Hoy os comento uno de los casos de cambio más exitoso en el sector tecnológico. Es la empresa Apple la creadora del omnipresente iPod. Apple fue creada por Steve Job y Steve Wozniak, entró quiebra técnica en el 93, de la que Michael Dell, CEO de Dell Computer en el año 1997 dijo “Lo mejor que podría hacer Apple es cerrar y devolver el dinero a sus accionistas” y en la que Microsoft tuvo que entrar en su accionariado para garantizar su supervivencia, a ser una de las empresas más destacadas, innovadoras y admiradas del planeta. Steve Jobs fue despedido por el consejo de administración en el 85 para volver en el 93 con la empresa en ruinas. Desde el 93 hasta la fecha la empresa ha cambiado mucho, se conceptualizó y lanzó al mercado el iPod objeto que trasciende su propio uso para convertirse en un objeto de culto, y toda una nueva gama de ordenadores que les ha llevado a ser la tercera  marca en cuota de mercado. ¿Cómo lo ha hecho?.

Adjunto un video (44 min) sobre la historia del iPod el gran responsable del resurgir de a compañía.  El vídeo cuenta el punto de inflexión que significa la vuelta de su creador Steve Jobs , su visión del potencial de negocio de la música y entretenimiento en formato digital, su vuelta a las raíces en la que la experiencia de uso y el diseño son sus máximas. Y una ejecución de esta estrategia simplemente perfecta. Pensad que desde el punto de vista tecnológico el iPod no aportar innovación ninguna (salva el interfaz de pantalla) y comparado objetivamente con sus competidores tiene prestaciones claramente inferiores. Pero el iPod ha trascendido el mundo digital para convertirse en un icono urbano.

Dentro de esta estrategia hay dos puntos muy importantes:

1) Compatibilidad de iTunes (su soft de gestión de música) con  Windows que es el sistema operativo más utilizado en el mundo. Hasta la fecha Apple tenía su propio ecosistema cerrado a la gran mayoría de los usuarios. Abriendo su sistema ha dado la bienvenida a millones de usuarios que les atraía el diseño de Apple peor no querían aprender un sistema operativo minoritario. Esta estrategia la han replicado con sus ordenadores de forma que pueden correr Windows y con el sistema operativo de Apple lo cual les ha convertido en el 3er fabricante mundial de ordendores detrás de HP y Dell.

2) iTunes Store como la mayor distribuidora de contenidos digitales del momento. Más si cabe con el anuncio que ha hecho de poder alquilar vídeos de la principales productoras americanas. Una máquina de hacer dinero. Enlazo a la cotización de los 10 últimos años de Apple para que se observe la evolución.

Las últimas novedades de la empresa giran en torno la retirada temporal de su carismático CEO Steve Jobs para recuperarse de una enfermedad. En las revistas especializadas de tecnología y finanzas hay multitud de comentarios sobre este asunto. Steve tuvo un cáncer de pancreas hace 3-4 años del que se había recuperado pero ahora esta decisión y su evidente deterioro físico -de una delgadez extrema- ha suscitado muchas especulaciones. Desde un trastorno hormonal, pasando por una reactivación del cancer de páncreas – uno de los más letales que existen- hasta que se tenga que trasplantar el hígado ya que puede que se le haya contagiado. En fín, un sinfin de especulaciones que ha hecho caer la acción un 7% el día del anuncio, revisiones de los analistas que siguen la acción a recomendación de vender debido a la poca confianza que suscita el nuevo equipo directivo en cuanto a sus capacidades para liderar una empreas como Apple. ¿Puede una empresa como Apple depender de una sóla persona?

Video iPod en inglés:
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=6960974522224017009&q=iPOd&total=71262&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Video iPod en español troceado
http://video.google.es/videosearch?q=iPod&emb=0#q=Historia%20del%20iPod&emb=0

Evolución histórica de la cotización Apple:
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL.
En el gráfico clicar zoom 10y

Mi opinión personal sobre Apple, iPod y Steve Jobs:

Personalmente sigo esta compañía con gran interés tanto sus productos como a Steve Jobs. El gran orador, el grandísimo profesional del marketing y por encima de todo un excelente, carismático comercial. En el mundo de los negocios hay managers, hay directores, presidentes y CEOs y también está Steve Jobs el “ICEO” como a el le gusta auto denominarse.

Soy usuario de PC desde hace no se cuanto, también usuario de Mac desde hace 3 años, en casa utilizo los dos aparatos indistantemente, tengo un Macbook y un portátil PC. He regalado IPods Touch (sigo maravillado con ese producto, nunca me compraría uno a mi mismo pero en mi opinión es un producto técnicamente casi perfecto), he probado el IPhone tanto el que salió como su prototipo antes de salir – Antes mi labor profesional estaba basada en los contenidos móviles y formaba parte de ese mundillo. He trabajado con verdaderos fans de Apple asi como rodeado de técnicos pro Linux, pro Microsoft, profesionales de la venta de Microsoft etc etc.

Mucho se puede decir de Apple y de Steve Jobs, páginas y páginas, pero ¿Por qué la progresión de Apple en los últimos 7 años? ¿Hasta qué punto es importante la aportación de Steve a la empresa?

Razones del éxito Apple:

1- Un modelo de negocio revolucionario – No sólo un producto sino la combinación de hardware, software y servicio. El modelo Apple revolucionó el entretenimiento portátil creando un nuevo mercado y transformando la compañía. Pero sin duda la clave estuvo en que Apple presentó un producto de alta tecnología envuelto en un modelo de negocio destacado y ventajoso que hizo la descarga de música fácil y conveniente, ese fue el valor principal del modelo de negocio y el CVP (Customer value proposition) o en otras palabras el valor principal aportado a los clientes.

