TidBITS#855/13-Nov-06
=====================
Issue link: <http://db.tidbits.com/issue/855>
This week's big Apple news is... the launch of Microsoft's Zune
music player? Although the new device doesn't even work with Macs,
the Zune is likely to affect Apple's iPod business. Glenn Fleishman
looks at the Zune's features and some early reactions from the
press, and then editor-at-large Geoff Duncan discusses how Microsoft
abandoned its own PlaysForSure model, as well as the significance of
the company's deal to pay Universal Music a percentage of each Zune
sale (and why artists probably won't see any of that money). In
other news, we note the releases of new MacBooks containing the Core
2 Duo processor, an archive CD from MacTech, Yojimbo 1.3, The
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 3.0, and 1Passwd 2.0. Lastly, Adam
notes a change in how we use dates in TidBITS, and points out our
borderline insane alter egos at Crazy Apple Rumors Site.
Articles
MacBook Gains Core 2 Duo Processor
Yojimbo 1.3 Adds Tagging
Mark/Space Releases The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 3.0
TidBITS Week in CARS
MacTech Creates Archive CD
1Passwd Updated to Version 2.0
DealBITS Drawing: PDFpen Winners
Dates in TidBITS
Zune Doom
Of the Zune, DRM, and Universal Music
Take Control News/13-Nov-06
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/13-Nov-06
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* MARK/SPACE, INC: The Missing Sync connects cool gadgets to Macs,
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and Sony PSP. $29.95-$39.95. <http://www.markspace.com/bits>
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MacBook Gains Core 2 Duo Processor
----------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8742>
Apple announced a processor upgrade for its MacBook laptops that
replaces the Intel Core Duo processor with the faster Core 2 Duo
processor. Apple claims that the processor change provides the new
MacBooks with up to 25 percent greater performance than their
predecessors (see "MacBook Fills Out Laptop Line," 2006-05-22). The
same three models are still available: a white 1.83 GHz MacBook for
$1,100, and differently configured 2.0 GHz models in white ($1,300)
and black ($1,500). The other changes - only in the 2.0 GHz models -
are a doubling of the default RAM configuration to 1 GB and the
addition of a double-layer SuperDrive. It's also now possible to
order a MacBook with up to 200 GB of hard disk storage, though the
200 GB drive is a slower 4200 RPM drive, whereas all the other
drives spin at 5400 RPM. The new MacBooks are available immediately.
<http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8534>
Yojimbo 1.3 Adds Tagging
------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8743>
Bare Bones Software last week released Yojimbo 1.3, an update to
their information organizer (see "Let Yojimbo Guard Your Information
Castle," 2006-01-30). Version 1.3 of Yojimbo is most notable for its
addition of tags, or user-defined keywords (of one or more words)
that can be easily applied to any item in Yojimbo via the Quick
Input Panel, the Inspector palette, the new Item Details bar, or
AppleScript. Tagged items can then be located with searches or
gathered together with Tag collections. Other changes include
additional control over how Yojimbo accesses the Keychain, support
for tables and lists in note items, and the capability to open links
within Web archives in the background via Command-clicking. Yojimbo
1.3 requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later and is a free update for all
registered users. New copies cost $40, and a 30-day demo is
available.
<http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8407>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/updates.shtml>
<http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/demo.shtml>
Mark/Space Releases The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 3.0
-----------------------------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8744>
A growing number of smartphones (cellular phones with PDA features)
on the market these days are powered by Microsoft's Windows Mobile
operating system, which doesn't interface with the Mac out of the
box. Mark/Space last week released The Missing Sync for Windows
Mobile 3.0 to address that shortfall. Like the company's counterpart
for Palm OS-based devices, The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile
synchronizes data on the mobile phone with iCal and Address Book or
other applications that take advantage of Apple's Sync Services
technology built into Mac OS X.
<http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_windowsmobile.php>
<http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_palmos.php>
The latest version enables synchronization of files, folders, Safari
bookmarks, and notes; improves iPhoto album and iTunes playlist
synchronization; imports photos and movies shot using handhelds with
built-in cameras; and supports Address Book contact photos. This
version also works in conjunction with Bare Bones Software's Yojimbo
1.3 to synchronize notes between Yojimbo and Windows Media devices.
<http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/>
The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile 3.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4.8 and
costs $40 for a 28.9 MB download version, or $50 for the software on
a CD. Upgrades from version 2.5 are free if purchased after
2006-10-01; otherwise the upgrade price is $20.
