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[Deku Tree]

now the SERIOUSLY bad. you do NOT get the songs with the videos. There are no songs in my library from the purchase and they didn't transfer to my ipod.

This is the big setback (as far as I see it). I will NOT dump $1.99 for a video (again) and still have to buy the song as well.

that is seriously terrible, there is no way a 5 min music video in 320x240 is worth $1.99 if it doesn't come with the stand alone song too. Especially when they are charging the same price for a 24 minute TV episode.

PowerBook, Power Mac Updates To Come

With the iMac G5 now sporting DDR2 memory and PCI Express functionality, rumored updates to the PowerBook and Power Mac lines will likely roll out in the very near future, probably within a week. Stay tuned...

I hate you THINKSECRET!! Now you make me wait another week!!

 

[DjangoReinhardt]

I'm glad Apple's finally making a real leap into the legitimate online video distribution the Media Hub markets. It won't be long before they smoke Windows Media Center on both the hardware and software fronts (the Mac Mini is screaming to be made into this device). We're still a ways off from a legal equivalent of BT for video - the quality, in particular, leaves a lot to be desired - but I expect Apple to get there before anyone else. These announcements are certainly going to accelerate that process and Apple could very well set this market for some time. Hell, they'll be able to print money if they get The OC or MTV's content in iTMS.

It isn't looking good for high-capacity music-only iPod users; I love my 60GB iPod and have absolutely no desire to pay for a larger screen, identical storage and non-music functionality in the current form factor, which is, more or less, the worst of both worlds. I'm sure there's a proper widescreen convergencePod coming; I just hope they continue to evolve the music-only line, too. Oh well, I'm sure several hundred gig flash chips are right around the corner. :lol

 

[Deg]

Apple fear Nokia. And they should be.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Lets not forget that Apple intends the music video purchases to done by those who have a 5th Gen iPod. If you have an earlier iPod, it's kinda silly to buy a video when you can't play it on your iPod. They expect those with the older iPods to simply purchase the single as they always have.

 

[DECK'ARD]

Apple fear Nokia. And they should be.

Er, no.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Apple fear Nokia. And they should be.

Why exactly? If anything, Nokia wouldn't really like to see Apple introduce a smart phone that plays music, more so than the other way around. An iPhone that resembles an iPod in some way would be an instant must have gadget. On the other hand, a Nokia phone that plays music is probably not much more than a blip on the radar and no real threat to Apple's music empire. Not saying the iPhone would be a threat to Nokia's empire either, but it would make more of a splash than Nokia going the other way.

 

[Deg]

Why exactly? If anything, Nokia wouldn't really like to see Apple introduce a smart phone that plays music, more so than the other way around. An iPhone that resembles an iPod in some way would be an instant must have gadget.

You mean the Rokr? The phone is a rebadged and marked up e398. Its afew years late.

On the other hand, a Nokia phone that plays music is probably not much more than a blip on the radar and no real threat to Apple's music empire. Not saying the iPhone would be a threat to Nokia's empire either, but it would make more of a splash than Nokia going the other way.

Nearly all nokia phones play music :lol They sell many phones too


Dont get me wrong but dedicated devices like Ipod will always have their place. Nokia are alot like pc's. Pc's can do just about everything.

 

[soundwave05]

Nokia should fear Apple, not the other way around.

If Apple made a complete i-Pod cell phone from scratch (not RokR, which is a Motorola product with iTune slapped onto it) and sold and marketed it completely under the Apple brand ... everyone and their grandma would want one.

 

[SteveMeister]

Apple fear Nokia. And they should be.

You no talk English good.

 

[Deg]

Nokia should fear Apple, not the other way around.

Well in pure popularity terms. Nokia have touched far more people than Apple ever will.

I say Nokia mainly because they lead in smartphones and multimedia sales. One thing Nokia wont ever do is an itunes like service although itunes is open to their phones. Apple just have to make the software. Chances are you might see itunes on series 60 in the future.

For hardware mobile phones are the ultimate convergence devices. Much like pc's. Its not quite a versus thing as some people think. The first Itunes phone was a 'Motorola'. More people nowadays own mp3 playing mboiles than dedicated mp3 players. The hardcore will always prefer an Ipod but most people will be on mobile phones. Phones have changed the PDA market for example. Doesnt mean PDAs will disappear.

 

[soundwave05]

I don't think a lot of people go "wow, I have to buy that Nokia brand phone!" Nokia makes solid products and has a wide variety of them, but facing Apple would be a completely different challenge for Nokia.