¿Cómo lo hizo? Hay muchos casos parecidos a día de hoy, por ejemplo reflexionar sobre Gillette y sus maquinillas… Gillette atrajo al mercado vendiendo cuchillas de recambio, si, esas que venían en paquetes de 5 o 6 recambios creo (con margen de beneficio muy pequeño para la compañía) a cambio de que los clientes compraran lo que ellos realmente querían, las maquinillas en si que si que suponían un margen de beneficio tremendo para la compañía. Pues Steve Jobs hizo lo mismo, ofreció descargas de música tremendamente baratas (bajo coste a 1 dólar, margen de beneficio bajísimo) a cambio de que la gente comprara lo que realmente traería beneficio a Apple el Hardware el IPod, cuya compra suponía un margen brutal de beneficio para la compañía, cada IPod vendido suponía una pequeña victoria, asi hasta millones de ventas.

Steve Jobs es un experto en marketing de eso no hay ninguna duda, vio la oportunidad de satisfacer a los clientes que tenían la necesidad de escuchar música y descargarse canciones (la necesidad nos la mostró Napster a todos, la gente ya no quería música en CD). Pero sobre todo, consigió satisfacer esa necesidad con un modelo que fue capaz de crear un beneficio tremendo para Apple, o sea creó un modelo de negocio exitoso, algo de lo que Apple carecía hasta el momento.

Otros aspectos a considerar:

1- Antes de volver Steve Jobs a Apple decidió a crear una compañía llamada “Next”, pues bien esta compañía, adquirida posteriormente por Apple en 1997 por 400 millones de dólares, es la responsable de un porcentaje muy alto de los avances tecnológicos posteriores, siendo la creadora de gran parte de sus productos hardware y software.

2- Ya antes de la aparición del iPod, Steve Jobs era considerado un guru dentro del mundo tecnológico – fue nombrado número 1 por la revista Upside en la lista de top 100 de personalidades tecnológicas del año en 1999. Se le conocía principalmente por su actitud arrogante y por su conocimiento de marketing, por ser un gran comercial de tecnología.

Lo que aporta Jobs a Apple

Jobs es una persona de un carisma excepcional. En el mundillo tecnológico, se le conoce como uno de los más grandes comerciales que existe capaz de convencer, de atraer con su encanto y con su forma excéntrica de ver las cosas y de demostrarlas. Os invito a veros la presentación de producto que hizo en la MacWorld Expo del año 1999 para entender un poco cómo es este profesional en acción y si podéis verla en Inglés, mejor. Ya antes de empezar la presentación, había personas silbando y aplaudiendo, más que una presentación de producto eso parecía un concierto de rock con fans, esperando a que el grupo subiera al escenario…siempre soltando frases emocionalmente potentes tipo “Apple contra el mundo”, “somos diferentes, somos únicos”, “machacamos en prestaciones con nuestros modelos a cualquier pc”, “no nos importa lo que digan los medios sobre nosotros” etc etc un verdadero líder, y un orgullo para los muchos seguidores de Apple de ahi la tremenda lealtad que un porcentaje de los usuarios de tecnología tienen hacia la compañía, no sólo es la tecnología que atrae, es el estilo, el concepto de ser únicos y por ese motivo por que soy único me identifico con Apple y compro Un I-Pod de 300 doláres aun sabiendo que uno de 150 de otra marca tiene las mismas prestaciones. En muchos círculos de fans en todo el mundo Macintosh es como una religión y no una simple marca y mucho es debido al trabajo comercial de Jobs.

Para Steve Jobs el diseño es una parte esencial de la experiencia de disfrutar tecnología hasta el punto de que nos hace únicos, ¿habéis intentando alguna vez que os presten un mac? Es como pedirle a alguien que le estes prestando algo realmente personal, o parte de ellos, algo especial.

Mi opinión es que nunca se podrá medir con exactitud la contribución de Steve Jobs como imagen de Macintosh, el gran impulsor del individualismo, de los gustos personales, del diseño, del detalle, del estilo propio etc. Pero, la empresa es mucho más que eso y seguro que muchos fans de Macintosh aman a Steve Jobs no hay ninguna duda pero sobre todo aman a Apple, su tecnología, y la forma de expresión que supone.

Notas:

Macintosh al contrario de Microsoft, siempre se ha mantenido al margen de los mercados corporativos, su único interés ha sido servir a los clientes individuales y las compañías ya se sumarán si les interesa.

Apple said Wednesday that a team of its top executives lead by worldwide marketing chief Phil Schiller will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next month with a keynote address on Monday, June 8 at 10:00 a.m. that will showcase a final developer preview of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

The opening keynote address has historically been delivered by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who announced in January that he was taking a six-month medical leave from his day-to-day leadership role at the company to recover from complex health issues that may have resulted from his otherwise successful bout with pancreatic cancer five years ago.

Apple executives have maintained that Jobs will return to the company in some capacity by the end of June. In the meantime, worldwide marketing chief Phil Schiller has been filling in for the company co-founder, delivering what was widely regarded as a successful keynote presentation at this year’s Macworld Expo. Other members of Apple’s top brass have also pitched in, like Senior Vice President iPhone Software Scott Forstall, who a couple of months later hosted a smaller media event on the company’s Cupertino-based campus to preview iPhone Software 3.0.

Next month’s WWDC is expected to showcase even more of Apple’s top talent, who’ll take turns updating attendees on the most recent advances in both Mac OS X and iPhone software. Among the execs expected to join Schiller on stage is Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, Bertrand Serlet, who’ll bring developers up to date on the company’s plans for the upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and deliver a feature complete beta of the operating systems to attendees.

“Last June, we gave developers an early look at the powerful new technologies that form the underpinnings of Mac OS X Snow Leopard,” Serlet said. “At WWDC, we will be giving our developers a final Developer Preview release so they can see the incredible progress we’ve made on Snow Leopard and work with us as we move toward its final release.”