TidBITS Week in CARS
--------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8745>
Further cementing our status as the industry pundits best positioned
to have our names used in fake quotes, Crazy Apple Rumors Site
tapped TidBITS staffers not once, not twice, but three times last
week - in a row! - while inventing expert commentary. On 06-Nov-06,
TidBITS publisher and inveterate clubber Adam Engst suffered
flashbacks to the mid-1990s dance scene for a piece on the new
proof-of-concept Macarena virus. Then, on 07-Nov-06, in an election
night special, TidBITS networking and political columnist Glenn
Fleishman participated in a fake panel (with John Gruber and Shawn
King) discussing what Apple would be like if Steve Jobs won
re-election as CEO (which, as we all know now, was a foregone
conclusion). Finally, Jeff Carlson, TidBITS managing editor and
cultural commentator, mused on the fallout surrounding rumors of
Justin Long being fired as the Mac in the "I'm a Mac" ad campaign,
suggesting that without Long, he'd be forced to anthropomorphize his
Mac as actress Jennifer Connolly (please promise not to tell his
wife). Thanks to CARS editor in chief John Moltz for helping us say
the kind of things we could never say in TidBITS, mostly because
they're utterly fabricated and borderline insane. Keep up the good
work, John.
<http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/?p=716>
<http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/?p=717>
<http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/?p=718>
MacTech Creates Archive CD
--------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8746>
Now here's an interesting project. MacTech Magazine has created a
$50 CD containing the entire archives of the magazine (over 2,800
articles from 1984 through September 2006), all 29 issues of Apple's
programming journal develop, all 21 issues of FrameWorks (the
newsletter of the Software FrameWorks Associate, previously the
MacApp Developers Association), and more than 100 MB of royalty free
source code from all three publications. It's all presented in a
custom viewer application that provides simple browsing and quick
Spotlight-based searching. What I find most interesting is that
MacTech has apparently had the largest ever pre-order backlog for
this CD - greater than for any other CD they've produced, despite
the fact that most, if not all, of this information is available on
MacTech's Web site for free. Clearly, there's something appealing
about having so much information in a single place, accessible even
without an Internet connection and in an interface that's dedicated
for quick browsing and searching. Hmmm... perhaps we'll have to do a
CD of the last 16 years of TidBITS content.
<http://www.mactech.com/cd/>
1Passwd Updated to Version 2.0
------------------------------
by Joe Kissell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8747>
Last week Agile Web Solutions released 1Passwd 2.0, a major upgrade
to the utility that helps manage passwords and uses a single set of
data to fill forms in most Mac OS X Web browsers. The new version
adds support for OmniWeb and DEVONagent, as well as a Secure Notes
feature comparable to the one found in Apple's Keychain Assistant.
This latter feature enables users to store securely any free-form
data, such as serial numbers or confidential text snippets.
<http://1passwd.com/>
The version 2.0 upgrade is free for registered users. Otherwise, the
software costs $30; a free trial version is available. In addition,
purchasers of "Take Control of Passwords in Mac OS X" receive a
coupon for a $5 discount. The developer has stated that a free
upgrade for Leopard compatibility will also be made available to all
registered users after Mac OS X 10.5 ships.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/passwords-macosx.html?14@@!pt=TB855>
DealBITS Drawing: PDFpen Winners
--------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8748>
Congratulations to Clarence Ching of donobi.net, Percy Carrion of
mac.com, and Steven Harris of nas.com, whose entries were chosen
randomly in last week's DealBITS drawing and who received a copy of
SmileOnMyMac's PDFpen, worth $49.95. Other entrants received a 20
percent discount on PDFpen and PDFpenPro. Thanks again for entering
this DealBITS drawing, and we hope you'll continue to participate in
the future. Thanks to the 951 people who entered. Keep an eye out
for future DealBITS drawings!
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8733>
<http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/>
Dates in TidBITS
----------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8749>
I'm terribly sorry, but this article will neither improve your love
life nor provide dried fruit for your morning oatmeal. Instead, I
want to talk about the seemingly mundane topic of how we present
dates in TidBITS, since it's something we've put a good bit of
discussion into over the years, and it might prove useful for those
of you who must also write dates in a consistent fashion.
Back in 1990, when Tonya and I started TidBITS, we were relatively
clueless Americans, probably in all sorts of ways, but certainly
with regard to date formatting. We used the common U.S. date format
of MM/DD/YY (that's a two-digit month, two-digit day, and two-digit
year, separated by slashes) all over the place, since that's what
we'd been taught in school. Gentle readers from around the world
quickly informed us that such date formats were utterly confusing to
many in other countries, who would expect that format to be the more
logical DD/MM/YY (and we won't even get into the confusion that
could result after 2001, when that two-digit year was no longer
unambiguous).
And thus it was that, likely on the trenchant suggestion of Ian
Feldman, the guy from Sweden who created the setext format that we
were to switch to in 1992, we changed our ways and began using a
more explicable date format: DD-MMM-YY, where the month was a
three-letter abbreviation: Jan, Feb, Mar, and so on.
Alas, our Web archive does not provide evidence of our cluelessness,
since at some point, we regularized all the dates to the new format,
so even our very first issue (1990-04-16) now sports the better date
format.
<http://db.tidbits.com/issue/1>
Our next lesson from overseas came courtesy of our friends in
Australia, who kindly informed us that the seasons were different in
the southern hemisphere. Talking about how some product was to be
released in the spring bugged them, since they had to perform mental
gymnastics to determine what month that would likely be. As much as
we aren't perturbed about requiring our readers to bring a few of
the little gray cells into play when reading TidBITS, we'd rather
have you paying attention to the content and not doing date math.
