The iPod turns 14

14 years ago Steve Jobs announced the iPod, and this is how people reacted: https://t.co/uPimSbiC6j (via reddit) pic.twitter.com/8WuBYps6Mh

— Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) October 25, 2015

I love the idea that just possibly Steve Jobs read the post and went "hey, a glorified consumer gimmicks firm... that could just work..."

But that's not all. There's also this tweet in reply to that tweet:

@MaxCRoser Providing people with the ability to listen to music all day was one of the most socially idiotic things anyone has done.

— Dick Winchester (@DickWinchester) October 25, 2015

We already had the ability to listen to music all day before the iPod, didn't we? Unless there was some limit to how long you were allowed to have a radio switched on for, or the unspooling of a tape wasn't just a mechanical fault but a government-mandated event designed to cause a gap in music consumption.

I presume that Dick's real beef is that people listen to music with earphones - similar to one of Joe Elliott's moans. But, again, that's not exactly an invention of Apple (although you wouldn't put it past them to try and snaffle a patent on it).

Bookmarks: The iPod

Did you know a British guy invented the iPod? No, no, not Jonathan Ive; Kane Kramer came up with idea - even patenting it, and building in DRM, back in 1979. Despite selling some preproduction units, he was ahead of his time; his patent lapsed and he even wound up being called as a witness when Apple was fighting its own patent battles. Wired has the full story and pics. And remember: this was from the year the Walkman was introduced:

Kramer came up with the idea for a pocket-sized, portable solid state music player with a friend, James Campbell. Kramer was 23, Campbell 21. The IXI System had a display screen and buttons for four-way navigation. In a report presented to investors in 1979, the IXI was described as being the size of a cigarette packet. Is this sounding familiar yet?

Back in 1979, a memory chip would store a paltry three and a half minutes of music. Kramer fully expected this to improve, and confidently foresaw a market for reliable, high quality digital music players which would be popular with both consumers and the record labels. It could actually be argued that he was still ahead of Apple after the firat iPod went on sale — that had a hard drive and Kramer had moved onto flash memory years earlier.

[With thanks to @curiousiguana]

Spotify: iSpod

Spotify edges a step nearer to being, if not an iTunes killer, at least some sort of viable alternative, as it adds the power to sync playlists with iPods:



(They're wrong about albums somehow having come "after" singles, unless you consider a 78 to be a "single"; clearly, the concept of a "single" required a comparative "album" concept to make some sort of sense.)

By the time they launch in America, they're going to have a compelling offer. If they ever launch in America.

He hasn't got Atari Teenage Riot on his Apple iPod...

Missed this during the election week: Apple have apparently turned down an Atari Teenage Riot app lest it be used to create riots. Alongside the songs there was sounds of an actual riot, which, apparently, could be bad:

According to a press release, those sounds include "very low sub basses, square waves, noise sounds which trigger hysteria and panic within the audience." So your iPhone could make a whole lot of people very uncomfortable, if hooked up to big speakers-- which ATR encourages, via press release.

It's not that Apple are worried about the social implications, but 'making a horrible noise which gives people the willies' is covered by a patent that Justin Beiber holds.

EU: Turn it down, Apple

Doubtless Nigel Farrage will be on the televisions now, insisting that it's every Englishman's right to bugger his hearing without being told not to by an edict from Brussels, but that's what's going to happen. The EU is going to instruct personal audio manufacturers to set a lower default sound level on devices sold in the future.

Zune: Where's the life, there's hope

There's still hope for the Zune brand... no, really, apparently a new chip will change the game for the never-released-outside-North-America Microsoft iPod:

Graphics chip giant Nvidia has announced that the next iteration of the Vole's player, the Zune HD, will be armed with a dual-core Tegra processor.

Based on blueprints from Brit chip shop ARM, one of the two processor cores will take care of the operating system, and graphics duties will be taken over by an Nvidia Geforce GPU.

Yes. That's what people say when they find themselves in the dark corner of the electronics shop, looking at the forlorn, working-example-free Zune stand: "if only it had a dual processor, that would really sweeten the deal for me."

The problem for Zune is not performance of the equipment - those who own one speak highly of what it does - but is one of making a product which really manages to shift the perception that it's a me-too poor person's iPod from the people who make your office computer. That's got nothing to do with the chipset. Which is a pity for Microsoft, as a chipset can be easily replaced.

Exploding iPods; exploding Liverpudlians

It was, perhaps, tiresome of Apple to put a non-disclosure agreement into a refund for an exploding iPod Touch. Because it ends up with this sort of story, where a Liverpool father is now suing Apple and bringing far more attention to the story than it would have got had they just cut the cheque.

The incident itself sounds well sci-fi:

[His solicitor] said: “On Saturday July 4, he dropped [his daughter's iPod Touch] and when he bent down to pick it up he noticed it was making a hissing noise. He could feel it becoming hotter in his hand and at this point it emitted a clear vapour.