As part of its ongoing coverage of Snow Leopard, AppleInsider had repeatedly noted that WWDC would see developers equipped with a feature-complete beta of the operating system, which may include some interface changes. People familiar with the matter have estimated that Apple will need roughly two months following the conference to bring the software to market, suggesting a release in the August time frame.

Snow Leopard and Mac technical sessions at WWDC will showcase the hundreds of refinements to the operating system and dive into its new technologies including a 64-bit architecture, QuickTime X, next-generation multicore and GPU processor support, and new accessibility technologies, according to Apple. Meanwhile, iPhone OS 3.0 technical sessions will reportedly cover introductory and advanced concepts to help developers get the most out of the iPhone OS 3.0 SDK and the more than 1,000 new APIs available for iPhone OS 3.0.

WWDC will also offer attendees the rare opportunity to work side-by-side with Apple engineers to solve code-level issues, gain insight into development techniques and get expert advice on interface design. Over 100 technical sessions will be presented by more than 1,000 Apple engineers. The conference is sold out.

Apple sometime in the next 24 hours will release Sling Media’s highly anticipated SlingPlayer application for the iPhone onto its App Store but the software will arrive without 3G wireless support, AppleInsider has been able to confirm.

Formally announced at January’s Macworld Expo, the SlingPlayer Mobile application promised to allow iPhone users to stream live television over WiFi or 3G wireless networks by tapping into home TV setups equipped with a Slingbox. A built-in remote control function would reportedly allow for channel surfing and DVR setup.

Sling Media submitted the application to the App Store nearly six weeks ago but it has thus far failed to see approval amid rumors that AT&T had asked Apple to deny the software in its original form because the carrier was concerned about the app’s potential to saturate its 3G network.

Those rumors appear to have been true. AppleInsider spoke to SlingMedia on Tuesday and confirmed that Apple will push the application onto the App Store sometime between 6:00 p.m. eastern time today and midnight. However, it won’t be the version of the application originally submitted with support for 3G and EDGE streaming.

Instead, the version Apple approved is WiFi-only. It will sell for $29.99 in the US and Canada, and 17.99 British pounds overseas. Officially, the application will support the SlingBox PRO, SOLO, and PRO-HD. Legacy Slingboxes, which include the Classic, AV, and TUNER, will also work with the app but Sling Media won’t provide any service for technical problems with these products, including problems caused by updates to SlingPlayer Mobile software, Slingbox hardware, or iPhone firmware.

Sling Media’s concession to release its iPhone app as WiFi-only is surprising given that a version of SlingPlayer runs on several other AT&T devices over 3G like the BlackBerry Bold. With a $30 price tag and a WiFi-only limitation, it will be interesting to see how well the application fairs in its first week on the App Store, especially since its lack of wireless network access is likely to curb its appeal.

Some have theorized that AT&T’s motives for asking Apple to deny a 3G capable version of the application may be more closely tied to the carrier’s plan to launch a similar 3G service than any potential concerns over network saturation. The AT&T service would reportedly allow iPhone users to steer video recorders for its U-verse digital TV offering from their handsets.

AppleInsider has been testing SlingPlayer for the iPhone for the past several weeks and will publish a full review shortly after the application becomes available.

Most of you reading this blog already know that Microsoft is one of my most-despised companies on the entire planet. I absolutely ABHOR anything that has to do with Microsoft.

I have about a hundred different reasons for this, but I think Steve Jobs himself best sums up all of my primary reasons here:

Ha, maybe the thing that despises me the most about Microsoft is the comment that it makes about our society. Our society is sooo filled with people who strive for nothing more than mediocrity that these very same people have spent the last 25 years rushing out to purchase mediocre (at best) products from Microsoft.

And speaking of mediocrity, if you can stand a video filled with documented lies, here’s Steve Ballmer. Remember when watching this video that just about everything he says in this video is a lie, including his deliberate misquoting of Steve Jobs about Apple and partnerships:

Look, I don’t care if someone is the cashier at the McDonald’s drive-thru (which is a summer job I held in junior high school)… just strive to be your best at whatever you do! While I was bending over backwards to take care of the drive-thru customers at McDonald’s, I remember most of the rest of the staff lounging around in the back, smoking cigarettes, making fun of me (the young computer nerd) for trying so hard.

Apple is the company that tries really hard to make your life better & easier & more productive. Meanwhile, Microsoft is lounging around in the back, smoking cigarettes, laughing at Apple:

Steve Ballmer always loves to talk about price in his videos (and in Microsoft’s new TV advertisements), but the old mantra is true:

You really do get what you pay for.

Now look, I’m not against saving money when the quality has been standardized. For example, a coca-cola on sale at Ralph’s for 50¢ is going to taste exactly the same as a $9 coca-cola at an upscale bar (yes, I have ridiculously paid $9 for a coca-cola before).

But when the quality varies wildly — like with a prostitute, perhaps — you’re going to want to spend the most money you can on the best quality that you can find.

Microsoft is the disease-infested hooker on the street who will lead your life into a fearful dead-end where you either want to kill yourself or take meth for the rest of your life.

Apple, on the other hand… well, I can’t even use a hooker analogy for Apple. Apple is the classy, respectful, funny, sweet, sexually playful, thoughtful girl that you fall in love with in high school and end up marrying — and she inspires you & motivates you to courageously go after your dreams:

In fact, Microsoft’s recent treatment of me at MacWorld Expo 2009 in San Francisco proved even more why I hate Microsoft so much. Unfortunately, this is one experience that I don’t have a YouTube video of.

I walked up to 2 representatives at the Microsoft booth and began sharing a few of my feature requests for Microsoft’s Mac email program known as Entourage. (MacWorld Expo is the venue where consultants like myself are allowed to do just that — speak DIRECTLY with the software engineers at various tech companies to share our thoughts about their products and to get into valuable discussions about the future with the very people whom we normally wouldn’t have access to. It’s normally completely fulfilling & rewarding.)

