marclafountain.com

Everyone is wondering what Apple should do with some of its $97 billion. I’m not a tech blogger. And, I’m sure everyone will tell me what a stupid idea this is. But, what the hell?

I think Apple should create digital entertainment content. Gasp!

More specifically, I think Apple should create what we currently think of as television shows. Really amazing ones.

It used to be that HBO was the only content distributor that had become a successful content creator. Now Showtime has done Dexter, Weeds, and Homeland. AMC has done Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. FX has done Nip/Tuck and Justified. USA Network has done…what they do. DirectTV and Netflix are getting in. And, I would argue that Starz’s first show, Boss, was the best show on television in 2011.

Apple controls iTunes, the iTunes Store, QuickTime, Final Cut Pro (yeah, yeah, I know), Mac OS X, iOS, and Apple TV. The Apple TV “hobby” is actually selling much better than it has in the past. Apple has deep ties to Hollywood. It makes quality products and markets them brilliantly. And, it is sitting on more than $97 billion.

Right now, the iTunes Store and Apple TV have a content problem. Shows air on broadcast or cable first for “free”. At best, they come to iTunes and Apple TV a day or two later. At worst, a premium cable show may not arrive for many months. Apple needs to make iTunes Store offerings “destination television”.

What if several of the best, buzziest shows out there didn’t come to iTunes/Apple TV after a delay but were on iTunes/Apple TV first or even only?

Apple has the technology, connections, focus on quality, cash, and cachet to make us all cable cutters. I just hope it has the desire and drive.

Obituaries are already being written for the Amazon Kindle with today’s Apple announcement of iPad and iBooks. (At least Steve Jobs gave Amazon and the Kindle some props today.) Despite the iPad’s large color touch screen, I think the reports of the Kindle’s death are premature. The Kindle will still offer major cost savings and some significant advantages for serious readers of text:

• Price: A Kindle at $259 is a great deal cheaper than an iPad at $499-$829. Granted, the iPad does much, much more than the Kindle, but far more people can spend $259 on something than can spend $499+ on something.
• 3G Cost: The Kindle at $259 comes with free 3G connectivity and that 3G works internationally. An iPad with 3G costs $629-$829, you have to spend $14.99-$29.99 a month for 3G connectivity, and international support/pricing is unannounced.
• Screen: As my geeky friend Chris Fox just pointed out to me, the Kindle’s screen has more pixels per inch (167 ppi) than the iPad (132 ppi). The Kindle’s lack of backlighting, lower screen reflectivity, and higher ppi will likely make for a better long-form textual reading experience than the iPad.
• Battery Life: Apple is claiming 10 hours of battery life for the iPad using wifi. Amazon claims a Kindle can go up to a week with 3G on. The Kindle’s battery advantage grows even greater when wireless is turned off. Not having to take a charger on trips is awesome.
• Size: The Kindle is smaller, thinner, and lighter weight than the iPad.
• Selection: At this point, Amazon probably offers more eBook titles than Apple. (That could change.) Amazon may also be able to use its market power in the book/eBook space to undercut Apple on eBook prices. (Time will tell.)
• Flexibility: Kindle eBooks can also be read on the iPhone, on the BlackBerry, on a Windows PC, and soon on the Mac and the iPad (via the existing iPhone app). It is unclear if Apple iBooks can be read outside of the iPad. Also, an iPad requires a computer for many things while a Kindle doesn’t except for audiobook downloads.
• Text-to-Speech: The Kindle offers text-to-speech reading of books. It does not appear the iPad does.

Finally, I can’t wait to see what Amazon’s next moves are. Is a Kindle 3 announcement coming soon? Will we see Kindle for iPad in addition to Kindle for iPhone? Don’t count Amazon and the Kindle out yet.

Online reaction to today’s iPad announcement has seemed negative in some cases. But, I don’t think that’s deserved for the most part. The high expectations many of us have for Apple and the numerous iPad details leaked before launch created a frenzy that would have been hard for any product to justify. The iPad is not revolutionary in the sense of the original Mac or the original iPhone. But, it is a major step forward.

