The next-generation disk that wasn't.

Byte of the Apple iTunes Movies Outsell HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc - BusinessWeek:

Interesting statistical aside from the Jobs keynote on Tuesday. Apple has sold 7 million movies since the, and yet that number has been more or less deemed a failure. But, thats a million more than the six million Blu-Ray Discs sold as of the end 2007 according to Home Media Research, besting HD-DVD by a near 2-to-1 margin. MacDailyNews points out that iTunes Movies hit the 7 million mark after 15 months, besting the 18 months it took Blu-Ray out hit the six million mark.

It's not just me that's said it before: No-one but the Industry wants a new disk format. The future might just be plain DVD plus HD digital-only.

Technorati Tags: Apple TV, digital, Future, iTunes, Media, movies, Sony, technology, Television, video

Sony screws up DRM-free downloads

Sony BMG Confirms DRM-free Music Downloads, But …:

The ideal situation would have been simple downloads from say, Amazon MP3. But no, Sony had to add brick-and-mortar into the process. You will have to buy a gift card at a retail outlet and then use it on Sony’s MusicPass site, and only that site. This new program, called Platinum MusicPass, will start on January 15th, according to a press release at the MusicPass site.

Seriously. Would someone pin a 'going out of business' sign on these guys?

Technorati Tags: broken, Business, copyright, digital, iTunes, Media, Music, Sony

Warner goes Blu-Ray, consumers keep wallets shut?

Hollywood's DVD Problem: Not Going Away - Silicon Alley Insider:

Separately, consumers still need to 1) upgrade their old sets to HiDef ones, which is happening at the high end of the market but still isn't a mainstream behavior and 2) become convinced that they need new DVD players. The latter isn't a given, because for many folks, conventional DVDs viewed on nice HiDef screens looks pretty good already. And if that's the case, then they're not likely to be in a hurry for a new machine, format war or no.

Personally, I'm in no hurry to replace my DVDs, and I'm this close to digitising the whole lot and waiting for a proper digital-download solution that just works. What does that mean? It means a simple way of ripping my existing disks and cataloguing them, a proper connection to my EyeTV stuff, TV programs on demand, rental movies downloaded, and whatever physical format emerges handled too. Oh and it means it all working together properly and playing nicely with my iPod. I won't hold my breath, though I'm curious about whatever emerges from MacWorld shedding some light on Apple's role in making it happen.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple TV, digital, iPod, iTunes, Media, movies, Teaching, Television

Negroponte: "Waah! Not Fair!"

Laptop-Project Founder Fa. ults Intel - WSJ.com:

Mr. Negroponte proposed creating a $100 laptop three years ago as a way to bridge the technology divide between rich and poor countries. But the current model sells for $188 and because of increasing competition, OLPC has had trouble attracting large orders from governments.

Of course, it couldn't possibly be because it's a POS could it? I've seen videos and Flickr sets of some of the poor saps who went for the 'give-one-get-one' guilt trip deal trying to get anything done on the damn thing and, well really, give me a break. Are we really saying that if a developing nation wanted to buy a million laptops they couldn't negotiate the price of the Asus eee pc down to $200 or less? I know which I'd choose.

And for my money this is still the best comment on the whole fiasco.

Technorati Tags: broken, Computing, Design, MIT, technology