Anyways, my Entourage feature requests were very intelligent, and were features that are already present in Apple’s Mail program and Microsoft’s Outlook program. I just wanted these same features brought over to Entourage as well. So I started speaking to these representatives at the Microsoft booth, and the first representative completely walked away while I was mid-sentence! I have no idea where he disappeared to. Then, the other Microsoft representative (taking his cue from the first employee, no doubt) LITERALLY TURNED HIS BACK ON ME as I continued speaking!

It was like something out of a Hollywood movie: the Microsoft representative literally turned his back on me to… look at empty space? There was nobody else at the booth. I don’t think anybody has ever turned their back on me before in my entire life! I actually called him out on his rude behavior and said, “Hey, that is really rude. I’m in the middle of a sentence and you turn your back on me?” He turned around for a quick moment to say, “Look, I don’t know what to tell you… we don’t have the resources to handle feature requests from customers.” And he turned his back on me again.

There you go, folks — that’s how Microsoft treats its customers.

Compare those videos to any one of the hundreds of Steve Jobs presentations on the web. Here’s just ONE of Steve Jobs’ many presentations — this is the one when he first introduced the iPhone to the world:

I also posted 2 other Steve jobs videos in this blog entry, where you can’t even contain the roaring enthusiasm from the crowd. All from a man who is very calmly & thoughtfully delivering innovation after innovation to the public.

I shall now leave you with a panoply of entertainment, courtesy of Steve Ballmer:

First is the music video remix of Steve Ballmer’s “developer” chant:

Then, the “Young Frankenstein” remake you may have missed in theatres, called “Young FrankenSteve”:

Folks, life is short. Stop supporting Microsoft. It’s better for you and the world around you.

Intego reeled out a wave of updates to its line of Internet security offerings at Macworld Expo, including an important update to its Internet-filtering software and a new version of its server-side virus protection programs.

ContentBarrier is Intego`s parental control program, letting parents set time-limits and design filters to manage their kid`s Internet usage. ContentBarrier X5, the latest version, offers full recording of what sites have been visited and blocked as well as other activities such as chats, e-mail, applications and keystrokes.

ContentBarrier X5 also offers enhanced content category filtes and remove Web administration from any computer or mobile device. The software filters more protocols, i.e. FTP/SFTP, SSH, HTTPS and online games and prevents external disks and volumes from mounting. ContentBarrier X5 runs on OS X and higher.

VirusBarrier Server 2 and VirusBarrier Mail Gateway 2 were also released by Intego. Both products are aimed at providing virus protection on servers running Mac OS X.
VirusBarrier Server 2 adds a GUI administration console; a full quarantine zone to isolate and repair infected files, and detailed logs of all infected files sent automatically to administrators, among other features. Those changes appear in VirusBarrier Mail Gateway 2 as well, along with the ability to scan all e-mail sent and received via OS X Server’s e-mail server and to repair infected e-mails in the quarantine zone.

VirusBarrier Server 2 costs $300 while VirusBarrier Mail Gateway 2 costs $500. Existing users can upgrade for free.

Lastly, Intego released an update for VirusBarrier X5, its antivirus program. The 10.56 update, free to all users, improves scan operations. This scans stop when volumes being scanned are unmounted and the handling of scan scheduling has been improved.

Jetzt mache ich mir wirklich Sorgen um mein Liebings-IT-Unternehmen. Steve Jobs nimmt sich bis Juni eine Auszeit, um sich von seiner Erkrankung zu kurieren. Bei wesentlichen Unternehmensentscheidungen ist er an Bord, sonst hat das Ruder Tim Cook, der COO. Cook hat schon 2004 Apple geleitet, als Jobs Krebs hatte.

Das ist ein Hammer. Per Mail wurden die Mitarbeiter informiert, die Aktien fielen gleich mal um 10 Prozent. Noch vor der Macworld Expo Anfang Januar beruhigte Jobs die Community, dass nur harmlose Hormonschwankungen an seiner Krankheit Schuld seien. Er verzichtete daher auf die Keynote und Phil Schiller sprang ein. Doch es ist wohl schlimmer als befürchtet. Die Zeitungen in San Francisco waren voll mit Spekulationen. Jobs Hauszeitung, der SF Chronicle, nahm den High-Tech-Icon sogar auf die Titelseite.

Jobs meinte am Tag vor der Keynote, er werde den Vorstand informieren, wenn er seine Apple-Geschäfte nicht mehr wahrnehmen kann. Das hat er jetzt getan. Und Apple muss sich Sorgen machen. Ich kenne kein Unternehmen in dieser Größe, das so von einer Person abhängig ist. Jobs gilt als visionäre Lichtgestalt der Branche und verdammt noch mal: Er ist es.

Er leitet sein Unternehmen charismatisch, streng, kompromisslos. Mit ihm direkt zu arbeiten muss keine Freude sein. Er ist kein Heiliger. Ich durfte einmal auf den Campus nach Cupertino weilen und es war keine tolle Atmosphäre. Die Mitarbeiter hatten wohl Angst ihren Chef zu bewegnen. Und dennoch: Wichtig ist, was hinten raus kommt und die Produkte von Apple haben die Welt verändert: Mac, iPod, iPhone

Immer wieder wird berichtet, dass Apple ohne Jobs überlebensfähig sei. Das glaube ich auch. Genügend gute Frauen und Männer stehen bereit, doch allen fehlt das Charisma von Steve Jobs. Das Unternehmen Apple wird weiterhin gut geführt, die Marke Apple wird durch den Wegfall von Steve Jobs leiden. Wer interessiert sich denn dafür, wie der Vorstandsvorsitzende von Sony heißt oder kennen Sie den Chef von Autodesk? Nein. Das sind sicherlich gute Leute, doch Spaß bleibt auf der Strecke. Ich genieße den Personenkult um Steve und wünsche uns allen, dass er uns noch lange erhalten bleibt.