Good

• Much bigger screen than the iPhone and iPod Touch
• Much faster processor than the iPhone and iPod Touch
• Thin and lightweight
• 802.11n wifi (up from (802.11g in the iPhone and iPod Touch)
• Really impressive iWork apps (for $9.99 each)
• iBooks looks nice and uses the ePub format
• Runs iPhone apps
• 10 hours of battery life
• Much cheaper than expected
• Much cheaper 3G networking options than expected and with no contract
• The 3G version has Assisted GPS and could offer pretty amazing car navigation
• I like the case

Bad

• No camera? We’ve gone from rumors of video chat to not even being able to shoot basic stills? (There is at least a Camera Connection Kit for importing photos.)
• No Flash support. (No, I don’t like Flash either, but it’s ubiquitous OK? Get off my back.)
• No apparent background processing of third-party apps. (Some background clipboard management would be very useful on an iPad, for instance.)
• Still syncs most things via USB rather than wifi, which is unfortunate for a faster device with 802.11n
• No option for voice calling or SMS (admittedly, few would probably use it)
• No tethering
• Would love to know if iPad Mail has a unified Inbox for multiple email accounts. Guessin’ not.
• Is there any file system access or USB mass storage access from the iPad itself? Guessin’ not.
• I want a 3G version but watching the cool kids play with their wifi versions for 30 days will be really, really hard.

In an age where everyone seems to complain about poor customer service, I’ve had two really great experiences in the past two weeks.

First, my white iPhone 3GS developed a small crack around the silence switch. It was odd because I kept the phone in a case, never dropped it, didn’t see any other signs of wear on it, and rarely used the silence switch.

I went to my local Apple Store expecting to be told the crack wasn’t covered under warranty (and perhaps for it to be implied that I had dropped the iPhone). To my surprise, an Apple Genius handed me a replacement within a few minutes of looking at the phone. (Interesting side note, the Genius shined some sort of UV light down the iPhone’s audio-out port. Apparently Apple can tell if an iPhone has been submerged in water that way. Not that mine had.)

Next, my Kindle 2 has been resetting on me daily lately. Restoring to factory settings hasn’t helped. It’s a strange problem that I haven’t seen many others report and I can’t reproduce the problem at will. So, when I called up Amazon I expected a refusal to replace the Kindle or some sort of run-around. Again to my surprise, Amazon quickly offered to replace the Kindle free of charge under warranty. It’s coming next-day air and Amazon is paying shipping both ways.

I feel like both of these are examples of big companies with big brands that really get the concept of brand promise. Brand promise isn’t just marketing and it isn’t just product. It’s also how you treat customers at every stage of interaction. I already adored these two companies and their products. (I even own a little stock in both.) But, I’ve now been so pleased with how they’ve treated me from a support standpoint that I’m blogging about it. I wish every company treated all of its customers this well all the time.

I got to play with an Apple Magic Mouse on a 27-inch iMac at the Apple Store Short Pump today. The iMac was fast and gorgeous as expected, but didn’t feel like a significant departure from earlier models. My verdict on the Magic Mouse: it’s OK but I won’t be rushing to get one.

The mouse is very pretty, I’ll give it that. And, the single click, two-button click, 360-scroll, and zoom features all worked well. But, I found the two-finger swipe to work inconsistently. (Perhaps I just need practice.) I also found the mouse a bit heavy and thought the somewhat angular edges made it awkward to hold.

I’ll be interested see reviews of the new Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station. (The Apple Store Short Pump doesn’t have any yet.) Apple claims:

Improvements in antenna design give you up to 50 percent better Wi-Fi performance and up to 25 percent better range than with the previous-generation AirPort Extreme Base Station.

I’m not geeky enough to understand all the technology behind Wi-Fi. We have the dual-antenna AirPort Extreme Base Station that was the current model until this new one was announced. It’s very peppy for both LAN and and Internet stuff. I have a hard time understanding how the new device gets 50 percent better performance on the same 802.11n standard. If that’s true, wow. I know it has something to do with triple antennas (antennae?), but I still don’t really get it. Maybe my geekier friends will explain.

