Analysts, redux

Over at Twice.com, there is a report from NPD's Steven Baker.

He says that Apple may be in for some tough times ahead. And he calls for the fruit to drop its prices.

Colour me cynical, but I don't see Apple doing that. Sure, I'd love a Macbook at $799, I can't see that happening. Heck, the Mini is creeping up to that price point.

Here's the thing. Macs have a lot going for them. Design, OSX, usability, a loyal fanbase.... but as soon as they start playing the pricing game, people are going to start judging them based on that, and it's a game they can't win. Someone will always offer more for less. Apple's strength has always been that it makes things better. And while there is a premium for better, I for one value quality over quantity.

As long as it isn't too pricey....

Safari 4

Tabs at the top lasted about fifteen minutes. I thought I would be too lazy to turn them off. I was wrong. What a horrid implementation.

New Shuffle: Voices inside my head

Hang on. It's Wednesday. Whatever happened to Tuesday as the product release cycle?

Anyhew, Apple announce a new iPod Shuffle that is not only half the size of the previous model (about the size of a double A battery).

Because the device is so small the controls have moved onto the headphone cord.

More importantly, the device can be programed to tell you what you're listening to, allowing you to select music by song, artist and (rejoice runners everywhere) playlist.

I have stated before that I'm not really big into reporting the rumours, and I don't follow any rumour sites closely, but usually there is some mention of these sort of things on the mainstream sites. I saw nothing. Which is not to say that there was nothing out there, just that it never made the mainstream. Well played, Apple. Who says that they're becoming more porous without Steve?

Music disappearing from Canadian iTunes store?

Here's a recent question over at ehmac from fellfromtree:

"This has happened a few times. Purchase a tune from iTunes, go back a few days later to get more from that artist or album, the artist no longer shows up in the iTunes store. Clicking the song link from my iTunes music library gets the message box "The item you requested is not currently available in the Canadian store". 

Most recent example, I picked up a few 'The Airborne Toxic Event' tracks, now they don't exist on the Canadian store.
Am I missing something here? Is this a regular thing?

So what say you, Macintites? Has this happened to you? Any specific examples? 

Christmas in March

Wowsa. What a day.

After months (and in the case of the Mini, years) of speculation, the entire Mac desktop line has been refreshed. iMacs now come with processors up to 3.06 GHz, double the memory and up to one terabyte of hard disk, as well as the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card. 

The Mini starts at $729 Canadian, which isn't quite the $399 price point some pundits have been calling for, but it looks like the pictures were real: it comes with five (count 'em) USB ports, a Firewire 800 port, and dual display with Mini Display Ports or DVI. 

The Mac Pro has been refreshed, too. It can be maxed out with two 2.93 GHz Quad Core Xeon processors, up to 32 GB of Ram (as before) and up to four terabytes of on-board storage. 

I've been hearing from a lot of people who are using the Mini to drive their entertainment centres, and that's an option I may start looking at, since the Mini is much more functional than an Apple TV. Then again, an Apple TV is about half the price. 

Then again, right now I can afford neither, so why bother speculating.

This just in: some analysts are complete maroons!

This via Cult of Mac:

Over at Trading Markets, there is a story on how some poor fools who have Windows Media Devices still can't play files from iTunes, because their devices don't support AAC. 

And they blame Apple. 

"Well, the problem is that Apple's 'unprotected files' are in the AAC format, which Windows Media player does not support. But the Zune software does. Unprotected AAC files are not the same as unprotected MP3 files, which eMusic pointed out when it retracted a statement applauding Apple's decision to sell music without digital-rights-management software."

But what about us poor iPod and iTunes users who can't play Windows Media Files on our iPods? Is that the fault of Microsoft, for selling the file, or Apple for not allowing us to play the file?

What was that? Blame Apple, you say. Sure. Because that one is appropriate. But if you are going to blame Apple for not making an iPod that plays WMA files, then blame Microsoft for making Windows Media Player not play AAC audio files. 

I must point out that the Creative Zen X-Fi *does* play AAC files. The trouble that our pundit is having is that Windows Media Player doesn't. 

It'll play MP3 files, which are a proprietary format. It will play WMA format, which are also proprietary. Will it play AAC, which is an open standard, not, as some might think, a proprietary Apple format? No. (It also won't play FLAC and ogg, I bet....don't hear many people complaining about that, though, do we?)

As one commentator over at Cult of Mac says: "So because Windows Media Players are less popular it’s ok for them to only play a proprietary media format, but apple is bad for using a non-proprietary media format that isn’t supported by a proprietary media player?

My head hurts."

Indeed. 

Another option for winterbound Canadians: DIY iPod Touch Gloves

Over at Cult of Mac, they've got a really cool solution to the iPod Touch glove issue: Do it yourself. 

You'll need a spool of $20 (USD I assume) conductive thread, which makes the whole process not as cheap as you might have hoped just for one pair of gloves. Then again, convert two pairs, and it becomes reasonable. Heck, convert a pair of mittens. Convert all your friends gloves. Go into business selling iPod Touch (okay, okay, and iPhone) gloves on the interweb. Whatever. You have the power to DIY.