Since then, we've tried hard to recast such dates into appropriately
understandable alternatives. So instead of talking about how Leopard
is slated to ship in late spring of 2007, we'll instead say that
it's due out in the second quarter of 2007 or the middle of 2007.
Every now and then, we'll still refer to a season, but only when
we're talking about _our summer_, for instance, where the fact that
it was hot and many people were on vacation is relevant to the
discussion.
And so it has gone for what is closing in on 17 years. We've found
situations where our canonical date format doesn't work as well, and
for those situations we've come up with alternatives that either
read more smoothly or that are more logical. No one format is best
in all situations, so here then are our house rules. There's no
right or wrong here - these are merely what we prefer, and you're
welcome to play by our rules if you like or merely pick and choose
those that you most appreciate.
**Relative Dates Understood by Context** -- Most innocuous are those
dates that are meant to be read entirely in the context of the fact
that TidBITS is a weekly periodical. As such, if you're reading
along in an article and you see something like "Apple last week
announced that Mac OS X Leopard would provide full Windows
compatibility..." you intuitively know that the announcement took
place in the week preceding the current one. Of course, if you're
reading such an article in our Web archive, you must glance up to
the top of the page to determine the date on the issue. These dates
aren't meant to be specific; they're just telling you that something
happened recently, in the context of the publication date.
**Specific Dates Relative to the Current Year** -- Another form of
relative date appears when we're talking about events that will
happen on a particular day in a particular month, but with an
assumed year. We use these dates mostly when the name of the day is
important, and it's easy to assume the year, as in announcing what
we're doing at Macworld Expo. "On Wednesday, January 10th, Adam will
be dissecting iPhoto 7 in a session..." No one should have any
trouble figuring out from context that the year is 2007 (since it's
the Macworld Expo that will take place shortly after the article
publication), but both the day of the week and the date are helpful
pieces of information to convey for those recording events on a
calendar. Adding the year is neither necessary nor helpful for
anyone reading before the event, and the articles in which such
dates are used are unlikely to be particularly interesting to anyone
after the fact. (Those people can figure out the year from the
article date if they so wish.)
**Specific Dates** -- Here's where our canonical format comes in. Many
dates are specific by day, month, and year, but have no need to
include the day of the week. Consider "Apple's upcoming 'Buy 1, Get
1 Free' program for loyal Mac users will start on 01-Apr-07." (We
leave it to the astute reader to determine when April Fools Day is
each year.)
Plus, we often need to specify date ranges, and writing out two full
dates would be awkward in comparison. For instance, "The recall
covers batteries sold between 15-Jan-03 and 01-Mar-05" is much
shorter and more easily parsed than "The recall covers batteries
sold between January 15th, 2003 and March 1st, 2005." In part, I
believe that's because the short day-month-year of our format
ensures that the two dates can be read together more easily than the
longer month-day-year format that results from writing out the date.
**Month-specific Dates** -- Sometimes dates are specific only to the
month and year, and although we have at times in the past used a
truncated form of our canonical format (Feb-07, for example), we've
more recently decided that the obvious alternative (February 2007)
is more readable and only slightly less concise.
Following the recommendation in the "Chicago Manual of Style," we do
not include a comma between the month and the date. "Apple usually
releases new Macs in time for the holiday buying season; look for a
major announcement in September 2007."
**Financial Dates** -- Because we discuss Apple's financial results on
a regular basis, we've found ourselves needing to use financial
dates, which revolve around quarters of the year. (Unfortunately,
fiscal quarters don't necessarily correspond to the actual quarters
of the year, so Apple just finished its fourth fiscal quarter of
2006 and is currently in its first fiscal quarter of 2007.) For
running text, we prefer to write out the quarters, as in "For its
fourth fiscal quarter of 2006, Apple reported record profits..."
However, since it's often a good idea to put such dates in headlines
too, where space is at a premium, we abbreviate the dates along the
rules of the month-year format: "Apple Reports Record Profits for Q4
2006".
**Article References** -- None of the above date formats have changed
much, though I'm sure we've occasionally been inconsistent in our
usage over the years. However, we've been including references to
old articles in our Web archive. The problem with such references is
that our lengthy history means that one referenced article might be
1 year old and the next might be 8 years old. That's an important
difference, and something we feel that readers should be aware of.
For a very long time, then, we included the issue number along with
the article title, as in "Remember when I wrote 'Apple Cracks Down
on Google AdWords' in TidBITS-799?"
It was a good idea, but a mediocre implementation, since although
_we_ may have a sense of how the TidBITS issue number maps to rough
dates, it's an unreasonable expectation for most readers. Do you
know when TidBITS #799 was published? Didn't think so. So when we
recently switched over to our new database system, we used the
opportunity to change our article referencing style, appending our
canonical date format to the reference so readers could place the
referenced article in chronological context. (See "Apple Cracks Down
on Google AdWords," 03-Oct-05.) It became easy to see exactly when
this particular article was written.