My early thoughts on the Safari 4 Beta:

• Page loads are much faster than in Safari 3 thanks to the Nitro Engine (I love how Apple names things.)
• From some casual usage over the past 30 minutes, no immediate issues with webpage stability or compatibility in Safari.
• Inquisitor won’t load in Safari 4. Some of its functionality has been added to Safari 4, but not all. I hope Yahoo updates it. (Did you know Yahoo was planning an iPhone version? I didn’t.)
• While I’m an avid tab user, I have have never used a browser with the tabs at the very top (a la Google Chrome). It will take some getting used to.
• My gut feeling is that Top Sites won’t be that useful for me. The Tumblr Dashboard and RSS already alert me to content updates. But, maybe it will be useful for others.
• Cover Flow for History looks somewhat useful, but paired with Full Search History it looks very useful.

Overall, a nice effort. And, I’m sure Apple is pleased they got this out before Google released a Chrome beta for Mac.

PC World’s Brennon Slattery weighed in yesterday about “Five iPod ‘Let’s Rock’ Updates That Should Have Been”. My thoughts on his thoughts:

1. Wireless iPods That Sync Directly to iTunes

I agree with Slattery here, but only to a point.

The iPhone and iPod Touch already have WiFi and already can use it to purchase music and applications from the iTunes Store. So, adding the ability to sync audio, apps, and photos via WiFi between iTunes on a Mac/PC and the iPhone/Touch wirelessly is a logical next step. I hope Apple takes it.

To protect battery life, syncs should still be manual and there should be limits on the number or size of new items that can be synced wirelessly. Given the large file sizes of videos, video syncing would likely have to still require a cable.

Where I part company with Slattery is adding wireless and wireless syncing to the Nano or the Classic.

The Nano is smaller, thinner, lighter, and cheaper than the iPhone or the Touch. Adding WiFi will increase the size of the Nano and drain its small battery much faster. Enhancing the Nano’s battery will further increase size. And, adding WiFi or an enhanced battery will increase cost.

The Nano starts at $149 and Apple would be unwise to move up from that price point. As WiFi hardware gets smaller, more energy efficient, and cheaper, maybe it can come to the Nano. But, we’re not there yet.

The iPod Classic is a relic on its way to the graveyard. Apple keeps it around because for no extra R&D they can sell the Classic to a few people who think they simply must have 120GB of digital media with them at all times. Apple shouldn’t invest any in additional R&D on the Classic and I doubt it will. As Marco noted, as soon as larger-capacity flash memory is available at a reasonable cost, the Classic will likely be retired.

2. Anything to do with the iPod Classic

Ugh. See paragraph above.

3. Radio Tuner

Meh. I’m not against having a radio tuner in iPods or the iPhone. And, it could probably be done without a lot of added weigh, thickness, or cost. But, do users really want a radio in their iPod? I’m guessing not.

Reception on small, portable radios is often poor. And, many people get an iPod so they can avoid advertising and exercise direct control of what music they listen to and when.

Those that want radio badly can already buy the external radio remote from Apple. And, there are alternatives to an actual radio on the iPod.

You can subscribe to podcasts from many radio stations, including podcasts for many NPR shows that Slattery and I love. (Admittedly, there are often time delays between a radio broadcast and the availability of a podcast of it.) And, if you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch with a wireless connection, you can use streaming audio applications that give you radio content. (Admittedly, the particular station you love may not be available in a streaming audio app.)

4. iTunes Subscription Service

Sorry to be repetitive, but meh. I’m not against having an iTunes subscription service either. But, I like to own my music content. And, I spend less on buying content of all types in an average month than other existing services would charge me for a monthly subscription. So, I probably won’t use an iTunes subscription service even if it comes.

The lack of a subscription service hasn’t seemed to hinder iPod sales or iTunes Store sales. Perhaps this just isn’t that big of a deal for most people.

5. The Beatles

Oh, please. Get over it. Steve Jobs has said Apple is ready when The Beatles are ready. It’ll happen when it happens. Haven’t you already bought the CDs and ripped them anyway? If so, what will The Beatles coming to the iTunes Store really get you? A nice digital booklet?

Random thoughts on today’s Apple Event:

• I loved how Steve handled (yet did not handle) the health question at the outset. Masterful.
• For me personally, the biggest news is that iPhone backups are getting faster and hopefully the dropped calls issue is being put to bed. Both cause ongoing pain. Can’t wait for the 2.1 release on Friday!
  