With Apple this is totally different, Apple is one of the most, if not the most fashionable brand on the planet right now. It's not just a product you're competing against, it's consumer psychology.

 

[Deku Tree]

I don't think a lot of people go "wow, I have to buy that Nokia brand phone!"

:lol

 

[Deg]

I don't think a lot of people go "wow, I have to buy that Nokia brand phone!"

With Apple this is totally different, though, Apple is one of the most, if not the most fashionable brand on the planet right now.

You have no clue about common/important things in life

People do actually want *GASP* other products outside of Apple :lol

 

[xsarien]

You have no clue about common/important things in life

People do actually want *GASP* other products outside of Apple :lol

And I think you're overestimating Nokia's popularity in the U.S.

 

[Deku Tree]

You have no clue about common/important things in life

You bought an N-Gage, didn't you?

 

[soundwave05]

You have no clue about common/important things in life

People do actually want *GASP* other products outside of Apple :lol

If you're in Europe, that might be the case.

I can tell you in U.S. or Japan, however, if Apple offered a i-Pod cell phone (a real/full blown one), it would outsell any cell phone here by a large, large margin.

Everything else would become just a "regular" cell phone.

 

[keiichi]

I don't think a lot of people go "wow, I have to buy that Nokia brand phone!"

*looks at his 6682 ... fuck.

 

[Deg]

And I think you're overestimating Nokia's popularity in the U.S.

Nokia lead worldwide by far US is a very different market. Not that great a place for phones compared to Europe or Asia

You bought an N-Gage, didn't you?

No. Its crap. Flawed etc.

If you're in Europe, that might be the case.

I can tell you in U.S. or Japan, however, if Apple offered a i-Pod cell phone (a real/full blown one), it would outsell any cell phone here by a large, large margin.

Everything else would become just a "regular" cell phone.

You seem to be forgetting that cellphone companies have alot more customers than apple. Apple are good at music which means nothing in relation to making a good phone. Look at the itunes phone. Its one of the worst ever multimedia phones. Apple had near full control over that. Moto had no choice.

 

[God's Hand]

I've already got Procoder 2 encoding all my porn into H.264. Suite.

Now if we could only get rid of DivX/xViD and use just H.264, the BETTER compressor.

 

[soundwave05]

Apple is not like any other company Nokia has ever faced though.

An i-Pod has status/hipness associated with it. Nokia does not.

A Nokia phone maybe cool because its actual functions, not because of the brand.

An i-Pod is cool just because it's an i-Pod. It's the only reason Apple can get away with selling something like the i-Pod Shuffle (with no screen) and people still eat it up.

People will buy an Apple product even if it has lesser features and a higher price point, just to have the Apple brand/design. There's very, very few brands in the world right now you can say the same about. The i-Pod is so cool that its become unhip to have a Sony portable music player (even if its MP3) anymore. Now *that* is brand power. It's like being so sexy you make Angelina Jolie feel self-concious.

 

[xsarien]

Nokia lead worldwide by far US is a very different market. Not that great a place for phones compared to Europe or Asia

The U.S. market is fine, we just have a few different flavors of cell technology, so there's a bit of a splinter situation. But between two national GSM providers, the prevailing phones seem to be Motorolas, Samsungs, LGs, and yeah, Nokias. But you're much more likely to see large amounts of the first three on the street before a Nokia.

 

[Gantz]

Sony PSP is doomed! :lol For the price of 3 1 gig memory sticks you can get a 30gb ipod video. Hot!

 

[soundwave05]

Sony PSP is doomed! :lol For the price of 3 1 gig memory sticks you can get a 30gb ipod video. Hot!

If we could only somehow combine that PSP screen with the 60 GB storage.

 

[Shogmaster]

Sigh. This is why you guys are getting sued.

They haven't sued anyone for ripping DVD AFAIK. For sharing the rips, sure, but I don't do that.

Just because you want it doesn't mean that anyone is obligated to give you a mechanism to do what you want,

And this is why MPAA will forever fight the losing battle with their own consumers until their financial situation forces them to wake the hell up. If they weren't obsessed with trying to force money out of those who were never going to pay for content in the first place, they could be enjoying steady and plenty of revenue from the likes of me who will pay for content who's pricing are reasonable. Get rid of the draconian CSS and let the consumers make copies of their payed for media for their own private use! No one in their right minds will pay twice for the same content unless the second time around gives you experience that are of much higher quality.

especially not a company who doesn't want to get drawn into the legal quagmire that is ripping DVDs and removing CSS

I never blamed Apple for this, so keep this discussion on track bub.

which is a crime - copyright circumvention is a CRIME, why the HELL can't you get it through your head that its a CRIME.