“Mr Stanborough threw it in his back garden and within seconds, he heard a noise similar to a firework going off and saw a 10ft plume of smoke.

Then an army of angry nanobots flew out the earphone socket, intent on turning Liverpool into a grey goo. You can see why Apple would want to hush that up.

What in an iPod would cause such a reaction?

Microsoft: Ah, you've got to love them for trying, haven't you

Microsoft haven't quite given up on the Zune yet. Not quite. Look, they've made an advert with someone who got fired on the US Apprentice:



Ah yes. Rather than pay an entirely notional $30,000 to fill up an iPod, instead, make an open-ended commitment to pay Redmond fifteen real bucks a month until they finally get bored pouring millions away each year on the Zune and axe the product. Deal!

[via Engadget]

Nails hammer Apple

To be frank, ranked in the list of Apple embarrassments, the Nine Inch Nails u-turn won't really make the top ten (it's no Newton) but the decision to restore Nine Inch Nails' app to the app store is quite important. It suggests that Apple have managed to get back a bit of perspective after the wobble post-baby shaker.

Curiously, Cupertino have nothing to say about the change of heart:

Apple have refused to explain their change of heart, saying: "It's not something we comment on."

- but they were happy enough to comment on the time they reversed their decision and did ban baby shaker. So, still a small problem with consistency, there.

Apple's DRM heading to court

The iPod is great, but what if you don't want to use iTunes to sync your music to it? For a while, you could consult a website called BluWiki, which offered crowdsourced advice on how to use other software to load your device. But then Apple leaned on BluWiki, and the forum was closed.

The computer comnpany suggested that, should BluWiki have continued to share the advice, it could be considered to be inviting people to "circumvent the DRM". God forbid that if you pay a couple of a hundred quid for a music player, you be able to decide how to use it.

Now, though, the lawsuits are flowing in the opposite direction, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation co-sponsor a claim that Apple are stifling free speech:

According to the EFF, Apple alleged this type of discussion constituted copyright infringement, as it strongly guards iTunes' status as an exclusive content delivery and management tool for all iPod and iPhone hardware.

Fred von Lohmann, EFF senior staff lawyer, argued: "It's legal to engage in reverse engineering in order to create a competing product, it's legal to talk about reverse engineering, and it's legal for a public wiki to host these discussions."

Free speech versus DRM. Which is better? There's only one way to find out...

Zune finally overhauls "other" mp3 players

What, exactly, are the millions Microsoft has poured into Zune getting it? Besides snarky headlines when they discover they can't cope with leap years?

Well, according to Piper Jaffray's biannual Teen Survey, not very much. The US teens surveyed reported Zune ownership at 4% which is, admittedly, up a percentage point on this time last year. But the iPod is at 86%, as high as it was this time last year - and, with a terrible symmetry, 4% higher than it was when the Zune launched.

In other words: Apple has increased its market share amongst teens at the same rate as Microsoft.

The real sting, though? 100% of the teens who intend to buy a new player this year say they're thinking of getting an iPod. Sure, some of those who go the store might be swayed by getting the same sort of thing in a Zune-shaped package for a little less (if they find them in the store), but to know that nobody thinks of your device as a default wish-list item must be a little disappointing.

[The survey only interviewed 600 teenagers; 19% said they intended to buy a new player in the next twelve months. Story via The Licensing Plate]

Talking shuffles

Apple have just launched a new iPod Shuffle - it's even tinier than the last, and will announce songs in a crisp, clear voice to make up for the lack of a screen. It might be wise to teach it to yell "over here", too, what it with it being so small.

Oh, and the hard drive is four times the size of the second generation models.

BPI charts company tries surprising 'pay to buy' model

Just making its debut on the iTunes app store is a little application from the Official Chart Company which lets you look at the charts. Music Ally is surprised:

But hang on, any savvy iPhone user can simply visit the Radio 1 website every Sunday and get that info...

Ah, but there is a unique selling point:

Well, the OCC is hoping its app’s extra features will make it tempting, with the ability to preview and buy tracks on the iTunes Store, stream videos for some tracks from YouTube, browse that week’s new releases, and click through to artist websites.

Aha - so it's a useful tool to allow people to move from grazing the charts onto buying the music. That's quite savvy. Giving away a nice shiny app to play with charts in the hope of making some sales. Good wo... hang about, what's this?

It costs £1.79 to download the app, although...

Although you get your money back? It's free if you're in the UK? That comes with a free iTunes purchase?

although this will soon rise to £2.99.

Oh. So you want me to give you three quid for a device to sell music to me? You know what else lets me click through to artist websites? Google. You know what that costs me? Nothing.

James Taylor covers the taxi fare

Earlier this week, Chris Elliott's excellent traveller-consumer blog featured a story about a woman who was forced to give up her iPod to a New York taxi driver when his credit card machine failed.

There's a happy ending, though: James Taylor has given the victim a brand new iPod, ready-filled with his back catalogue.