All was well and good for a while, but then the forces of logic on
our staff, as represented by Matt Neuburg, raised the point that if
the goal was to make it easy for readers to quickly place the
article at a point in time, wouldn't it make more sense to use a
different format that leads with the most relevant part of the date
- the year - and then becomes more specific. In other words, why not
use this format: (see "Apple Cracks Down on Google AdWords,"
2005-10-03). That way, when reading, the first four digits
immediately tell you if an article is relatively current because it
was published this year, a bit old because it's from a year or two
ago, or really old because it's from the 1990s. And if the article
is current, the month and day then provide the additional
information necessary to place it more specifically. Swapping the
month abbreviation for the numeric month also helps in fixing
chronological locations. You probably don't really care that
something happened in October of a given year, just that it was
toward the end of the year, as the numeric month makes clear.
So, as of this issue, we'll be using this new date format for
article references. As an aside, it isn't just a good idea, it's an
international standard: ISO 8601. It isn't perhaps one of the most
widely adopted of international standards, but for anyone working
with date formats that need to be quickly parsed and sorted by
computer, it's the best.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601>
Now, you might be wondering why, if ISO 8601 dates are so logical
and obvious, we don't use them everywhere. It comes back to what I
said at the beginning about needing the date formats we use to be
logical _and_ read smoothly. ISO 8601 dates are utterly logical,
working from most to least significant values, and they work well
for helping readers quickly fix a point in time with regard to
article references, but they read horribly.
A block of numbers in the middle of a paragraph is an obstacle to
smooth reading for most people, and the fact that people seldom
start with the year when speaking about a date makes parsing it into
the flow of text even more difficult. I can't speak for other
languages or countries, but at least in the United States, common
usage is to say the month first, followed by the day, and to include
the year only if it isn't obvious from context. Our canonical format
doesn't follow this order, but because it abbreviates the month
name, it's easier to read than an entirely numeric date.
So for the record, and for anyone who needs to write dates
consistently, that's how we do dates, and next week, I'll talk in
even more depth about different ways of presenting time. Just
kidding!
Zune Doom
---------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8750>
It's easy for me to sit here and write that no sensible person will
purchase a Microsoft Zune music player. However, hear me out. I
don't make that statement because the iPod is the apotheosis of
portable music players, because I think Microsoft can't produce
hardware, or because I'm an all-purpose Microsoft basher.
Rather, Microsoft has made some particular choices that will irk
buyers before they ever pick up a unit, or will drive those who are
unaware of the limitations mildly crazy within days of purchase.
The Zune will launch on 14-Nov-06, be available in three colors, and
bear a 30 GB hard drive. It will cost $250, the same as a comparable
iPod. Unlike the iPod, however, the Zune will include a Wi-Fi
transceiver and an FM receiver that uses the supplied earbuds as an
antenna.
**Why? Fie!** Here's the part that will set every iPod owner laughing.
The Wi-Fi cannot be used to synchronize music, nor can it be used to
connect to the Internet to download music. It can be used only in
peer-to-peer connections with other Zune owners with whom you choose
to exchange music. USB is the only way to synchronize music.
In an article in today's New York Times, Microsoft's VP of
Entertainment and Devices Bryan Lee is asked about the missing
Internet download feature: "Would the Zune ever be able to connect
to the Internet? Could someone walk into a Starbucks and use the
connection there to download a song? Mr. Lee answered without
hesitation: 'Probably, one day.'"
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/13/technology/13zune.html>
Also, let me add that music exchanged among Zunes will cease to play
after three days or after it's been played three times. This
includes music, podcasts, and other files that are specifically
licensed for unlimited reproduction or trading, such as music
distributed under a Creative Commons license that doesn't allow
post-release encryption of the sort that Microsoft wraps around it
for these transfers. The Zune software on the computer also doesn't
offer any direct support for podcasts, including subscribing to
them, although you can manually transfer them.
<http://www.medialoper.com/hot-topics/music/zunes-big-innovation-viral-drm/>
Don't just listen to me, however, as you pull yourself up off the
floor, since I haven't actually touched a Zune yet. How about the
opinions of the two leading mainstream computer columnists, David
Pogue of the New York Times and Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street
Journal? They've had pre-release versions for testing, and they're
not very complimentary.
**Mossberg Praises, Then Buries** -- Mossberg is the kinder of the
two. He likes some of what the Zune offers and the iPod lacks, such
as a built-in FM tuner, its larger screen, and the Wi-Fi music
exchange feature. He also says the Zune correctly synchronizes music
and other media files in a way that previous players using Microsoft
technology did not. Mossberg even finds the interface easier to use
in some respects than Apple's.
<http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20061109.html>
But that doesn't make up for a device that's "60% larger and 17%
heavier than the comparable iPod," he notes, calling the design
"rushed and incomplete." The battery life is poorer than the iPod's,
too. The Zune's online store is much smaller than the iTunes Store,
lacking TV shows, movies, and music videos, as well as audio books
and podcasts.
