Jon Bon Jovi enters “Hey, kid. Get off my lawn” territory

by kevindooley

Jon Bon Jovi Blames Steve Jobs for ‘Killing the Music Industry’
[Via Daring Fireball]

Dave Wiskus nails it:

You know who never complains about the shift to digital music? People who buy and listen to music.

Update: Fireballed. Cached here.

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The music industry killed the music industry. And, in particular, the CD.This is like someone who made of songs for 78s talking about the uselessness of cassette tapes. Or those who bought 45s talking about LPs.

Here is my scenario.

The idea of selling an album of music for $15 lasted for only a short time. Before that, it was mainly singles or short tunes – a 78 could hold 3 minutes per side; a 45 even less. The LP, which brought in the idea of buying an entire album, could have perhaps 30 minutes a side – about 20 in stereo..

The LP only lasted about 20 years before CDs signaled the beginning of the digital age. Whereas many early LPs had an entire album’s  worth of good music -say 35-40 – the CD format, which had 70 minutes of space, introduced a technical problem –  people wanted all the space filled. When comfronted with a $15 price for a CD, people wanted it to have 70 minutes of songs.

When the 40 minute LP was simply put on the CD, people felt it should be cheaper, that they were not getting ‘full’ value. So the studios began having artists produce up to 70 minutes of music on the same sort of timeframe that before they only needed 40. Before, there might be one great song, several good ones and maybe one dud. That covered 40 minutes or so.

In the CD age, except for amazing artists, the general CD became one great song,several good ones and 30 minutes of duds. In fact, most of the album night be duds, in order to fill the CD and make it look like a better value.

Few artists could produce at the level now needed. More and more people felt ripped off by paying for a whole album while only getting one good sone. There were no markets anymore for single, so people started creating their own, usually by copying the tunes, illegally.

Apple pretty much stopped that mass exodus by making it very easy to get digital singles. But the days when CDs could be forced onto customers is gone. Deal with it. Create an album worth paying for all the songs.

But don’t blame the one guy who provided the industry with anyway out.

Talk about underestimating demand

by traceyp3031

Overwhelming iPad 2 demand continues, Apple’s online orders now ship in 4-5 weeks
[Via AppleInsider]

Apple on Tuesday was forced again to delay estimated shipping times for new iPad 2 orders, as those who buy must now wait four to five weeks for their order to be sent.

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So, they sell over 1 million iPads over the first few days and now online orders may take a month to receive. I wonder if Apple is prioritizing some for stores, since they have so many outlets. Also, with 18 models to produce, it is not surprising to see that they did not meet demand exactly. Turns out the ATT model was much more popular, most likely since it can be used in much of the rest of the world on the gray market.

I wonder if people will wait a month or go get a Xoom? Doesn’t sound like it:

Xoom sales have been underwhelming. While marketing has just started we believe MMI will likely have to cut production if it already has not done so. We believe the device has been a bit buggy and did not meet the magic price point of $500. We believe management knows this and is hurrying development and production of lower cost tablets. Importantly we believe management will likely have to make the painful decision to accept little to no margin initially in order to match iPad 2’s wholesale pricing.

I guess they’ll make up the ‘no margins’ part in volume. That’ll be interesting. Selling tablets for no profit while Apple makes a ton – since it can sell so many direct, it does not even need a middle man markup.

Even if Xoom gets a little popular, Apple would just need to drop its profit margin a little to make it a death spiral for Motorola. At least if they can make enough.

Hope its true – Apple retail store is Japan helps many

Japan Apple Stores serve as rallying point after massive quake
[Via AppleInsider]

Crowds have flocked to the Apple Stores in Japan in order to stay connected after last week’s devastating earthquake, according to e-mails reportedly from an Apple retail store manager in Japan.

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Free wifi allowed people to contact their friends and relatives. And bringing out chargers so people could charge their iPhones, etc.

Apple offered free wifi back before most everyone else did. Now it can be used during a natural disaster.

I wonder what store this is from. Even if it is not true, it does demonstrate some of the real helpfulness of people during tragedies. I’ve seen it first hand, being on Kawaii during Hurricane Iniki.

In Wisconsin, only one party gets to vote

by SPDP

Republican leader says ‘Wisconsin 14″ still in contempt – JSOnline
[Via Journal-Sentinel]

In a sign that Republicans are still smarting from the exodus of Democrats during deliberations on the budget, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) told his caucus on Monday that Democrats remain in contempt of the Senate.

That means, he said, that Democrats can’t vote on bills or amendments.

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Here is what the Majority Leader wrote. ”When taking roll call votes on amendments and bills during executive sessions, Senate Democrats’ votes will not be reflected in the Records of Committee Proceedings or the Senate Journal. They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition, but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded.”

Nice state to live in where only one party’s vote will get counted.  I wonder if this is the model for elsewhere?

A legal win I did not even know we needed

Yes, It’s Legal To ‘Tag’ Someone In A Photo On Facebook Without Permission
[Via Techdirt]

While I’ve heard the argument that in Europe, it’s possible to use various privacy laws to demand that someone remove a photo or “tag” of the requester, in the US that’s not the case (barring other circumstances that might require the removal). However, Evan Brown has the details on a custody case, in which a woman (the mother) sought to bar the use of a Facebook photo as evidence. The photo showed her drinking alcohol, which a psychologist claimed could interfere with medicine the woman was taking. The woman claimed that because anyone else on Facebook could upload photos and tag them with her name, she hadn’t given permission, and thus the photos should not have been published. The court explained why this is meaningless:

The court held that “[t]here is nothing within the law that requires [one's] permission when someone takes a picture and posts it on a Facebook page. There is nothing that requires [one's] permission when she [is] “tagged” or identified as a person in those pictures.”

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Just think what the world would be like if you were not allowed to tag your Facebook photos unless everyone gave you permission?

I’m not sure I would want to live in that world.