So is smoking the ganza. I bet you smoke your share of the herb back in your college days, don't lie!

Whether you agree or not is irrelevant. It is illegal, it is illegal, WHAT PART OF IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL DECRYPTION SOFTWARE IN THE US are you unable to process!?!?

Who the hell sells DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter? They are freeware.

There is nothing to circumvent to rip a CD, that means the process doesn't break any laws on the books, THAT MAKES IT LEGAL!

Not only is it legal, it makes godamned sense for the market. MPAA should wake up to this fact.

 

[Deku]

This is very interesting. I'll wait for Gen 2 ipod videos for Apple to work out the bugs.

 

[xsarien]

Who the hell sells DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter? They are freeware.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to provide them period. I'm really surprised it's still as easy as it is to get the latter.

 

[Deg]

The U.S. market is fine, we just have a few different flavors of cell technology, so there's a bit of a splinter situation. But between two national GSM providers, the prevailing phones seem to be Motorolas, Samsungs, LGs, and yeah, Nokias. But you're much more likely to see large amounts of the first three on the street before a Nokia.

Nokia are no.3 in the US. I know the figures. Its a very different market.

Apple is not like any other company Nokia has ever faced though.

An i-Pod has status/hipness associated with it. Nokia does not.

A Nokia phone maybe cool because its actual functions, not because of the brand.

An i-Pod is cool just because it's an i-Pod. It's the only reason Apple can get away with selling something like the i-Pod Shuffle (with no screen) and people still eat it up.

People will buy an Apple product even if it has lesser features and a higher price point, just to have the Apple brand/design. There's very, very few brands in the world right now you can say the same about. The i-Pod is so cool that its become unhip to have a Sony portable music player (even if its MP3) anymore. Now *that* is brand power. It's like being so sexy you make Angelina Jolie feel self-concious.

Well lets just see how the market evolves

 

[Tedesco!]

So here's my dilemma:

I need to get a Mac for school. I want a PowerMac G5, and was told last week by the Apple CSR that I should wait another week before making my purchase. Now a week has passed, and no new PowerMac. It's been hinted that something might pop up next week, but who really knows. So here's my question:

Is it really worth the wait to keep prolonging my purchase of the dual 2.3 G5 PowerMac? Am I better off just getting one now?

 

[soundwave05]

Thing is in the U.S. no one cares what cell phone brand you have.

If you have a Samsung over an LG or Nokia, it's not like a big deal. No one gives a crap.

If there was an Apple phone availible though, then you would definitely start to see "brand envy".

 

[cvxfreak]

So here's my dilemma:

I need to get a Mac for school. I want a PowerMac G5, and was told last week by the Apple CSR that I should wait another week before making my purchase. Now a week has passed, and no new PowerMac. It's been hinted that something might pop up next week, but who really knows. So here's my question:

Is it really worth the wait to keep prolonging my purchase of the dual 2.3 G5 PowerMac? Am I better off just getting one now?

Give it just one more week. New PowerBooks and PowerMacs would probably have looked lame next to the new iMac, so they held off.

 

[LM4sure]

apple rules

 

[Deg]

Thing is in the U.S. no one cares what cell phone brand you have.

If you have a Samsung over an LG or Nokia, it's not like a big deal. No one gives a crap.

If there was an Apple phone availible though, then you would definitely start to see "brand envy".

Since Motorola are US market leaders. Was the Razr V3 ever popular in the US?

 

[shantyman]

Since Motorola are US market leaders. Was the Razr V3 ever popular in the US?

I thought this was to discuss Apple announcements, not which brand of cell phone you prefer.

 

[XMonkey]

Since Motorola are US market leaders. Was the Razr V3 ever popular in the US?

Off-topic, but yes, that is a popular phone here. Too bad it costs as much as it does.

 

[Beezy]

The width of the Motorola Razr makes it ugly as fuck to me.

 

[Tedesco!]

Give it just one more week. New PowerBooks and PowerMacs would probably have looked lame next to the new iMac, so they held off.

Yeah, but is a .5 bump in processor speed actually worth the wait? I can't find any new info...