Mossberg heaps particular scorn on the purchasing model for the
online store, which is the same as Microsoft uses for its Xbox Live
Marketplace. Microsoft Points are pegged at 80 points to the dollar:
$5 buys you 400 points, or 500 points costs $6.25. Mossberg was
irritated that you have to buy buckets of points in at least $5
increments; you can't just pay $0.99 via a credit card or other
means to buy a $0.99 song, as you can with other stores. No, you
have to pay $5 for 400 points and then use 79 points to purchase
that song. I'm guessing Microsoft went with Points to tie in to an
existing system that already supports worldwide purchase in local
currency. The $15 per month subscription plan isn't being pushed,
even though it's the gaping hole in Apple's music offerings.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Marketplace>
While he doesn't go into depth as to why the Wi-Fi features are a
problem, Mossberg writes, "[T]he wireless music-sharing feature on
the Zune is heavily compromised, in a way that is bound to annoy the
very audience it is targeting."
**Pogue Slices and Dices** -- David Pogue, a known admirer of Apple
products and the iPod series, takes out an entire array of flensing
knives to do his work. He spoke to a Zune product manager who
essentially said that PlaysForSure is broken, which is something
people outside Microsoft - including Real Networks - have been
saying for some time. Pogue quotes the Zune group's Scott Erickson
saying, "PlaysForSure works for some people, but it's not as easy as
the Zune." (For more on these restrictions, see Geoff Duncan's
article, "Of the Zune, DRM, and Universal Music," elsewhere in this
issue.)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/technology/09pogue.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8751>
Pogue uncovers the Zune's fake scroll wheel, too, which isn't a
scroll wheel at all: it's a round bezel that doesn't spin and isn't
touch sensitive. Rather, it conceals four compass-point buttons.
But let's get to the Wi-Fi features. Pogue's tests show that you can
send a song to another Zune user in about 15 seconds, and a photo in
two seconds; video cannot be sent. Pogue states that "it's just so
weird that Zunes can connect only to each other. Who'd build a Wi-Fi
device that can't connect to a wireless network - to sync with your
PC, for example? Nor to an Internet hot spot, to download music
directly?"
Pogue also jumps up and down on the restrictions for music sharing.
There's no way for you, as the owner or creator of a piece of music,
to tag it to not expire after the three days or three plays.
(Mossberg found in his pre-release version that some songs would
stop after a few seconds or two plays, too, but Microsoft told him
that's been fixed.)
**Will Zune Bomb?** Let me summarize. Zune players can't play
PlaysForSure music that Windows owners already purchased. Music
purchased for Zune won't play on any other device, despite
Microsoft's long-stated criticism of that sort of policy. The Wi-Fi
can't be used for synchronization or Internet downloads. Battery
life is slightly worse than an iPod's. You cannot buy video content
or audio books yet, and podcasts must be managed manually.
Now tell me: Can the Zune kill the iPod, or even erode its market
share?
Of the Zune, DRM, and Universal Music
-------------------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8751>
Microsoft's Zune portable media player goes on sale in the United
States tomorrow, marking the company's first entry in a market
dominated for five years (and counting) by Apple's now-iconic iPods.
Although the Zune is a non-starter for Macintosh users - it doesn't
work with a Mac - the Zune's introduction is notable on three
levels. First and most obvious: Microsoft's vast resources and
long-term tenacity may make the Zune the first credible challenger
to the iPod. Second, the Zune represents an about-face for Microsoft
in affirming the closed-garden, proprietary digital media business
Apple first introduced with the iTunes Store. Third, the Zune
introduces a new financial model to the digital industry, whereby
music publisher Universal - and probably other labels, as well -
will receive royalty payments for every Zune player sold.
<http://www.zune.net/>
<http://www.universalmusicgroup.com/News.aspx?NewsId=461>
I'll leave punditry and prognostication about the success or failure
of Microsoft's first Zune device to others; for a look at early
reaction to the Zune, see Glenn Fleishman's article, "Zune Doom,"
elsewhere in this issue. I'm mostly concerned with the latter two
points: the Zune's online music and video store (and its digital
rights management), and the revenue-sharing arrangement Microsoft
has crafted with Universal Music Group.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8750>
**Of Gloom and DRM** -- For years, Microsoft and its partners have
been arguing that Apple's iPod/iTunes model is flawed because it's a
closed system. Apple protects tracks purchased via the iTunes Store
from piracy with its FairPlay digital rights management technology;
as a result, material purchased via iTunes can only be used with
iTunes software or on an iPod, and cannot be transferred to
non-Apple software or devices. (If you're willing to spare the
platters, you can burn the music to disc and then re-rip them into
iTunes as MP3 files; it's sufficiently annoying to discourage casual
piracy.) So far, Apple has declined to license FairPlay to others,
so if you buy a song from iTunes and want to play it on one of those
cute little iRiver Clix players... well, you can't, even though you
"own" the track.
