"You cannot believe the crap we are going through to make this Beatles licensing deal work out. EMI desperately wants the deal to happen too, so they leaked the story to our good pals at Fortune (much love, Brent) so they could crank up the pressure on the Apple dudes.[...]

The real hassle of course is Yoko. Sheesh. Don't even get me started.[...]

Finally I just snapped and I'm like, "Jesus friggin Christ, bitch, it's bad enough you broke up the greatest band of all time. Now you're gonna frig this up too? Jesus, lady! Get a friggin grip! It's just a distribution deal!" She bows her head and says, in this voice that's barely more than a whisper, "I will pray for your soul." Well that did it. I won't get into details -- my lawyers won't allow it -- but let's just say that Yoko had to wear sunglasses in public for a few days, and Peter Oppenheimer had to drag me out of there by my ankles."

• Saying that we're being given an app with a $14.95 value is complete BS. We're being given a beta which we're meant to stick with until it gets to v1.0 before we can actually begin to use it. I won't be. As the article above states, you shouldn't have to pay for beta software. Set and expire date by all means (most of the software I've beta-tested has been) - just don't expect people to pay for it whilst in beta.
• 24,000 licences are going to be simply given away. This makes the $14.95 value absolutely worthless. It's effectively freeware (to get access to a serial number you simply need to use a code given on the MacHeist forums to unlock your own code). OK, you have to register NOW to get on board with the heist and in return get the code, but still. In fact, if you actually paid for Cha-ching (fools) the only thing that would piss you off more is if it were now declared freeware yet your money not returned.

If I'm being overly harsh, then please leave me a comment and point out the error of my ways. I'll more than happily respond!

Prizes of linkage to your site if you point me in the right direction (i.e. an eBay listing) or my ever-lasting gratitude for anyone who actually contacts me, and as a result sends a sticker. Of course, anyone whose sticker makes it onto the laptop can expect muchos Flickr shots of their wares!

* Specifics: As far as possible, I want stickers that have transparent borders (no white borders please!) so that they can overlap in style.

My personal favourite is Carly Simon 'Nobody Does It Better' from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but that's not to say the rest aren't brilliant. McCartney/Wings, Sheryl Crow, Tina Turner and Garbage, along with a-Ha are some greats.

W00T! We be having true mapping for Blighty Flickrers! Rejoice! Rejoice! Oh Why thank you Flickr! *Runs off to renew Pro account* This just shows how bad the maps were before.... That 'lots' ought to be over 'Picadilly Gardens'.

I'm off to see Borat tonight, after having pointed out to Susan that the Borat site is almost as bad as the example in her recent post. Mini-critique coming soon. The random photo? Oh that's looking towards the cinema from my kitchen window!

via John Gruber

Back in 24. Amazon has delivered it! Kerrrrrrrchhhiiinng!

• The idea of the iPod interface. Long overdue, and in principle a very good idea.
• Video performance is far better
• Controls for video are slick and make it more of a Front Row experience
• Downloads - Be it a podcast, iTS purchase or software update for your iPod, there's an integrated download manager that is a neat touch.
• iPod installation rocks. Include the integrated registration, it's a great idea just like the iPod interface in general.

• Where's the Aqua
• Where's the Mac-like UI
• Oh, where's the Aqua
• The UI's as dull as.....
• WHY is so much space wasted in the iPod interface?
• Why is iTS too wide for my 12" display?

This is good. I like visualised iPod in the source field - makes it easy to work with multiple iPods


Whilst I'm not a fan of this UI (a bit dull!), it works so ultimately I can't be too disappointed.
(Yes, I was in a mood when setting up a smart playlist for the Shuffle this afternoon!)


These just suck. Period. Good idea. Piss poor implementation - it looks like something out of the Windows Networking Control Panel setup!


This is unnecessary. Just so unnecessary. I know what my freaking iPod looks like and I don't need a pretty little CG rendering of it inside iTunes.


I bet the Apple engineers sat down and thought 'How much screen space can we waste here?'

Whilst I don't like aspects of iTunes 7, the improvements in video (especially given the age of my iBook G4) and the options for iPod management will probably keep me satisfied at least for a while!

(L) iPod Shuffle in New Packaging (R) The Rear of the Player

First Impressions:

It's tiny. Absolutely tiny. It absolutely epitomisises Apple's brilliant industrial design - for example whilst the actual iPod goes into the (included! woo!) dock upside down, Apple have put the status LED on both the bottom and top of the player so you can see the status whichever way the player is inverted:

(L) Top of Shuffle (Status LED on Left) (R) Bottom of Shuffle (Status LED on Right)

And the FCC certificates and Serial number are conveniently hidden behind the clip. It really is light - so light you could forget you're wearing it - for what it's worth, I've laid down a bet it will be a week before it in advertantly goes though the washing machine! The clip, whilst not being the strongest will likely hold the shuffle in most situations (it's so light a heavy clip is hardly needed!) but running, I'm not sure whether I'd trust it entirely.... we'll see about that.

As people may be aware, I like the idea of docks for iPods - it keeps it safe and also ensures you know where the iPod is! Thanks to the abnormal method of charging and sync-ing the new shuffle (through a channel on the headphone jack!) Apple has bundled a dock. Whilst people don't like the lost ability to use it as a USB pen drive as a result of this re-design, I'm not fussed as the old shuffle was too wide for a single USB port on my iBook anyway.

The Wow Factor

In the brief time between returning from the Apple store and going to a concert at the college (Dvorak Carnival Overture, Strauss Oboe Concerto, Mahler's Kindertotenlieder & Janacek Sinfonietta) I showed the new Shuffle to about a dozen people. After the initial "What is that?!" people were just amazed by it. In fact, of the dozen or so people who I showed it to, at least half of them wanted one for Christmas (and one of my flat mates has asked me to see if she can transfer her music into iTunes 'just in case she decides to get one' from SonicStage) and people were describing the Shuffle's size as "just ridiculous".
It seems fair to say that Apple has scored yet another home-run with the Shuffle. At £55 it's going to be a very tempting Christmas present for children, adults and students alike. I just hope Apple has enough inventory to see them through the holiday season!

Update: One thing that escaped my memory was the new 'Hold' feature that is rather clever. Basically, if you want to put the player on hold whilst music is playing, you hold the play / pause button for 3 seconds and it then locks the buttons. Neat. Another press for 3 seconds unlocks the buttons. The power button on the bottom is a really welcome addition (is this the first iPod to had a dedicated power button?!).

In other news, my pouch for the Nike + iPod tab arrived from the USA! Now I've got it attached to my (cheap!) trainers, I can track my running (or as Apple likes to say 'Tune Your Run').