• I like revisions to the Nano and Touch a lot and they make for a compelling Christmas lineup along with iPhone. I hadn’t heard the accelerometer was coming to the Nano and am pleasantly surprised. Being able to shake in order to shuffle your songs is awesome!
• Glad HD TV shows are on iTunes and that NBC is back. This will make the Apple TV a stronger competitor against Netflix and Amazon/TiVo.
• $2.99 for one TV episode in HD feels pricey to me, but perhaps I just need to adjust.
• The iPod Classic is rapidly becoming the fruitcake that’s somehow always around at Christmas, yet few seem to want to eat. I give it one more year tops.
• I will have to play with the Genius feature in iTunes 8 before I know if I like it. Last.fm and Pandora have never been great at finding or pairing music for me.

While I will plead guilty to a long-term love affair with Apple, I’m not naive. Steve Jobs and Apple make decisions that are in the best interests of Apple first, shareholders second, and consumers third.

That said, I think Daniel Lyons (a.k.a the retired Fake Steve Jobs) is greatly exaggerating some of Apple’s actions in his “One Bad Apple” Newsweek article. Apple is far from perfect, but it doesn’t deserve many of these attacks. Let’s look at what’s accurate and what’s not so accurate.

That Vudu That Apple Does So Well?

Lyons paints Vudu as a victim targeted for termination by Apple in the market for streaming/downloadable video to home televisions. So Apple is evil for competing in this market? And, Apple is the only bad guy victimizing Vudu?

It’s not as if Vudu created this market and then Apple stole it from them. Apple has had a long-term interest in consumer digital video delivery and has done as much as anyone to create that market. (QuickTime, iTunes and iTunes Store with video, iPods with video, iPhones, Apple TV, etc.) Apple certainly didn’t make or revise the Apple TV simply because of Vudu.

I have no doubt that Apple was already focused on supporting rentals, broadening its movie catalog, and allowing direct movie downloads without a computer. Jobs said all along that Apple TV 1.0 was a “hobby” that they were working to perfect. And, lots of users and analysts were publicly calling for the features that came in Apple TV 2.0. They were not simply copied from Vudu.

Also, why don’t Netflix, Amazon/TiVo, or cable companies with On Demand get any “blame” for Vudu’s plight in Lyon’s article. If Vudu is laying off staff, I doubt that all of the blame can be laid at Apple’s door. The market for streaming/downloadable video to home TVs is a competitive place with major players.

Apple Owns Boardwalk and Park Place?

Lyons writes that:

“Apple owns popular hardware platforms (iPod, iPhone) and operates the only store that can sell music, movies and software programs for those platforms. Apple sets prices and takes 30 percent of the money. With iPhone, Apple decides which independent applications will be allowed, and it can pull the plug on any application at any time, without explanation<snip>”

Let’s break this tortured mess down:

• Apple operates the only store that can sell music for iPod/iPhone. As George Carlin would say, pure bullshit. The iPod and iPhone play numerous audio formats, including MP3s. It is a simple matter to buy music from Amazon MP3 or other online stores, put it into iTunes, and get it onto an iPod or iPhone. It is also a simple matter to purchase a CD, rip it in whatever audio format you like in iTunes, and get it onto an iPod or iPhone. Apple does not have a music monopoly on the iPod or iPhone and Lyons should be ashamed for implying it does. The fact that many iPod/iPhone users choose to use the iTunes Store to buy music doesn’t make the iTunes Store a music monopoly.
• Apple operates the only store that can sell movies for iPod/iPhone. Lyons is on firmer ground here, but just barely. No movie studio is allowing its films to be sold online without some sort of Digital Rights Management. And, there’s no standard for DRMed video. So, different stores and devices are using different DRM methods. That’s a shame, but it’s not Apple’s fault. If and when there is a standard for DRMed video, I think Apple should support it on iPods and iPhones. In fact, I’d love to see Apple show leadership in the creation of such a standard. Until then, I think it’s unfair to criticize Apple when no one else is offering a non-proprietary video store. Finally, if you are willing to use third-party software, it is already possible to get DVD video onto an iPod or iPhone.
  
• Apple operates the only store that can sell applications for iPod/iPhone. True. And, I would like to see this change. I applaud Apple for making it easy for developers to sell their applications and get payment, and for making it easy for users to purchase and install those applications. But, the App Store is a monopoly and I think it would be in the best interests of users for them to have more options for where and how they purchase apps. I won’t hold my breath.
  