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

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Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Spring: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/12/16macworld.html

Last week, Apple behaved more like Detroit of years past , with new fins, bells and whistles adorning their computers and software. But there was no iPhone-level breakthrough at the annual Macworld Expo.

The biggest news proved just how underwhelming the whole show was.

In April, the iTunes Music Store will go DRM-free, stripping file locking from the millions of songs it sells.

But, as they say in the news business, the company buried the lede.

Sure, the remaining record companies followed EMI, which decrypted some of their music in 2007.  But in exchange, they got variable pricing, topping out at $1.29 per song.

It’s a move that Apple’s resisted for years.

There’s no official word yet, but I’m betting it’s the most popular music that goes beyond the once-standard 99 cents per track. That’s just how this business does things.

Utter idiocy.

To paraphrase industry gadfly Bob Lefsetz, who weighed in immediately after the announcement – only gas stations are raising prices.

The bestselling books are always discounted, and CDs with one or two hits on them are loss leaders from Best Buy to Wal-Mart.  Yet these moguls think digital music, which requires no assembly line, warehouse or shipping channel, ought to cost more,

Is it any wonder they’re bleeding red ink?

Anyway, I find the whole no-DRM discussion beside the point.  e-Music, with perhaps the best legal indie music catalog anywhere, has been doing it forever, and they don’t rule the world.

Music from iTunes is easily bought, and (up to now, anyway) simply understood.

But without the computer/iPod synergy with iTunes, it’s nothing.  Besides, 90 percent of music stored on portable devices is already DRM-free, because it was ripped from CD or stolen online.

Now, if an all-you-can-eat rental service went DRM-free, that would be newsworthy.  I swear by Rhapsody.  For 15 bucks a month, I get all the music I want when I want it.

My biggest problem with this unlimited library is that I can’t play it on an iPod.

Fix that little difficulty, and the iTunes Music Store will lose its cool factor in a Cupertino minute.

Which is why this big move is such small beer.  Anyone with an iPod gets music from Apple already.  I’d love to hear how many people even care that their songs are handcuffed.

However, if the next Justin Timberlake single costs 30 cents more, they may start paying attention.

When that happens, I’m guessing it won’t be a good thing – for Apple or the music business.

Now, on to the local scene:

Thursday: Johnny Winter & James Montgomery, Latchis Theatre - At 17, I snuck into a bar to see the lightning-fingered Winter play blues guitar.  It was mesmerizing.  Though he’s frail these days (like B.B. King, he performs sitting down), the flame still burns.  With harmonica genius Montgomery at his side, it should be a great evening. The event benefits the Brattleboro High School Marching Band’s trip to next Tuesday’s Presidential inauguration.  They’re the only Vermont band to receive the honor.

Friday: Elsa Cross, Salt hill Pub – The flood of Seacoast bands to Salt hill continues with this Americana singer-songwriter who claims Loretta Lynn’s music gave her an out of body experience, and whose own songs have been compared to a female Johnny Cash.  Accompanied by Steve Roy on upright bass, and PJ Donahue of the Amorphous Band, her debut Lebanon performance should be a barn burner.

Saturday: Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, Hopkins Center – Spanish guitar and staccato heels feature in this centuries-old tradition, along with clapping, singing and incessant rhythm.  Dancer Soledad Barrio “dances as if possessed by the spirit of a Gypsy encampment…She breathes the essence of flamenco,” according to the New York Times.  After the show (which also plays Friday), there will be a question and answer session with Barrio and her husband Martin Santangelo, who directs the Madrid-based troupe.

Sunday: Johnny B and the Goodes with Ted Mortimer, Plainfield Town Hall – Johnny Bishop’s harp playing is a throwback to the masters of old – I loved his recent album.  Ted’s an ace guitarist with a delicate touch.  With a famous Maxfield Parrish mural as a backdrop, these guys will play the blues while celebrating next week’s inauguration. This event is BYOB, and I suspect they’ll be a lot of champagne corks popping, PBR music notwithstanding

Tuesday: Inauguration Party with Dr. Burma, Whaleback Ski Area – Our new president is at the center of several events tonight, including a Skunk Hollow open mike. The Whaleback party is dubbed “Brick by Brick: A Community Building Party.” It both celebrates the events in D.C. and shines a light on work done by non-profit organizations in the community. The Upper Valley Land Trust, the Upper Valley Haven, Vital Communities, and the Upper Valley United Way are represented so far – suggested donation is five dollars.

The big news that folks have been paying attention to the other day from Apple’s presentation at the Macworld Expo was the announcement that iTunes will now offer DRM-Free tracks to download off their website. Another one of the interesting features presented by Apple for the new year is the new edition of iLife’s GarageBand. Although GarageBand contains the simplest music recording actions and processing of any computer recording programs – that way it’s more accessible to the average person – it’s capabilities have become more sophisticated, as seen from the 2009 updates.

Perhaps most interesting are the basic lessons for guitar and piano available via video. Once you get the basics down, you can move to the artist lessons, where well-known musicians teach you how to play their well-known songs. You can download individual artist lessons for a just under $5 as they become available. So far, there are only a handful of artist lesson previews available through the website, including one from this fellow:

Patrick Stump for GarageBand

Yep, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. And he’s teaching their newest single, “I Don’t Care,” which you can preview on the iLife site. An emo artist alongside the likes of Sting, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLachlan as part of the advertising muscle for one of the trendiest and most-popular companies in America in recent year. Is this a sign that, despite the enigma surrounding the genre with the rioting and calls of cultism and outright banning, that emo is not only accepted but promoted to the majority of Americans as a healthy part and product of our greater popular culture? Too soon to tell, but it’s easy to see that they are simply appealing to the market, as Fall Out Boy are one of the best-selling bands in the world. No matter what, you’ve got to appreciate this quote from the GarageBand website:

“Have Sting teach you how to play ‘Roxanne,’ Colbie Caillat teach you how to play ‘Bubbly,’ Fall Out Boy teach you how to play ‘I Don’t Care,’ and many more.”