It's a lovely gesture. Let's not spoilt the moment by pointing out that, actually, he's not allowed to do that under the RIAA laws and rules, and, technically, he should be taken to court.

Dude, you're not getting a Dell

Dell had been rumouring plans to launch a new mp3 player device - an iPod killer, naturally - but it's quietly dropping the idea. So, less an iPod killer, more an mp3 device which saw market conditions, and dug out its pearl-handled revolver.

RupePod

In words that will, I suspect, cause less than no fear in the offices of Apple, MySpace's Chris DeWolfe has hinted that, you know, the high design quality brought by MySpace to the web could be applied to producing one of those elusive beasts, an iPod killer:

[H]e also intimated that the social network could have an even bigger target in its sights – Apple, the company behind the massively successful iPod. Asked whether the company would consider making its own MP3 player to build on its reputation in online music, DeWolfe replied cryptically that "it's possible".

To be fair, this is less a sign that Everyone's friend Tom is busily trying to work out how to put glittery unicorn stickers onto a Walkman than DeWolfe just attempting to be enigmatic, but if I was the manufacturer of any sort of mp3 player, I'd be calling uncle Rupert and asking if he'd fancy slapping his ugly logo on one of my unloved machines.

All you need is a hell of a lot of money

We're alerted by an email from Gary W to Bloomingdales and the enormous store of Beatles-related tat - including this, a Beatles-branded iPod. Of course, with The Beatles still not yet available on iTunes, in order to get the band's music onto your iPod, you'll need to rip them from CD, so the set comes with the back catalogue on disc.

Of course, you're - strictly speaking - not legally allowed to rip from a CD you own to an mp3 player (that, at least, is what RIAA have told courts while under oath, and the RIAA wouldn't lie). So, for your eight hundred bucks- yes, eight hundred bucks - you would have to play the records on your CD player while pretending to listen to them on your iPod. It's just like the real thing, only without upsetting Yoko Ono.

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet

The Register praises the oft-overlooked baby of the iPod family, the shuffle:

The colour scheme has been changed again, but in essence a Shuffle bought, say, September 2006 will do exactly what one bought in September 2008.

Apple promises less iPod than ever before

Tucked into the hoopla around the unveiling of iTunes 8, and purple Nanos and a Touch with volume buttons on the side and all the other wonders of the Apple world: Apple have dumped the 160GB iPod, meaning you now can't get a model with anything more than a 120GB classic. I'm not entirely sure I'm excited at the prospect of less storage as a selling point.

Apple hooks up with Snow Patrol

In a bid to make the prospect of a new Snow Patrol album even more thrilling, Polydor and Apple are launching a superspecial iPhone app, reports Music Week:

The application, which will be downloadable online, will enable fans to access a raft of extra content including artwork, behind-the-scenes images and lyrics via the touch screen of their handsets, marking the first time a music artist has made use of the iPhone’s extra capabilities.

If you think that sentence suggests a tenuous grasp on the technology underpinning the marketing idea, you might be right. Music Week continues:

The popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch homescreen applications has shot up in recent months as consumers look for ways to customise their handsets.

You don't think, perhaps, the increasing popularity of apps "in recent months" might have more to do with, erm, the launch of the apps store on July 10th and them suddenly becoming available, then?

Meanwhile, Bruce Houghton at Hypebot has worked himself up into a state:

if labels allow Steve Jobs to control content delivery vehicle then only iPhone and iTouch users will experience all that an artist is trying to convey. New album cover applications must be multi-platform and open source or the music industry risks a repeat of Apple's pre-mp3 stranglehold on music sales.

Apple had a pre-mp3 stranglehold on music sales? Back in 1997? Or does Houghton mean "before mp3 stores became widely available, because the music industry was too afraid to sell files that weren't wrapped up in DRM?

Apple weren't strangleholding the market while the music industry prayed for a more open standard - the industry deliberately chose to ignore an option that would have handed back a little more control to the customer; if Apple strangled them, it was consenual erotic asphyxiation.

Houghton does have a point - it would be much happier for everyone if this new stuff was available in an open format instead of being tied to a single brand or store, but for that to happen, the record labels would have to accept that their extra-value material would be published in a way that people could take it and use it and share it on without payment. It's hard to see why, given the current mindset of the big labels, they'd invest cash in developing stuff designed to persuade people to buy an official download only for the exclusivity to evaporate in the same way that of the original song had, too.

Still, Houghton is clearly alarmed, even appending a message to the foot of his blog post:

SPREAD THE WORD: PLEASE DIGG, STUMBLE & EMAIL THIS POST

Yes! Email it to ten people, and instruct them to reply to you with details of the ten people they've emailed it to within the hour, or the music industry will DIE. It's a plan for a label to try a pilot scheme which basically involves tacking a couple of extra files onto a digital download. It doesn't quite require the caps lock urgency of a call to petition for a stay of execution for a prisoner to be killed at sun down.