• Apple sets prices and takes 30 percent of the money. This is a true statement for iPod/iPhone applications. But, it is untrue for music and video purchases and again Lyons should be ashamed for implying it. While I don’t know the specifics of the deals Apple has with record labels and movie studios, I do know that Apple is thought to only get a few pennies for each 99-cent audio track purchase. While the cut may be higher for video, I seriously doubt it’s anywhere near 30 percent. Is 30 percent too high of a cut for the iPod/iPhone App Store? I don’t know, ask a developer. Apple does help developers promote their applications, it handles all the financial transactions from sales, and it automates the downloading and installing of purchased applications. That’s certainly worth something.
  
• Apple decides which iPod/Phone apps will be allowed and it can pull an app at any time, without explanation. True. And, again, I would like to see this change. While this power can be used to ensure quality apps and to prevent fraud, it can also easily be abused. I think users who want to have this control for themselves should be able to have it. Again, I won’t hold my breath.
  

No White iPod Cases Allowed After Labor Day?

Last on his list of Apple gripes, Lyons takes the company to task for how it treats the makers of iPod and iPhone accessories. He says that Apple controls when accessory makers can announce new products, charges various fees to accessory makers, and takes large cuts on accessory sales in Apple retail stores (75 percent of the sales price in one noted case).

I have little knowledge of how Apple’s relationships with accessory vendors work. So, I don’t know whether these things are true or not.
If Apple asks a vendor to hold off on an accessory announcement because the physical design of an iPod/iPhone is changing and thus invalidating the accessory, that’s certainly reasonable. Beyond that, I don’t think a hold is reasonable.

I would have to see the specifics of the fees and sales cuts charged to have an opinion on whether they’re reasonable. Seventy-five percent is insane if true! But, I will say when it comes to sales cuts, keep in mind we live in a capitalist system. As Lyons own article somewhat notes, if you don’t like the deal the Apple Store is giving you to sell your accessory, go sell it at WAL-MART, Best Buy, Circuit City, or Target. Or, use an online store like Amazon or your own e-storefront.

Bring Back Fake Steve!

In closing, I want to say two things. First, Apple is an amazing, yet flawed company. It does many stupid and greedy things, just not all the stupid and greedy things mentioned in Lyons’ piece.

Second, I miss Fake Steve Jobs dearly. I found Lyons was more interesting, insightful, and (oddly) more accurate when he wrote about Apple as Fake Steve. Can we please, please, please have Fake Steve back?

I finally got an iPhone 3G this morning. I had tried Friday and the 16GB black models sold out while I was in line. And, on Saturday and Sunday, all models had been out of stock.

Today, I arrived at the Apple Store at Short Pump Town Center in Richmond at 9:30 a.m. I was seventh in an outdoor line that by 10:15 a.m. had grown to 12 people. A line even after three days of iPhone 3G sales.

Many of us told our stories of how close we’d been to attaining our chosen iPhone model over the weekend, only to watch our hopes tragically slip away. But, today would be different. There was hope in the air and someone said they thought they’d seen a UPS truck out back.

At 10:15 a.m., an Apple Store employee walked out. Everyone in line was edgy, tense. Did a shipment of iPhones come in? Would there be enough for everyone?! The employee quietly spoke to the first person in line.

“I have a 16 gigabyte black,” he said in a faint whisper. “You interested?”

“Oh, God yes, yes I’m very interested!” was the hushed reply.

The Apple Store employee nodded his head for the customer to follow him inside and put a hand on the customer’s shoulder as they walked away.

I watched this happen five more times. Every time it was done with a whisper and a nod. This was interspersed with the earlier customers emerging from the store clutching their iPhone boxes, their faces filled with a euphoric glee as we congratulated them.

Then, it was finally my turn.

“I have a 16 gigabyte white,” came the whisper.

“Uh, well, I’ve kinda been holding out for the black 16 gig,” I said hoarsely.

The Apple Store employee reached into his pocket and pulled out a white iPhone.

“I only have the white. But, the white’s better,” he said, stroking the phone like it was covered in fur. “It’s gorgeous and you can’t see the finger smudges like with the blacks.”