Another quote to back up the theory that Patrick Stump is the most invisible frontman in any popular band (sorry, Stillwater isn’t real).

To round it all out, I know I’m not the first person to post this (and hopefully not the last), but kudos to The Onion’s video department for dreaming up this great Apple gadget. Too bad they didn’t debut this baby at the Expo:

The list this week is tech-heavy and later than usual, mainly because of the “last” MacWorld Expo. {See all lists].

• MacBreak Weekly 122: Macworld Expo Live from the floor at Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Leo Laporte gathered some of his stalwarts, following the last Apple keynote (the company is pulling out of the convention, a fact that seemed to hang over this event with sadness). The discussion focuses on the high points of the keynote presentation from Phil Schiller of Apple: improvements to iMovie editing; new iPhoto features like facial recognition, geo-tagging, and integration with Flickr; the new 17-inch MacBook Pro; and the end of DRM on iTunes. General agreement that Schiller is no Steve Jobs when it comes to giving a speech. Many of the panelists are camera geeks who don’t use iPhoto, so they are hoping that some of the features will be ported to Aperture, Apple’s high-end photo software. No real picks, though Boxee was plugged; some good show notes are here. I also watched a short 5-minute MacBreak video podcast featuring Merlin Mann pestering people on the convention floor. It was amusing with low information content. Length: 1 hour 9 minutes. Released: Jan. 6.
• Mac OS Ken: 01.07.2009, 01.08.2009, 01.08.2009 Ken Ray puts out brief roundups of Mac news six days a week. I used to listen to him every morning, but then it got to be just too much information. Still, he does a great job, so I checked back in for his MacWorld coverage. The first episode this week started out with listener predictions for keynote announcements and fan voicemails, then covered the basics from Phil Schiller’s presentation of iPhoto, iMovie and so forth. He seems a tad disappointed at the shortage of new hardware this year from Apple. Thursday’s episode featured a conversation with Glen Roberts, product manager for HP Media Smart Server, and about how the high-end product was getting by in a struggling economy. It uses Windows home server, so you need a network with both Macs and PCs, but it is Mac-friendly. Ken talks fast and transmits a lot of data, and he’s promising more interviews from the show. He admits to be wiped out and jetlagged. Interestingly, he provides better insights and sounds more awake on the rival MacCast (see below). The final episode featured interviews with Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit and the CEO of MarketCircle and listeners’ voicemail reactions to the Schiller keynote. Many are not happy with Apple pulling the plug on its Expo participation. Length: Ranged from 10 to 20 minutes. Released: Jan. 7, 8, 9.
• The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab 185: Live From the Macworld Expo Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun thought Schiller did a good job with the keynote. They note the auditorium was not full, as it always was for Steve Jobs. An extensive discussion of the technical challenges of covering past keynotes, followed by extensive discussion of how they live-blogged this one. There are several technical interruptions. They get down to business chewing over the same few morsels as other podcasters. Some gripes about the new battery in the 17-inch MacBook, which is not replaceable. They point out that in introducing Tony Bennett, Schiller made a bit of a gaffe, calling the show the “last Macworld Expo.” Of course while Apple won’t be there next year, the hall is booked. This is a bit of a meandering show with a lot of geeky digressions, but that seems to be part of its charm, as well as the reason I am not a regular listener. Length: 53:38 minutes. Released: Jan 7.
• The MacCast: Macworld 2009 Keynote Wrapup Adam Christianson discusses his impressions from sitting in the audience at Schiller’s keynote. He is joined by his fellow podcasters Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User) and Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken). Ken points out that Schiller made a point that 3.4 million users per week visit Apple stores, which is 100 times the number of people that the company used to reach at MacWorld Expo. “It was kind of harsh… It wasn’t even subtext. It was text: ‘We don’t need this.’” Victor: “It was hurtful.” Adam hopes Macworld continues as a community event in future years. They still give his performance high marks. Face recognition in iPhoto “kind of creepy.” Cool aspects of geocoding for sorting. This podcast also has the best explanation of the value of the 99-cent Keynote iphone app. Ken thinks the charge is weird. More complaints about the MacBook battery. Compared to the other Macworld podcasts, this was the clearest and most thorough, and also the calmest, perhaps because it was recorded in a quieter location. Length: 1:32:42 Released: Jan. 7.
• Typical Mac User Podcast: Macworld Expo Post Keynote Wrapup Victor Cajaio’s podcast. I was dreading the thought of listening to another hour and a half discussion of Phil Schiller’s presentation, so I was happy to discover that it was identical to the Maccast above. Length: 1:28:35. Released: Jan. 6.
