[MyAppleMenu] Dec 8, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
==================================================
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/>
Mac news for Mac people

[News]

*** Podcasts Starting To Lure Advertisers
<http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/business/13358015.htm>
Michael Bazeley, San Jose Mercury News

*** When Hi-Fi Meets The iPod
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/audiophiles/0,2934,68891,00.html?tw=rss.TOP>
Keith Axline, Wired News

An unlikely confrontation is taking shape, where the seemingly unstoppable iPod is meeting with an immovable object -- the audiophile's love of good old-fashioned vinyl.

*** Apple Laptop Demand Slows, iPod Backlog Rises
<http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1406>
AppleInsider

Apple's US distribution partners are reporting ample supply of both the iBook G4 and PowerBook G4, and are requesting very few new orders as consumers may be prolonging their purchases in anticipation of Intel-based models early next year.

*** Apple Sells 100 Million Songs In Europe
<http://playlistmag.com/news/2005/12/07/appleeurope/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Mathew Honan, Playlist

[Opinion]

*** Why Isn't There A Decent Mac Blog Editor?
<http://www.todmaffin.com/blogs/tech/?p=49>
Tod Maffin, Todbits.com

If there's one thing I would love to find -- something which doesn't seem to exist -- is a decent Mac OS X blog editing program.

*** Just Let Us Play The Movie
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051208_245038.htm>
Stephen H. Wildstrom, BusinessWeek

The entertainment industry has a great opportunity for new markets, and the PC and consumer-electronics industries have an opening for new products. But realizing this potential will require all of them to show some respect for their customers.

*** How Nostalgia Used To Be
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8676?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550&ATT=How+nostalgia+used+to+be>
Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network

*** Mac Mini Software Challenge, Revisited
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2005/12/macminichallenge2/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Jennifer Berger, Macworld

I had bumped up hard against the edges of my software's capabilities.

[Review]

*** All I Don't Want For Chirstmas Is... Another iPod
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/457/5744146.html>
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune

The computer industry's favorite word is "upgrade," and Apple yells it from the mountaintop.

[Sidetrack]

*** My Theory On Why Apple Will Never Have Music Subscription Service
Heng-Cheong Leong

This is my theory on why Apple will never have music subscription services on the iTunes Music Store.

Firstly, a reminder: iTunes Music Store exists to sell iPods. And to make sure customers continue to buy iPods when they upgrade.

If you've purchased $1,000 worth of tunes from iTMS, you'd need an iPod to listen to those tunes. When it's time to upgrade, you'll hesitate in buying a Zen player, because you'll lose your $1,000 worth of tunes. (Either that, or you'll need to spend x hours burning CDs, and another y hours to rip the same CDs.)

Now imagine that your chief music investment is the many months of paying $19.95 subscription fee to listen to music. When it come time to upgrade, you''ll not hestiate to jump ship, because you know there are other $19.95 deals out there that will work with the Zen player. And because you know that you will need to continue to pay that $19.95 monthly subscription anyway, whether you stick with Apple or jump to Creative. 

There is no need to preserve your investment, because there is nothing to preserve. You stop paying the subscription fee, and your music goes 'poof' anyway. Bought a player from another company? No problem, just subscribe to another music store that is compatible to the new player.

In other words, purchased music breeds loyalty, whereas subscription services do not. And since Apple is chiefly selling iPods and not tunes, loyalty is what matters.

Hence, in my opinion, you'll see hell freezes over before Apple pushes for subscription service. :-)

(Well, hell did freezed over at Cupertino before, so I will not be really surprised if hell freezes again. One possible scenario is for Apple to have a subscription service that pushes customers to purchase music. Hey, what do you know, Apple just happens to have a free podcast called iTunes New Music Tuesday...)

*** Real Podsafe
Heng-Cheong Leong

I should have expected this: Real's Rhapsody.com service is only for U.S. IP addresses only.

Podcasts remain my sole source for listening to new music. Thank you, Dave and Adam and all.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/tomorrow/>
Emerging Technologies. Innovative Applications. New Economy

[News]

*** Theaters Add Technology To Aid Blind, Deaf Filmgoers
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-et-theaters7dec07,1,4706085.story?coll=la-headlines-technology>
Associated Press

MyAppleMenu Reader
==================================================
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/reader/>
The other things in life

[Life]

*** Real Food Doesn't Hold Still
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/dining/07book.html>
Andrew Scrivani, New York Times

It's impossible to forget that mealtime was once sacrosanct, that life revolved around food and the family dinner table. The love of beautiful cookbooks is evidence that people still appreciate these values.