As I thought this over, I glanced back at the people behind me in line, their faces a mixture of jealousy that I was getting an iPhone and annoyance that I wasn’t doing it faster.

“OK, white it is.”

“Good choice. You won’t regret it,” he said, nodding me inside the store.

Activation took mere moments and then I held the iPhone 3G in my hands. It was beautiful, perfection. I walked from the store into the sunlight, the people in line applauding my good fortune.

I’m using Apple Mail with two email accounts, one for work and one for my personal life. Currently, the default account is my personal account. So, I end up accidentally emailing work people from my personal address instead of from the work address. That isn’t the end of the world, but it’s annoying.

What I need is some sort of hack or plug-in for Apple Mail where I can essentially say: “When I email John Smith use this account, but when I email Sally Jones use this other account.”

Does anyone know of anything that does this? 

I’ve been a loyal Apple iTunes Store music buyer for years and have never really cared that my music had DRM or that it’s in the AAC format. My music worked on my computer via iTunes, on my iPod with headphones or a speaker, on my car stereo with an iPod adapter, and on my TV via Apple TV. What more could I want?

Well, I’ve recently been enjoying listening to what people are putting on Muxtape and am loving audio on Tumblr more than ever with the new Sound Box alpha. But, I now realize that I can’t easily add my own audio to either service.

Most of my audio is DRMed AAC from the iTunes Store. So, unless I want burn CDs and re-rip tracks or use something like Audio Hijack Pro, there’s no way to convert it to an MP3 suitable for streaming on Muxtape or Tumblr. And, while the iTunes Plus audio isn’t DRMed, I would still have to use a third-party application to convert it to MP3 before being able to share it. Painful.

What got me thinking about of this was noticing that Muxtape has started letting users buy audio tracks from the Amazon MP3 Downloads store. I had never given Amazon’s online music offering a spin before today and I’m pretty impressed.

It’s not as easy-to-use or slick as the iTunes Store, but Amazon MP3 Downloads has lots to recommend it. It lets you buy high-quality, DRM-free MP3 tracks at reasonable prices in a web interface and makes it a snap to automatically import the tracks into iTunes or Windows Media Player (yuck!).

After my love affair with the Kindle, I was so enamored with Amazon that I bought its stock. (Sadly, AMZN has pretty much tanked since I got it.)  Because of its MP3 format and the lack of DRM, I may be an Amazon MP3 Downloads convert too. If Apple doesn’t cut some non-DRM deals with the other record companies soon, I’m betting a lot of people will be joining me.

Marco just wrote about his frustrations with paying so much for entertainment cable and getting so little in return. I reached this same boiling point a few months back, though my frustrations extended to Internet access in addition to entertainment cable. So, I killed cable and here was my solution:

• We switched from a cable modem to Verizon FiOS. It’s a lot faster for about the same money as I was paying for my cable modem. (Admittedly, not everyone can get FiOS, but there is probably a solution that is as good or better than your cable modem for about the same money.)
• My wife and I already didn’t have a home phone and we still don’t. With mobile phone, Skype, iChat, etc., a home phone is just more money, another number to remember, and another voice mail to check.
• I bought an HD Over-The-Air Antenna and a TiVo Series 3 (the lower-end model). So, we can now record broadcast content in HD for free. Sweet. As bonus, I can use the TiVo Series 3 to view Amazon Unbox content, which includes a pretty extensive TV and movie selection.
• I also bought an Apple TV, so we can view content from the iTunes store on our TV.
• We already had a DVD, so we can still buy or rent DVD content.

So, now we don’t pay for cable at all. We either get our entertainment in broadcast HD for free or we purchase/rent the specific content we want via Amazon Unbox, iTunes Store, or DVD. (If you watch live, non-broadcast sports, this plan won’t work for you. But, that’s not an issue for us.)

The upfront costs of all of this were significant, I won’t deny that. But, the monthly TiVo subscription of $17 is our only monthly payment now for TV entertainment. No cable bill. And, buying/renting the content we can’t get free via broadcast is costing a small fraction of what our cable bill did. Best of all, during the holidays and the writers’ strike, while everyone else is paying $80 or more a month for re-runs and reality shows, we’re only paying $17 for our TiVo.

We’re saving enough money that we’ll probably recoup our initial costs within a year a two. And, I so love not giving the cable company money each month!