• This Week in Tech 176: Fat in the MiddleLate in the week, I finally got around to this one, which was recorded before Macworld and the CES consumer technology show, which started on Thursday in Las Vegas, presenting technology fans with a choice. Leo Laporte is joined by John C. Dvorak, Robert Scoble, and the Houston Chronicle tech reporter Dwight Silverman (who said he was skipping Macworld for CES). Laporte blames Twitter and social media for celebrity nerd feuds. They give their predictions, which were mostly on the mark (17-inch MacBook and its non-replaceable battery had both leaked, but the iTunes DRM decision had not). They were rightly skeptical of iPhone Nano rumors. Some discussion of 3D TVs: still too blurry. The value of location-aware laptops.The new Palm Phone and the “fat middle.” (Seems like a tough fight ahead for Palm.) On the PC side, discussion of the Windows 7 beta and dead Zune day. At the conferences: The weirdness of being covered by an audience of live-bloggers, heads down, clicking away. Why bother going? It’s better to watch the game on TV. They end with an interesting and alarming discussion of remote law enforcement hacking of home computers in England, without a warrant. This somehow segues into Dvorak comparing treatment of Martha Stewart and Bernie Madoff. All entertaining. Length: A manageable 1 hour, 8 minutes. Released: Jan. 4.
• Net@Night: Fly the Friendly Skies Yes, more from Laporte. He’s the undisputed tech-podcast king. This one is a sometimes overlooked gem, featuring Laporte and Amber MacArthur talking about cool sites, viral media and online happenings. A previous episode’s interview with Mr. Tweet inspired me to ramp up my twittering (both reading and posting). Robert Scoble was on last week talking about microblogging and the real-time Web. This week, Laporte talks briefly about his Macworld presentation about the crumbling mass media monopoly (not available online). Other topics included layoffs at Livejournal, Facebook Connect, the simple hack and security flaw that upended Twitter on Monday (compromising the accounts of Laporte, Barack Obama, Fox News and others). Tip: Don’t use dictionary words for passwords, especially if you’re an administrator on a network. The hour also features good discussions and explanations of Blip.FM, a sort of social networking music playlist service, and the indie-music sharing service Amaze.Fm. A brief chat with MrCalzone, developer of the Google slapper gog.is (just type http://gog.is/KEYWORD.KEYWORD where each KEYWORD separated by points represents the search terms the person asking you for information should have Googled). Leo notes that he Friend-ed too many people on Facebook and has no room for his actual friends and family members now joining. (Leo, you can drop me.) The viral video of the week is the Onion’s overexposed and only kind of funny spoof video (The MacBook Wheel) and an interview with Micah Mazier, host of the podcast of the week, Lucas County Choppers, featuring four air traffic controllers and their motorcycles. Length: 1 hour, 1 minute. Released: Jan 7.
• This Week in Media 120: Cotton, Salt and a Bubble Machine and 121: The Good, the Ad and the Ugly More enjoyable new media discussions from a panel led by Daisy Whitney. I’m catching up here. The first of these episodes included a discussion of the Kindle and e-books, YouTube battles and Hulu, and the greatest nude scenes in movies, and it felt a bit like holiday filler. This week’s episode is more informative, with a discussion of some recent smart moves by Netflix, part of a trend that ought to worry cable companies. Semantic distinctions matter: Netflix uses the term viewers understand — “movie rental” — instead of “pay per view.” The Time Warner-Viacom battle. A discussion of iPhone applications, including the translator that was co-host Alex Lindsay’s pick last week on MacBreak Weekly. The panel also discusses what works best for a podcast: a strict format or a loose conversation. Consensus: It depends on the target audience, and the host. Does it make sense for a small business like a dry cleaner to have a podcast? Some on the panel think it could work, with the right creative concept. Lindsay: “If it is not seen as something that is impartial, or somewhat impartial, no one will listen…” He’s right. Lengths: 56 minutes; and 1 hour, 4 minutes. Released: Dec. 30 and Jan. 6.
• Uhh Yeah Dude, Episode 148 After all that tech talk, I needed a break. In their explicit comedy podcast, Jonathan Larroquette and Seth Romatelli riff this week on dumb laws, cocaine-loving bees, the hazards of third-hand smoke. idiots who shoot guns in the air on New Year’s Eve, the world’s stupidest bank robber, the Jan. 16 opening of the Notorious B.I.G. biopic and the movie “Mall Cop,,” a drunk woman who hit on Jonathan on Christmas Eve, truck antlers, and the oldest person in the world, Gertrude Baines, 114, who lives around the corner. Way back in Episode 112 in April 2008, they described a visit to her at a nearby nursing home, when she was merely the third-oldest person in the world. She outlasted the competition. Seth: “We totally like lamped at her place… and we have pictures to prove this.” Length: 1 hour, 15 minutes. Released: Jan. 6.