 

[borghe]

nokia is number one in the world simply because of the sheer volume of skus they produce. not saying they don't make good phones (I have a 6620) but their brand awareness is entirely different than apples. MOST people (not only the phone geeks) go with whatever has a good deal, features that appeal to them, and looks good. most of these decisions are made ON THE SPOT and without much research. this is not just the US but worldwide. Those huge nokia sales that are racking up are at the store fronts (and online) after a quick breeze through available models. Nokia maintains there leadership not because of brand popularity but because no matter what kind of phone you are looking for nokia makes one to suit those needs.

This is entirely different from Apple where people WANT the ipod. They don't go to the store to make an on the spot decision between different DAPs. They go to the store to by an iPod.

As for who should be fearing whom, IMHO Nokia should be fearing Apple. Apple so far with iPod has a pretty damn sparkling record for a) knowing what the mass public wants, b) releasing solid performing portable hardware, c) make a killer profit on it, and d) probably truly understands convergence the best out of everyone out there. If apple were to really make a phone (not just approve another company to) they would likely destroy their nearest competitors. That brand awreness, that desire to buy the brand would follow them.

And the last comparison is that while Nokia is number 1 in europ and parts of asia (but not japan) and is number 3 in america, etc... apple is number one everywhere. Apple commands 70% of the DAP market and many expect that lead to GROW. Number one in asia. Number one in europe. number one in australia. number one in africa most likely. etc.

I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing contest, and I am hard from a die hard mac head.. but really it should be obvious. Apple knows what they're doing. Unlike nokia with phones, apple has RARELY had a misstep with their DAPs. If they applied that same understanding of the market, their consumers, and the phone industry in general, heaven help all other phone manufacturers.

 

[Deg]

nokia is number one in the world simply because of the sheer volume of skus they produce. not saying they don't make good phones (I have a 6620) but their brand awareness is entirely different than apples. MOST people (not only the phone geeks) go with whatever has a good deal, features that appeal to them, and looks good. most of these decisions are made ON THE SPOT and without much research. this is not just the US but worldwide. Those huge nokia sales that are racking up are at the store fronts (and online) after a quick breeze through available models. Nokia maintains there leadership not because of brand popularity but because no matter what kind of phone you are looking for nokia makes one to suit those needs.

This is entirely different from Apple where people WANT the ipod. They don't go to the store to make an on the spot decision between different DAPs. They go to the store to by an iPod.

As for who should be fearing whom, IMHO Nokia should be fearing Apple. Apple so far with iPod has a pretty damn sparkling record for a) knowing what the mass public wants, b) releasing solid performing portable hardware, c) make a killer profit on it, and d) probably truly understands convergence the best out of everyone out there. If apple were to really make a phone (not just approve another company to) they would likely destroy their nearest competitors. That brand awreness, that desire to buy the brand would follow them.

And the last comparison is that while Nokia is number 1 in europ and parts of asia (but not japan) and is number 3 in america, etc... apple is number one everywhere. Apple commands 70% of the DAP market and many expect that lead to GROW. Number one in asia. Number one in europe. number one in australia. number one in africa most likely. etc.

I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing contest, and I am hard from a die hard mac head.. but really it should be obvious. Apple knows what they're doing. Unlike nokia with phones, apple has RARELY had a misstep with their DAPs. If they applied that same understanding of the market, their consumers, and the phone industry in general, heaven help all other phone manufacturers.

According to your logic Apple would be better than Sony Playstation if they did games. Lets be realistic here. Just because they are good at games doesnt mean Sony conquered everything else. My point with Nokia was that mobile phones in general will gobble up a chunk of the mp3 market not whether leading brand x will beat leading brand b in another market.

 

[FitzOfRage]

Since Motorola are US market leaders. Was the Razr V3 ever popular in the US?

It's been a huge hit here, and probably the first phone (at least in the US) to really achieve that "brand envy" soundwave mentioned.

The thing is, I don't think it's just a matter of cell phone makers being unable to come up with a really desirable product. Part of the problem is dealing with the carriers, which act as gatekeepers (and often just plain roadblocks) to their networks. The way it is now in the US, the carrier's brand definitely trumps the cell phone maker's, and the carriers work to keep it that way.

 

[Tedesco!]

So we've pretty much closed the book on Mac talk and now this is the Phone Zone?

 

[FoneBone]

I've kinda trained myself to skip these Apple threads due to typical lack of interest, so forgive me for being slow, but... music video/TV store = HOT SHIT. *spooge*

 

[Phoenix]

They haven't sued anyone for ripping DVD AFAIK. For sharing the rips, sure, but I don't do that.

