most discussed fullman: Too bad the iPhone SDK doesn't actually have much in terms of original, unique features, otherwise that quoted paragraph would more »

  • royalties

    Apple's latest iTunes temper tantrum

    The National Music Publishers Association wants to raise the rate it charges Apple for each song shoppers purchase via iTunes from 9 cents to 15 cents. Apple wants to lower the rate to 4.6 cents and says that if it doesn't get its way, it might just shutter iTunes altogether. In a letter to the Copyright Royalty Board, the deciding body on the issue, iTunes VP Eddy Cue wrote: "Apple has made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably." If the NMPA wins, it'll cost Apple an extra $144 million, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs has always said the whole point of iTunes is to drive hardware sales. Maybe Cue should try holding his breath. (Photo by majorvols)

    7:40 AM on Wed Oct 1 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    594 views, 4 comments

    Most discussed Norcross: It isn't going to "cost" Apple $144 million. It'll reduce the revenue, but I think Apple can just add a more »

  • online video

    Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising" kind of available free online

    The latest shockumentary from portly auteur Michael Moore, Slacker Uprising, has launched today. To watch the film, you have to sign up with an email address. While Moore says his fans should go ahead and download it, there's no actual link to do that. And you can't embed the whole film on third-party sites without pulling some code from the bowels of the HTML source — which I've done here, while also restoring the "share" button so you can easily post it yourself wherever you like. Heck, if Moore just wants the film out there, why not distribute it on BitTorrent and save on bandwidth costs? More »

    1:20 PM on Tue Sep 23 2008
    By Jackson West
    914 views, 13 comments

    Most discussed colonelpanic: But go ahead, Jackson, and continue your Valley-esque wank/rant about how techies are superior and old media tycoons like Weinstein more »

  • How not to get rejected for the iTunes App Store

    After Apple banned iPhone app Podcaster from its iTunes App Store, CNET called Podcaster the iPhone app that's "so good, Apple won't let you have it." Apple hasn't said why, but it's widely believed that the app was banned for competing with the iPhone's built-in podcast-downloading software. But blogger Niall Kennedy writes that he tested the Podcaster app according to Apple's stated rules, and discovered three reasons Apple might have legitimately rejected Alex Sokirynsky's app. More »

    1:40 PM on Wed Sep 17 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    1,578 views, 1 comment

    Latest by mikelikespie: This is kind of old news. more »

  • itunes 8

    Latest Windows malware comes from Apple

    Running on Windows Vista, Apple's iTunes 8 isn't actually a computer virus, according to WordNet's strict definition of term as "a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer." But that's only because iTunes 8 doesn't replicate itself and spread other computers. It is causing plenty of harm to computers, according to complainers on an Apple Support forum. They say they're seeing Windows's infamous "blue screen of death" reboot screen anytime a user plugs in an iPod or iPhone and launches iTunes 8 at the same time. We can already hear th fanboys telling us how this is all Microsoft's fault. (Photo by tomeppy)

    10:00 AM on Fri Sep 12 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    741 views, 10 comments

    Most discussed Robert Synnott: Actually, it does sound like Microsoft's fault, unless Apple is actually installing a kernel-space driver. (Are they?) User-mode applications simply more »

  • great moments in pr

    Dan Lyons catches Apple employees pretending to be fanboys

    Steve Jobs's latest Applefest was a nonevent, with nothing more to show than updates to the iPod line and iTunes software. But the cheers at the glorified press conference yesterday were as blustery as they ever are at Apple events. Newsweek's Dan Lyons must have been bored by what was being said on stage, because he was paying more attention to the rest of the audience. He reports that much of the crowd was clapping so loud because they were paid to. More »

    2:20 PM on Wed Sep 10 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    813 views, 7 comments

    Most discussed celery: To be fair, most Apple employees really are starry-eyed Apple fanboys. more »

  • online video

    "Battlestar Galactica," "Heroes," and NBC shows we don't watch back on iTunes

    Chalk up a rare victory for NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker in doing what few can: He stared down Steve Jobs and won. NBC shows like Heroes and Battlestar Galactica are returning to iTunes, but on NBC's terms. Almost exactly a year ago, NBC packed up its toys and left Apple's iTunes store over a pricing dispute. Apple insisted on sticking with one price for TV shows. But with today's announcements of new iPods, Jobs showed off NBC shows available again — at $0.99 for old shows, $1.99 for new shows, and HD for $2.99. NBC shows represented roughly 40 percent of iTunes video sales before they vanished from the store.

    1:40 PM on Tue Sep 9 2008
    By Alaska Miller
    711 views, 5 comments

    Most discussed WagCurious: It's called the split people. Has no one in the valley worked in TV? $1.99 was not the amount getting passed more »

  • developers, developers, developers

    iPhone-app developers say Apple won't let them fix bugs quickly

    Something we bet Steve Jobs won't be discussing on stage at this morning's iPod event: The third-party developers who create apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch say Apple takes a week or more to approve updates — even bug fixes. Apple also doesn't communicate with the developers to tell them why or how long their updates will be delayed. Fraser Speiers, who developed the Exposure Flickr application for the iPhone, told Macworld:
    I don't have a problem with updates being reviewed but it has to go a lot faster. Given the no-demos rule, an app lives or dies by App Store reviews. It's incredibly frustrating to watch review after review complain about a bug that you fixed and "shipped" two weeks ago.
    More »

    10:00 AM on Tue Sep 9 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    417 views, Comment

  • Pull My Finger app rejected by Apple

    Victor Wang — huh-huh — from Apple emailed the author of the Pull My Finger app, shown above, to explain that the interactive fart-noise program was deemed "of limited utility to the broad user community." I wonder what would happen if they applied a "utility" standard to the music videos sold through the same store? Wang's full email: More »

    2:20 PM on Thu Sep 4 2008
    By Paul Boutin
    1,582 views, 9 comments

    Latest by ianoid: There should be a "Waste of Time" section in the itunes app store. A fart sound generator would fit right more »