solidThinking made its debut appearance at MacWorld Expo 2009 to showcase its advanced capabilities to the Mac community. This was also be an opportunity to highlight how leading designers are ‘doing it with a Mac’ by using solidThinking to design exciting new products. 

Martedì sera si è tenuto al Moscone Center di San Francisco il keynote (presentazione) di Apple durante il Macworld Expo (evento dedicato ai programmatori di software per Mac), il quale ha avuto una certa importanza per via del fatto che è stato l’ultimo fatto dall’azienda di Cupertino all’interno dell’evento. Inoltre a rappresentare Apple ci ha pensato Phil Shiller e non Steve Jobs come invece è successo fin’ora. C’è da dire che quest’ultimo non sta molto bene fisicamente ultimamente, e che attraverso una lettera, presente sul sito ufficiale dell’azienda che potete leggere tradotta a questa pagina, ha spiegato quali sono i suoi problemi di salute.

Ora vediamo in riassunto cosa c’ha mostrato Phil durante la conferenza:

• iLife 09. Tutti i programmi che compongo il pacchetto di software multimediali sono stati aggiornati e sono state introdotte delle nuove e utiliti novità. Sono da citare in particolare: la possibilità in Garage Band di vedere 9 lezioni gratuite di uno strumento musicale e le seguenti per 4.99$ ciascuna, presiedute da artisti di fama mondiale, come ad esempio Sting; e le novità di iPhoto: Faces e Locations, le quali permettono di catalogare automaticamente le foto in base alle persone o i luoghi fotografati.
• iWork 09. Pure questa suite di programmi, dedicati alle attività di ufficio, è stata aggiornata. La novità di spicco è quella di iWork.com: servizio on-line dove gli utenti possono condividere i propri documenti. Attualmente è in beta ed è gratuito ma presto diventerà a pagamento.
• Mac Box Set. Ora le due suite citate inanzi e Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) posso essere acquistate in un unico vantaggioso pacchetto al prezzo di 169 euro e 239 franchi svizzeri.
• iTunes. Da questo momento è possibile navigare all’interno delliTunes Store attraverso il 3G dell’iPhone e non solo esclusivamente tramite la rete Wi-Fi. Prossimamente il numero di canzoni drm-free (senza lucchetti digitali) salirà fino a 10 milioni. Infine le tracce singole verranno vendute in tre diversi prezzi: 0.99, 0.69 e 1.29 euro.
• Mac Book Pro da 17″. Per questo nuovo portatile che si aggiunerà alla gamma di notebooks di Apple è stata introdotta una grossa novità che riguarda l’hardware: la nuova batteria fissa. Grazie ad uno aumento dello spazio all’intero del portatile, è stato messa una batteria fissa, cioè non estraibile, dall’autonomia di 8 ore, durabilità di 5 anni e limite di ricariche situato attorno alle 1000. Le specifiche tecniche del portatile sono le seguenti:

• processore Intel Core 2 Duo 2,66GHz (2,93GHz in opzione BTO);
• 4GB di RAM DDR3 (fino a 8GB);
• 320GB di HD a 5400rpm (256GB SSD opzionale);
• schermo ad alta risoluzione 1920×1200 lucido (in opzione un trattamento antiriflesso a 45€)

Tutte le informazioni sui prodotti presentati le potete trovare nella pagina ufficiale di Apple.

Un po’ deludente come keynote, che segue a ruota gli ultimi che non sono stati certamente indiscutibili. Spero bene per Apple che le prossime rappresentazioni siano meglio; perché ormai non vedo da temo niente che mi faccia pensare alla famosa frase: “One more thing”.

(Fonte: Apple Cow)

With Apple pulling out of Macworld Expo after this year, that has become the big question for IDG — the event’s sponsor. Steve Jobs’ presence at the show was what made the show a worthwhile stop on the tech trade show circuit, and without that Macworld loses a lot of its draw.

One of the first things it can do now since it is free of Apple is possibly move the show back east. Once upon a time there used to be two events: the main show in January, and then another smaller event in Boston during the summer.

In a town hall event at the close of the show, that was mentioned. What got even bigger applause was the suggestion that IDG may consider bringing the show back to New York City — the original East coast location.

IDG is calling the Apple-less Macworld 2010 the beginning of an “evolution,” which will focus on the things that make the Mac ecosystem tick rather than what Steve is announcing on stage.

This could actually benefit exhibitors. They would no longer be overshadowed by Apple, and would be able to get much more face time with the media. I don’t see how that could be a bad thing, unless the tech media decides en masse to stop going to the event.

Exhibitors and instructors seem to still be giving the show a shot: about 60 exhibitors are already signed up for the 2010 show, and almost all instructors will be returning as well.

The next several months will be critical to the survival of Macworld. If they cannot secure enough exhibitors by this summer, I can almost guarantee that Macworld 2010 will be the last.

Além do fim do ‘DRM’, músicas ficarão mais baratas.
Mudanças foram anunciadas nesta terça (6), na Macworld Expo.

A Apple concordou em começar a vender canções no formato digital sem software de proteção contra cópias na sua loja de músicas iTunes, segundo anúncio feito nesta terça (6) durante a MacWorld, em San Francisco (Califórnia, EUA).

A Apple informou que sua loja de músicas iTunes, que já vendeu 6 bilhões de canções no formato digital até o momento, vai oferecer seu acervo de 10 milhões de músicas livres do software de proteção a cópias no final do trimestre por preços que irão variar entre US$ 0,69 e US$ 1,29.

As canções também estarão disponíveis para serem compradas através do iPhone, em vez de somente pelo computador.

O software de proteção a cópias, também conhecido pelo termo Digital Rights Management (DRM), provou ser um recurso controverso, com diferentes reações de fãs de música e de gravadoras.

O DRM foi criado para evitar que os fãs trocassem arquivos de canções ilegalmente, sem pagamento de direitos autorais. Mas ele também impede que os usuários transfiram suas próprias músicas de um aparelho a outro, o que o tornou bastante impopular.

O fundador da Apple, Steve Jobs, convocou publicamente as principais gravadoras a abandonar o DRM em fevereiro de 2007. Em contrapartida, os selos têm pedido que a iTunes concorde em vender canções seguindo uma gama de preços mais variada.

Até então, o iTunes vendia cada faixa de música por US$ 0,99, independente de sua popularidade ou data de lançamento, diferentemente de outros varejistas.

Referencia: g1.blogo.com

Here are some pics we’ve taken so far at Macworld. Notice the huge crowd at the Microsoft booth. LOL!!

Some would say that the Keynote, or as I like to call it, Schillernote, was a bit underwhelming yesterday. At first, I really thought the same thing. But, once Kevin and I made it to the South Hall and actually got to get by Apple’s booth I began to change my tune. We both got some hands on time with iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09. We discovered a few things that Phil didn’t reveal during the keynote.

One of the first cool things we discovered was support for video layering in iMovie ‘09. Apple’s video editing app has always been an amazing value but I’d say this enhancement alone is worth the $79 price tag.

Another nice enhancement to the iLife ‘09 suite came in iWeb. Phil didn’t mention iWeb at all during the Keynote, but the new version allows for creating multiple sites that can be published to either MobileMe or any domain that you have registered and hosted. As well, it includes widget capability. A couple of the coolest widgets being RSS feeds and YouTube channels. Another cool feature in iWeb is the inclusion of some Facebook integration so that when you update your site built with iWeb a story is posted to your wall.

As we get more hands on time I’ll post about some the other cool enhancements we discover.