Companies that made software that could rip DVDs directly have been taken to court already and stopped doing it.

So is smoking the ganza. I bet you smoke your share of the herb back in your college days, don't lie!

Nope, not even once.

Not only is it legal, it makes godamned sense for the market. MPAA should wake up to this fact.

Which is at the time completely irrelevant. It is illegal to sell software (actually illegal to provide it as well) that circumvents copy protection. This subject is about iTunes ripping DVDs so the focus is narrow. Apple won't be doing it until they have a business relationship with the copyright owners for distro of non-CSS'd content. That is the reality of the space today.

 

[FoneBone]

I know this was probably already mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but still... if you buy a video, can you watch it fullscreen? How's the quality?

(Also, the video selection kinda sucks at this point. But you've gotta start somewhere... and those David Fincher Madonna videos are tempting me...)

 

[borghe]

According to your logic Apple would be better than Sony Playstation if they did games. Lets be realistic here. Just because they are good at games doesnt mean Sony conquered everything else. My point with Nokia was that mobile phones in general will gobble up a chunk of the mp3 market not whether leading brand x will beat leading brand b in another market.

well, let's be realistic here. designing a phone and designing a console are two different things. also let's not forget what we are talking about. are wwe talking about how great of a phone the nokias are, as in voice quality, reception, directory size? no, we are talking about everything the phone can do. PIM, multimedia, what it can download or connect to, etc. This is what I was referring to. Apple over the past five years more than anyone else (including Sony, Microsoft, and Motorolla) has shown they get convergence. They definitely seem to have their fingers on the pulse of how fast people want to adopt this stuff, and when the time is right to strike at introducing a new convergence of one product into another. I'm not saying apple is the greatest company in the world, far from it, but this is a very important concept they definitely have a firm grasp of.

So am I saying apple is filled with a bunch of geniuses who could top nokia's geniuses any day of the week? no. But what I am saying is that if apple entered the phone market, there would be a reason for it, and that is why the competitors at that point should be scared. because if apple entered the phone market it would be because they saw an opportunity there to converge phones and whatever (like DAPs or pocket media systems) that the public was ready to accept. Kind of like seeing the dark gray sky off in the distance. You know what it means, you know there's a storm coming, so you then try to figure how to weather it. IF apple were to enter the phone market, there would be a reason for it, and apple has shown in the past the reason is likely because they figured out a way to make the systems work together outside of what other companies have done. all they need to do at that point is stick a lowercase i on it and it will sell a million units.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Am i smoking crack or were there supposed to be movie trailers? i don't see any in the iTMS. i'm not in the mood to sign up for an account to demo the quality ATM.

 

[xsarien]

Am i smoking crack or were there supposed to be movie trailers? i don't see any in the iTMS. i'm not in the mood to sign up for an account to demo the quality ATM.

You don't need to sign up for anything. Just leave the fields blank and hit the download button.

 

[jamesinclair]

It just hit me.....

What the hell is going to happen to launch?

You get to stream music videos....for free.

On demand.

:|

 

[Macam]

Am i smoking crack or were there supposed to be movie trailers? i don't see any in the iTMS. i'm not in the mood to sign up for an account to demo the quality ATM.

Movie Trailers via iTMS

Revamped Apple trailers site

 

[Argyle]

If we could only somehow combine that PSP screen with the 60 GB storage.

...as well as the six hours of battery life you get on a PSP playing video (2-3 hours? Why have a 60GB drive full of video if you can only watch 3 hours of it on a long plane trip...and it's not like you can bring an extra battery for an iPod)

I'll wait for the next generation iPod (or maybe a few generations) personally.

 

[aoi tsuki]

You don't need to sign up for anything. Just leave the fields blank and hit the download button.

Actually i meant an iTMS for the movie downloads. i've already got iTunes.

Movie Trailers via iTMS

Revamped Apple trailers site

i must've been on crack. "Movie trailers" was right with the other categories when i got back home, but thanks anyways.

...as well as the six hours of battery life you get on a PSP playing video (2-3 hours? Why have a 60GB drive full of video if you can only watch 3 hours of it on a long plane trip...and it's not like you can bring an extra battery for an iPod)

I'll wait for the next generation iPod (or maybe a few generations) personally.

PSP's battery life also sucks because of the UMD drive and possibly the processor. If it were designed for the sole purpose of playing music and video downloaded into it, i'm sure the battery life would be much better. Sony's battery life for their MDs and Network Walkmans has always been one of their big selling points.