Since 2004, a good portion of the non-iPod camp has been toeing the
line represented by Microsoft's PlaysForSure initiative, which
guarantees PlaysForSure-branded music and devices are all
compatible. If you buy protected songs from, say, Yahoo Music, they
can be played alongside protected songs purchased from any other
PlaysForSure-savvy seller. If you wanted to switch from a Creative
Zen music player to a SanDisk Sansa, PlaysForSure would make sure
your music would transfer neatly. Consumers wouldn't be tied to a
single vendor for either their music players or their music
purchases.
<http://www.playsforsure.com/>
PlaysForSure is built upon the Windows Media platform - essentially
Microsoft's equivalent to Apple's QuickTime. Windows Media includes
its own digital rights management technology, which Microsoft
happily licenses to others. As a result, hundreds of companies
employ Windows Media DRM, while only one uses FairPlay: Apple.
For all its touted benefits, however, the PlaysForSure platform
hasn't lived up to its promise. Some users - particularly users of
music subscription services who move music to portable devices -
have found their DRM licenses unexpectedly expiring, while others
experience problems transferring music or synchronizing playlists.
The variety of services and gizmos trying to use the PlaysForSure
platform - and all their quirks and differences - creates havoc for
developers trying to build simple and reliable PlaysForSure devices
and software.
Implementation issues aside, there is one other glaring fact: all
the PlaysForSure services and devices _combined_ have failed to
hinder Apple's iPod/iTunes juggernaut. Heck, the industry generally
concedes that the second most-popular music service after iTunes -
albeit a distant second - is eMusic, which offers music in
unprotected MP3 format. Purchases from eMusic play fine on iPods and
essentially any other digital music player, but, since MP3 offers no
copy protection, the major music labels want nothing to do with
eMusic.
<http://www.emusic.com/>
**The Zune Marketplace** -- As Microsoft pondered developing its own
digital media players, it took a hard look at PlaysForSure and did
something exceedingly rare: it threw in the towel. Microsoft's Zune
is _not_ a PlaysForSure-compatible device; in fact, the Zune doesn't
even support Microsoft's Windows Media digital rights management.
Customers who purchased music through PlaysForSure-branded services
- like Napster, Yahoo Music, AOL Music Now, MusicMatch, or even
Microsoft's MSN Music or MTV-partnered Urge - cannot play that music
on a Zune player. And, it should go without saying, the Zune doesn't
support music or video purchased from iTunes.
So how will Zune buyers get media onto their new device? They can
rip music from their standard audio CDs and import _unprotected_
music and video using the Zune software. However, Microsoft
certainly wants Zune owners to get media from their new online Zune
Marketplace.
The Zune Marketplace will operate much like other online music
stores, offering millions of tracks from major and independent music
labels on an a la carte basis, along with album info and artist
news. Microsoft will also offer a Zune Pass, which is an
all-you-can-eat music subscription for $15 a month. Using a Zune
Pass, users can download as much music as they like from the Zune
Marketplace - and listen as often as they want - so long as their
subscription remains current.
The initial price for music tracks on the Zune Marketplace will be
79 Microsoft Points. You may have heard of Microsoft Points if you
have Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console. In short, the system
works like a pre-paid telephone calling card: Microsoft Points
enable Microsoft to support online micro-transactions too small to
be practical for credit cards, as well as avoid setting prices in
individual currencies. Points are also redeemable for games, demos,
and features at Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, and Microsoft
recently announced it will start offering selected movies and
television shows to Xbox 360 owners via Xbox Live - some in high
definition - beginning 22-Nov-06. Microsoft Points are
non-refundable and currently non-transferable, but don't be
surprised when Microsoft expands Microsoft Points into other areas
of its online businesses, including user-to-user transactions.
<http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/features/microsoftpoints.htm>
<http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/nov06/11-06TVMovieDeliveryPR.mspx>
Taken together, the Zune player and the Zune Marketplace will
operate as a closed system astonishingly like Apple's iPod/iTunes
combination. Microsoft's Zune platform can be seen as a validation
of Apple's closed-garden approach to marketing digital media:
clearly, even Microsoft believes that the only way to offer a
seamless, feature-rich experience that can compete with Apple is to
control both the hardware and the service, just like Apple. The
decision can't sit very well with Microsoft's PlaysForSure platform
partners: after all, they've been trying to compete with the
iPod/iTunes double-whammy for years, using tools even Microsoft
feels are inadequate.
An open question is _why_ Microsoft couldn't implement the Zune as a
PlaysForSure device and service. Although there have been no
official confirmations, the answer seems to be that Windows Media
DRM wouldn't let the company implement Microsoft's vision of a
future filled with Zune and Xbox devices, enabling at least these
capabilities:
* Online sales and rentals of protected mainstream music, games, and
video
* Time- and usage-limited user-to-user sharing of protected content
* Distribution and sales of protected user-generated content
Windows Media DRM can (and does) handle the first point, but falls
down on the second and third. For example, the Zune enables users to
wirelessly share music they've purchased from the Zune Marketplace
with other Zune users: recipients don't get just a 30-second preview
clip, but the entire track at full audio quality, with the ability
to play it three times over three days.
