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Here’s a digest of newsworthy items from the first 2 weeks of 2009.
Apple
Changes Coming to the iTunes Store
Three price points: $.69/$.99/$1.29. One-click option to upgrade your library to higher-quality, DRM-free versions that can be played on any MP3 device. Potential additional revenue if everyone upgrades their iTunes collection: $1.8 billion. But even though the songs are DRM-free, they’ll still have your email address embedded in them. For more on music, check out my review of Steve Knopper’s new book, Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age.
Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs
We thought we could put this one to bed. But maybe not. Looks like Steve’s really really sick. Acccording to the WSJ, “Now that Jobs has announced a sudden medical leave, experts say those dire predictions were likely correct. Michael D. Jensen, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, told the Wall Street Journal that ‘ would be hard pressed to think of something [other than a recurrence of cancer] that would require a five month leave of absence.’” And there’s now a dust-up over whether Apple duped the press over Steve’s condition.
Microsoft
30GB Zune apocalypse arrives as devices enter digital coma
Microsoft makes an MP3 player that can’t deal with the leap year. Who would have expected that? Ditto their failure re:the Windows 7 freebie download.
Q&A: Opera CEO on antitrust battle against Internet Explorer
Score one for the little guy. Opera has convinced the European Union to rule that bundling IE with Windows violates European competition laws. I’m not necessarily cheering because the EU treats Microsoft as if it was its very own personal ATM machine.
Social Networks
A Great Start to 2009
Facebook claims 150 million users. The People’s Republic of Facebook would be the 8th most populous country — more people than Japan or Russia.
Yelp user faces lawsuit over negative review
The attorney representing the defendant says it all: “This strikes at the heart of Yelp’s business model and other Web sites that provide a bulletin board for people to state what they think of businesses in their community.” Postscript: Looks like the case settled.
Are Social Networking Sites Discoverable?
“Although these sites provide users with a sense of intimacy and community, they also create a potentially permanent record of personal information that becomes a virtual information bonanza about a litigant’s private life and state of mind. The converse thus becomes the moral for litigation counsel — this new generational fount of potentially discoverable information should be high on the list of priorities when evaluating a new matter.” (Thanks, Gary.)
Video
Americans View 34 Percent More Online Videos in November 2008 Compared to Year Ago
ComScore indicates that in the 6 months since their last survey, Google added 5% more market share (they’re at 40%) and now dishes up 5 billion videos a month. Hulu’s numbers are impressive as well: 227 million vids in November 2008.
Congress Comes to YouTube
This should be entertaining zzzz zz zzzzzzz zz zz zzzzz.
At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool.
YouTube is becoming the search engine of choice for many younger Internet users: “The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.”
Privacy/Security
CRS Report – Border Searches of Laptop Computers and Other Electronic Storage Devices
From the report’s summary: “Although the Supreme Court has not directly addressed the degree of suspicion needed to conduct a warrantless laptop border search, the federal appellate courts that have addressed the issue appear to have concluded that reasonable suspicion is not needed to justify such a search.” If that bothers you — and it should — I have some tips for you. (Thanks, Gary.)
Weak Password Brings ‘Happiness’ to Twitter Hacker
A hacker used a dictionary attack to take control of Twitter accounts belonging to President-elect Obama, Britney Spears, and others. Don’t let this happen to you.
Other Stuff
WSJ: Carol Bartz To Be Named New Yahoo CEO. Is That A Good Thing?
“More likely she will basically dress up Yahoo for a sale of part or all of its business, and do it in a way that is palatable to both [former CEO Jerry] Yang and the board.”
New ways to get around with the Transit Layer
OK, I get why they include Paris and London, but Nizhniy Novgorod? And no Philly?
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[...] the announcement from Microsoft, which includes the link for the download. Given their recent problems with downloads, I wish you good luck if you try to get it. (No way I’m going to download it any time soon.) [...]
[...] that, come April 7, certain hot songs will now cost $1.29 over at the iTunes Store. Back in January Apple announced the price increase, but didn’t give a firm [...]
[...] in January I posted about how Facebook was up to 150 million users. (At the time, they would have been the 8th most [...]
[...] Jobs was in a bad way when he announced a six-month leave of absence back in January. The Wall Street Journal quotes an anonymous source in an article [...]
[...] Early January: Facebook says they’re at 150 million users. [...]
[...] what it comes down to is this: Europe gets to ding Microsoft for a few bil, treating them like an ATM machine. Regulators get to puff their chests out and point to their efforts to protect consumers. And users [...]