Thursday, October 13, 2005

Front Row

Thomas Hawk has a good, if PC biased, roundup of opinion on the new iMac w/Front Row software. The PC people call it a “Media Center Type” Mac even as they report that Microsoft’s Matt Goyer says:

They picked a way better name then us! (Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 just does not roll off the tongue)

I’m with PVRBlog:

One things for sure—the first steps have been taken and they’re the hardest—Apple is the first to offer paid TV show downloads and they’ve got a new media center package for sale. I can’t wait to see what Apple has in store a couple years from now.

No one I saw said anything about the built in iSight. Folks out here in userland are talking excitedly about that. Overall, a much bigger announcement than Nano or iPod photo or even my favored Mac Mini.

And important progress at moving control over production AND distribution away from Massive Media so all of us can create content for mass consumption.

Future sex

Have you read Ray Kurzweil on the future of sex? It was a fun thread as we followed the evolution of Molly in The Age of Spiritual Machines. To me has the ring of truth.

Dr. Moira Gunn talked with him about his latest book, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology at Accelerating Change 2005. Via IT Conversations, here’s an edited clip of Kurzweil answering the question, “how will the singularity help me get more sex?” I’ll quote to tease:

We do know that sex is a significant motivator, has been an early adopter application for just about every communication technology… Every form of communication technology has used sex… the real interesting application that will affect sexual relations is virtual reality… we’ve had one form of virtual reality for a century, the telephone… there is a form of sexual activity over the telephone which is not that satisfying… but it does have a following…

If you liked that, listen to the whole thing. It gets better. Also interesting, if a little overwhelming, kurzweilAI.net.

Same sex marriage in Texas

Have I mentioned that I was born in Texas? Gone before old enough to remember much. Marriage is on the ballot there again:

Texas, which already prohibits same-sex marriage by law, is the only state voting on such a constitutional amendment in November, and odd-year elections with only local officials and state questions on the ballot usually draw low turnouts.

Only 12 percent of the electorate voted in 2003, and 7 percent in 2001. “No doubt this will be passed,” predicted Bob Stein, professor of political science and dean of Social Sciences at Rice University here. But he said that with Harris County, including Houston, accounting for about 30 percent of the statewide vote and Houston generally more liberal than the rest of Texas - the county went to Senator John Kerry in 2004 - “the question is how it will pass.”

The amendment is needed despite the existing law, proponents claim, because an “activist state judge” could overturn it.

”Activist judge” is akin to ”special rights.” Conservatives cling to those words. They have to know they’re little more than a cover for bias. Like ”fair and balanced.”

Hillary’s a moderate

More proof:

Sen. Edward Kennedy said Wednesday that Sen. John Kerry has his backing for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008—even if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also runs.

“If he runs, I would support him,” Kennedy told the Associated Press during an interview in his Boston office.

While Kennedy has frequently entertained Clinton, the New York senator, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, he said his loyalty is to Kerry, his fellow Massachusetts Democrat and junior colleague.

I know, I know. Proves nothing. But couldn’t resist the headline fun.

I’m not in the camp that recalls how awful Kerry’s campaign was, but neither am I a fan who wants him to run again.

Video iPod limitations

So it does do this:

The video iPod will play music videos, video podcasts and movie trailers downloaded form the updated iTunes Music Store, but will not play movies ripped from DVD, which are typically copy-protected.

However, it will play unprotected movies converted to Apple’s QuickTime format, even if the movies are downloaded illegally from file-sharing services, said an Apple representative after Jobs’ presentation. It will also display home movies, which can be exported to the iPod via a new function in Apple’s iMovie software.

Of course, the iMovie integration. Glad to have it! But Glen Fishman says:

I have been musing on who the hell needs a video iPod all day in the form and design Apple chose.

* Can’t transfer TV programs, although if you have an eyeTV (which can’t tune digital cable or satellite) you might be able to port the output through a converter.

* Not much content yet designed to play on it.

* Battery life while watching video is rated at 2 to 3 hours, thus not long enough for even a half-country-hopping flight.

* Can’t burn the content you buy for it, so you suddenly have a storage and management problem.

* Only by violating the (anti-constitutional) DMCA in some cases can you begin to approximate how this device could be used as a fair use (not FairPlay) extension of one’s free TV, pay cable, and owned (not 0wnz3d) DVDs.

So this is for Greenwich-to-Manhattan commuters with disposable cash who don’t watch Lost or Desperate Housewives the night before because they’re too busy playing squash. They can watch DH on the way into work and Lost on the way back without running out of battery life...just barely.

Now, I’ll go all Long Tail on this and say that when the backlist of television is suddenly available in some reasonable form (yes, it will all be frickin’ DRM’d to death) then there’s an enormous amount of content people will pick and choose certanly at less than $1.99 per episode. I also read in one source that Apple is negotiating with the BBC for access to their massive library.

Video iPod

Brew, you were so right on:

Steve Jobs introduced a new iPod capable of playing video Wednesday, and took the wraps off Apple Computer’s expanded online music store, which now includes downloadable TV shows and music videos.

Jobs also introduced a new version of the flat-screen iMac G5 with a diminutive remote control and new media software, called Front Row, to watch music, videos and movies from the couch.

The video iPod, available in classic white or shiny black, will ship next week in 30-GB and 60-GB capacities for $300 and $400 respectively.

The iPod has a 2.5-inch, 320-by-240 screen, and a video-out jack that can connect it to a TV using an optional cable, sold separately. Read on.