One of the coolest things we did in Australia this year, was to visit Australia Zoo. While we were there, we met Harriet, who was just a magnificent animal. It was hard to believe that a living tortoise was around at the time of Sir Charles Darwin. Talk about a connection to the past!
I was very sad to hear of her passing today.
Read more at dsc.discovery.com/news/...
Someone else is noticing the Pepsi trend. I much prefer Coke, but I to am finding it harder to get at restaurants. I think Pepsi is gaining in marketshare, due to some of Coke's pricing terms. I asked one of our local mom-and-pop shops about a year ago why he had to charge so much for a half-liter bottle of Coke. He said he was being charged the same rate that than the vending machine in the same building charged for the 20-ounce bottle, and he still had to add sales tax to it. He couldn't do enough volume to justify the business, so he had to switch to the half-liter bottle to keep the overall price down.
Inspired by www.jonsthoughtsonevery...
You just have to wonder how these things leak out. The pricing negotiations on iTunes music items always seem to leak, and show that Steve is fighting for the consumer . I have to wonder about that. It seems awfully convenient for these stories to leak out in favor of Apple.
I'm not one for conspiracy theorys, but Apple does know how to work the media. They have proven, time and again, that the can construct a consistent message and deliver it through mass media in a very efficient manner -- regardless of what story market share numbers tell. They provide a compelling story.
So, if you connect those two thoughts together, you come up with an interesting idea. Apple could be manipulating the media to increase their leverage on content providers during license negotiation, but I have no proof of this. "Manipulating" may be a strong word, but I think it still applies.
Keep in mind that any form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) represents a tightening of control over media, regardless of the terms and pricing model. Apple has so far presented fairly reasonable terms, but there isn't anything to prevent them from further restricting them.
Probably what worries me most about DRM is its durability. Will it last? Digital media could last a long time, if you still have the ability to access it in the future. Think about that for a minute, then think about trying to play an 8-track tape today. The difference is you don't need a physical player for most digital media -- just a physical way to transport the media. Obsolete file formats abound -- simply because we don't have a way to read the format anymore. DRM under the control of a single company represents a lot of faith in that company to allow further access to that file in the future.
Read more at Variety.com - Friend or foe?
Update: Need I say more about Apple and media? At last count there were 117 articles linked to the Variety story on Google News.