I’m no techie but the past 24-48 hours have been full of news from Apple. First, Steve Jobs comes clean regarding his illness & his decision to step down for a few months. Today @ the Macworld conference, word has leaked that Apple, in partnership with music labels, will make it’s music catalog DRM-free.

Citing two unnamed sources, CNET is reporting that Apple agreed to a three-tier variable pricing model in return for the ability to sell music without its limiting FairPlay technology, which restricts the use of iTunes-purchased music to Apple-created devices. According to the report, there will be different prices for older catalog titles, modern but less popular songs, and current hits. The announcement could come during the MacWorld keynote.

What does that mean? Read the rest of this entry »

The Skinny…

– 160G iPod is out replaced at the top of the line with a sleeker 120G model.
– a new taller and thinner Nano.
– Three new IPod Touch models: an 8-gigabyte for $229; a 15G @ $299 and a 32 GB model for $399.

One of the new advanced features (for those of you who indulge in this sort of thing) is the new Pandora-like Genius feature in iTunes 8 (available now)… Read the rest of this entry »

The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products. – Steve Jobs – The Triumph of the Nerds (1996)

I bet Steve Jobs would like to strike that quote from the record now that US courts have acknowledged a British man as the creator of the iPod. Kane Kramer, 52, attained a worldwide patent in 1979 after inventing and building a working model of his device which he called the IXI. Due to technological limitations at the time it only could play 3.5 minutes of audio. On top of that he dropped out of school at 15! Read the rest of this entry »