(There's an interesting tangent to the Zune's wireless media
sharing. The activity it encourages could be seen as within the
realm of "fair use" permitted under U.S. copyright law; however,
it's not something Windows Media DRM supports for protected media.
So, an argument could be made that the Zune's DRM may infringe less
on lawful uses of content than Windows Media DRM; see Adam's article
"Why DRM Offends the Sensibilities," 2005-07-05, for more
background.)
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8013>
Microsoft believes this sort of media sharing will be key to
establishing a vibrant Zune user community. For commercial music,
the Zune enables users to flag shared tracks they've received for
later purchase via the Zune Marketplace. But that's just part of the
user-community strategy: Microsoft eventually wants to create a
milieu wherein owning a Zune device provides anywhere-you-go access
to anything Zune users want to share - including commercial music,
podcasts, pictures, garage-band demos, video, and games. If there
are enough Zunes around (say, in a coffee shop or a school campus),
just being a Zune owner may enable users to tap into - and socially
connect over - a wealth of content favored and/or produced by local
users.
With its new digital rights management technology, media sharing
capabilities, and existing micropayment-capable transaction system,
Microsoft is looking beyond now-standard monolithic commercial
digital media outlets like the iTunes Store. The company hopes to
create a system where users can purchase or subscribe to content
from major publishers and share both commercial and user-generated
content amongst themselves. Furthermore, Microsoft wants to enable
users to engage in peer-to-peer transactions independent of its own
marketplaces, selling their own content or third party content
through affiliates, incentive programs, and viral marketing
initiatives.
**Universal Sufferage** -- Given the scope of Microsoft's Zune
project, last week's announcement from Universal Music Group that
Microsoft would be paying it a royalty on every Zune unit sold came
as a surprise. The royalty is in addition to standard payments
Microsoft will make to Universal for selling its music in the Zune
Marketplace, and Universal is not granting Microsoft any special
content or consideration as part of the deal. Universal is the
largest of the "Big Four" music labels, commanding about one quarter
of the world's music sales.
According to Jeff Leeds in the New York Times, Universal will
receive more than $1 of every Zune's $250 purchase price in exchange
for licensing its music for sale through the Zune Marketplace.
Microsoft plans to offer similar royalty arrangements to other
participating music labels. As more music publishers nose up to the
trough, it wouldn't be shocking to see $3 to $6 of each Zune's
purchase price go directly into the pockets of music distributors.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/technology/09music.html>
Universal says half the money it collects via the Zune royalty will
go to its artists, presumably in proportion to the volume their
music is distributed. (This means the lion's share of these funds
will be allocated to top-selling acts; the leftovers might amount to
fractions of pennies against artists' contractual debts and,
therefore, never leave Universal's coffers. The other half will
presumably flow directly to Universal without even a passing glance
at artists.) Microsoft is positioning the deal as a win for music
creators. Microsoft's VP of Entertainment and Devices Bryan Lee said
in a statement, "We believe that the music consumer will appreciate
knowing that when they buy a Zune device, they are helping to
support their favorite artists."
Don't be fooled: the deal is about money. Simply put, Universal put
the screws to Microsoft and made the Redmond giant smile the whole
time.
There is precedent for hardware manufacturers paying music
publishers royalties on the sale of systems. At the urging of the
RIAA, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 amended U.S. copyright
law to, among other things, impose royalties on "digital audio
recording devices." In practice, the royalty applied to digital
audio tape (DAT) recorders and blank digital media. The theory was
that the capability to make perfect digital copies of music would
reduce demand for commercial recordings, and artists and publishers
deserved to be compensated for revenue lost to digital technology.
DAT recorders never took off in the consumer marketplace (although
they were embraced by audio professionals), but anyone who buys
blank music CDs in the United States pays a portion of the sales
price into a fund distributed to publishers, "interested parties,"
and artists' organizations according to a rather lugubrious formula.
In a rare defeat for the RIAA, a 1999 court ruling made iPods and
other digital media players exempt from this royalty system; thank
Diamond Multimedia for that one.
<http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap10.html#1001>
<http://caselaw.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=9th&navby=case&no=9856727>
Of course, Microsoft's payments to Universal aren't being mandated
by law: they're part of a business contract. Here's how that
happened:
For several years the music industry has watched its sales decline
as the digital music revolution has taken off. Sales from music
download services like the iTunes Store offer a new source of
revenue, but as of 2005 they were just barely making up the
difference. (The RIAA called 2005 a decline; the numbers read as a
wash.) The music industry doesn't believe people are listening to
less music - in fact, they're probably listening to _more_ music -
and came to a conclusion: we're losing money to digital music
piracy. So, the industry launched a campaign to shut down the
original Napster, initiated legal action against other peer-to-peer
file sharing services, filed thousands of lawsuits against
individuals, and developed a frantic zeal for digital rights
management technology.