*** Could A New Reading Scheme Turn Britain's Children Into Bookworms?
<http://education.independent.co.uk/schools/article331718.ece>
Steve McCormack, Independent

Synthetic honics can teach children how to read, but getting them to enjoy reading is the next challenge. An American method, currently being tried out in Britain, does just that.

*** Found: Old Wall In New York, And It's Blocking The Subway
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/nyregion/08wall.html?hp&ex=1134018000&en=963e5305bf765705&ei=5094&partner=homepage>
Patrick McGeehan, New York Times

Depending on which archaeologist you ask, it was built in the 1760's or as lolng ago as the late 17th century.

SingaporeSurf
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/>
Life in the city

[Ramblings]

*** Here's A Template For 'Ya
Heng-Cheong Leong

Hey, did Jstice V K Rajah just gave out to the public a recipe on how to do a proper protest <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/89055.asp>?

[News]

*** The Man Who Saw It All
<http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501051212/story.html>
Simon Elegant and Michael Elliott, Time

Lee Kuan Yew and his ideas helped to make Asia what it is today. Now, in a candid, wide-ranging conversation with Time, he shares his hopes and fears for the region's future.

*** Lee Kuan Yew Reflects
<http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501051212/lky_intvu.html>
Simon Elegant and Michael Elliott, Time

"[Former U.S. Secretary of State] George Shultz once wrote to me about why I insist on this right of reply. I said to him, 'We believe in the marketplace of ideas. Let the ideas contend, and the best ideas the public will buy.' But I also said, 'That assumes a large well-educated group of people as readers. Look at the marketplace of idas in the Philippines, and see the chaos.' Americans can have a marketplace of ideas... When we have a large enough educated population like America, able to make independent judgments, we will loosen up. But even without the cacophony, all ideas are accessible in the media and the internet."

*** Singapore Airlines Accuses Virgin Of Hypocrisy
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/singapore-airlines-accuses-virgin-of-hypocrisy/2005/12/06/1133829595195.html>
Jason Koutsoukis, The Age

*** The 3 Letters That Made The Difference
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/89055.asp>
Derrick A. Paulo, Today

Four protesters lost case because they mentioned NKF.

*** Vietnamese In Australia Uninted In Boycott Against Singapore
<http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d74236e9ca1d48077cf10020cecb065f>
Nguyen Vi Tuy and Andrew Lam, Pacific News Service

*** Modest Benefits For Singapore Air Share
<http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=76393>
AAP

Giving Singapore Airlines the right to compete with Qantas on its Pacific routes at best will deliver a $10 million net benefit to the economy. But that benefit, achieved in the first year, would be overshadowed by the extra competition that will cost the economy in the second year, Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics modelling shows.

*** Australia's Howard Sees Arguments Against Singapore Air Access
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=aVCZAq9OgmOE&refer=australia>
Bloomberg

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said not all arguments are "in favor" of allowing Singapore Airlines to fly between Australia and the U.S. and it may be some time before a decision is made.

*** Singapore's Former President Dies In Canada
<http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/12/07/1342889-ap.html>
Associated Press

When Devan Nair resigned, then-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew claimed in parliament that Nair had quit to get treatment for alcoholism. Nair denied Lee's allegation, claiming that Nair's questioning of Lee's government had cuased conflict between the two.

[Opinion]

*** NKF Clarifies Human-Resource Issues
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,357575,00.html?>
Gerard Ee, National Kidney Foundation, Straits Times

*** Van Nguyen Died For Your Sins: Executions As Public Communication
<http://news.imagethief.com/blogs/china/archive/2005/12/01/5269.aspx>
ImageThief

The Australians were doomed from the start, literally and metaphorically. They were doomed because they misapprehended the nature of capital punishment for drug offenses in Singapore. They thought of it as retribution, or punishment. This is wrong. Drug-offense executions in Singapore are, first and foremost, public communication.

The Shuffle by MyAppleMenu
==================================================
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/podcast/>
Life is random. More tunes, less talk.

[Tunes]

*** Tuff Ghost
<http://www.alien8recordings.com/aliencd41.php3>
The Unicorns
<http://www.alien8recordings.com/MP3/tuffghost.mp3>