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July 16th through 23rd Archives

Wednesday, July 23rd 2003 09:47 CDT

BuyMusic.com's Achilles Heel

PBZone contributor Paul Cesarini has been giving the debut of BuyMusic.com some thought, especially with their scheme for dealing with digital rights management. His report, and its implications for their service, the iTunes Music Service, and the industry can be found here.

Willow Announces Portable Mac Lab Cases

Ever needed a bag for....7 Macs? Willow Design has just the ticket:

Willow Design has announced a set of cases to fit multiple Titaniums, 14" iBooks, and Clamshell iBooks to make setting up portable Macintosh curriculum labs easier. The cases were designed as a result of customer requests after Willow released its popular 12" iBook MacLab case in December 2002.

The cases will fit five to seven of the different Macs, an airport, plus all the power supplies, cords and accessories needed to set up a portable Mac lab, all in separated and highly protective compartments.

After creating the 12" iBook Mac Lab case, Willow was particularly surprised by the number of requests for Clamshell iBook versions. Willow president, Nigel Peck, was heartened by the number of school boards that were still using the hefty laptops even though they have been long discontinued. "It's a sign of the quality of the Mac, that they continue to work so well - I'm sure all PC's would be long gone!" commented Peck.

The Mac Lab cases further round out Willow's case line for G4 iMacs, towers, and cinema display cases and dust covers. As with all its products, the cases features Willow's lifetime guarantee against defects in materials and craftsmanship.

Tuesday, July 22nd 2003 15:36 CDT

BuyMusic.com

Today's big news is the launch of Buy.com's competitor to iTunes Music Service, BuyMusic.com, which offers songs for 79 cents each and full albums for $7.95. The service launches with 300,000 songs, but still suffers from an incomplete catalog like iTMS. It's interesting to note that the commercials for the service mirror Apple's own somewhat, as MacMinute notes.

Friday, July 18th 2003 14:50 CDT

Friday TidBits

• The Apple+iPod+VW Bug ad has been posted on Apple.com here.
• Apparently Mac journalism is dead. Read about it here and here. We don't buy into it, but it makes for interesting reading.
• Apple has posted their own photo gallery from the positively moribund Macworld CreativePro show.
• Dantz has posted firmware updates for users of Retrospect with Combo and SuperDrive optical drives in the PowerBook G4. Be sure to read all the details on the page before proceeding.
• Cool software maker Panic is looking for beta testers.
• MacNN has highlights of the conference call that followed yesterday's earnings announcement. Especially notable is that the iTunes Music Store almost broke even, despite being available to only Mac users with OS X installed in the United States.

Wednesday, July 16th 2003 15:37 CDT

Apple Posts Flat Earnings

Apple's quarterly earnings report was released today. You can read about it here.

Tuesday, July 15th 2003 13:46 CDT

iPod + VW Beetle

In what we think is a day-early press release mistake, Volkswagen today announced they're partnering with Apple in a "Pods Unite" campaign that'll give a free iPod to buyers of the 2003 Beetle sedan. It's the 15 GB model and will come with a "connection" kit. Here are a few more treats:

Up to 25,000 VW owners will also be offered a US$50 Amazon.com gift certificate for test-driving the new Beetle with the iPod system, as well. Up to 25,000 Apple owners who take the test drive will similarly get a $50 gift certificate for use on Apple.com.

Amazon $100 Rebate

All Apple portables have a $100 mail in rebate at Amazon.com until August 6th. The rebate is available for printing on each model's product information page.