<http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/pdf/2005yrEndStats.pdf>
In early 2003, when Apple lobbied the major music publishers to sell
music in the iTunes Store, it promoted the store partly as an
experiment and partly as a way for the music industry to offer a
legitimate digital alternative to music piracy. To their credit, the
industry took a chance on the iTunes Store, but in some ways they
haven't been thrilled with the results. After all, when these deals
were made iPod sales weren't even worth breaking out on Apple's
financial statements. In contrast, during its 2006 fiscal year Apple
sold more than 39 million iPods for almost $7.7 billion in revenue.
The music industry looks at those numbers and believes their content
has been instrumental in creating a $7 billion a year business for
Apple. Moreover, the industry reads research reports that say fewer
than one in five iPod owners buy digital music regularly and that
the average iPod contains a scant 20 songs purchased through iTunes.
They conclude Apple's legitimate alternative to piracy isn't as
effective as everyone had hoped.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5350258.stm>
Since all the major music labels are public companies, the primary
mission of their leadership is to maximize value to their
shareholders. It's hard to convince investors and board members how
that goal is met when presented with declining sales and the fact
that they helped create a multi-billion-dollar industry for a
charismatic California computer maker. Music labels began churning
for business strategies which would bring more of that shiny digital
music player money their way. Last year, they tried to force Apple
to give up its $0.99-per-song model in favor of differential
pricing, whereby hot new songs would carry higher prices and catalog
music could be discounted. Since iTunes currently represents the
vast majority of digital music sales, Apple was able to hold the
labels to uniform pricing. Embittered, the labels put their noses
back to their grindstones and watched Apple's iPod business continue
to grow, waiting for their moment.
And into this grist mill walks Microsoft with plans to launch Zune,
a brand new vertically integrated music player and digital music
store.
It's easy to imagine music executives wringing their hands with
undisguised glee. See, Microsoft doesn't control the market-leading
digital music service - to date, its MSN Music and Urge offerings
have barely been blips on the digital music radar - so the company
can't realistically threaten the labels with dropping them from its
online music offerings. There's also some bad blood between the four
major labels and Microsoft: a year ago, Microsoft was reportedly
planning a music subscription service but broke off negotiations,
claiming labels' royalty demands were too high. And with Zune,
Microsoft also wants to launch hardware devices: Apple has proven
that the real money in an integrated digital music service is in the
hardware sales, not the music sales.
So Universal informed Microsoft it wanted a piece of the hardware
action.
Microsoft didn't cave immediately: both companies played down to the
wire, weathering three months of negotiations only to reach an
agreement a few days before Zune was due to hit the market. But the
simple fact is that Microsoft could not afford to launch Zune
without the world's largest music publisher, so negotiations likely
centered on the nature of Universal's hardware royalty, not on
whether Universal would get one.
**We'll Know Zune Enough** -- The implications of Universal's Zune
royalty for Apple's music business are unclear, but will hinge on
the Zune's success in the music marketplace.
If the Zune proves to be yet another footnote to Apple's dominance
of the digital music industry, Universal's hard-nosed negotiations
with Microsoft will likely have no impact on Apple's business. If
the Zune proves to be a legitimate competitor to Apple's iPod/iTunes
combination, the music labels may be able to leverage the Zune's
success to wring concessions out of Apple. These might come in the
form of differential pricing in the iTunes Store, special promotions
or marketing deals, or - if the Zune is a tremendous success - even
a cut of the iPod's sales.
Take Control News/13-Nov-06
---------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8752>
**Take Control Author Joe Kissell on TV** -- Joe has written over a
dozen of the Take Control ebooks, so it's likely you've seen his
face on our Web site or at the back of one of his ebooks. Now, if
you live in the San Francisco Bay area, you can see him live on
television. Tune in to CBS-5 at 7 PM on Tuesday, November 14th to
watch "Eye on the Bay." Joe will be on for one segment in which
he'll be talking about "Take Control of Thanksgiving Dinner," as
well as about the San Francisco Food Bank, the worthy organization
to which we are donating $1 from each copy of that ebook sold in
November. The San Francisco Food Bank will be providing Thanksgiving
meals for more than 42,000 individuals this year. To help them fight
hunger, buy a book or go to www.sffoodbank.org.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/thanksgiving.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0042-TB855-TCNEWS>
<http://www.sffoodbank.org/>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/13-Nov-06
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8753>
**Filesystem metadata approaches** -- Why do some files of the same
type open in one application by default and not another? Readers
discuss file metadata from the Classic Mac OS to the present. (9
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1002/>
**Internet control for family iMac** -- Never underestimate the power
of a teen to do what he wants on the computer. Parents compare
techniques for encouraging responsible Internet usage, focused
mainly on restricting hours of availability. (13 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1003/>
**Improved scanner software** -- Now that a reader has a scanner
capable of digitizing slides, what software will help ensure that
he's capturing the highest image quality? (6 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1004/>
**MacBook Gains Core 2 Duo Processor** -- The optional inclusion of a
200 GB drive that runs at 4200 RPM in the most recent MacBooks makes
people wonder if hard disk speed makes much difference. (3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1007/>
$$
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