Beatles still no closer to iTunes deal

August 23rd, 2010 by John No comments »
According to Yoko Ono it could be a long time before authentic Beatles songs appear
on iTunes. At the moment only covers of the band’s hits appear on the website. The
band has so far resisted calls to make their music available online preferring to sell
old-fashioned compact discs. Last year they sold millions of copies after remastering
the catalogue.
So far Apple , the holding company which owns iTunes and the EMI group which
licenses the Beatles recordings have not been able to finalise a deal. Since 2007
rumours have been circulating that a deal is close to being struck but these have all
proven false.
Ono, the 77-year-old widow of John Lennon said that there was simply an element of
the proposed deal that they weren’t happy about so they were holding out. “Don’t hold
your breath for anything” she told reporters.
The Beatles used to be one of many famous bands and artists who wouldn’t allow
their music to be sold online. Musicians sighted music pirating and low returns as
reasons to stay away from the online market. However one by one the big names
have caved in and allowed iTunes access to their music leaving the Beatles rather
isolated. iTunes says that it hinders music piracy by making legal music readily
available online. It also claims that it gives new generations access to older music and
increase’s the popularity of bands like the Beatles but for some reason the highest
selling recording artists in history have refused to budge.
When (if ever) the Beatles do allow iTunes access to their music it will be in
many ways the end of an era. It will mark the beginning of the end for the humble
compact disk and will be a sign that the age of digital music has really arrived.

According to Yoko Ono it could be a long time before authentic Beatles songs appearon iTunes. At the moment only covers of the band’s hits appear on the website. Theband has so far resisted calls to make their music available online preferring to sellold-fashioned compact discs. Last year they sold millions of copies after remasteringthe catalogue.
So far Apple , the holding company which owns iTunes and the EMI group whichlicenses the Beatles recordings have not been able to finalise a deal. Since 2007rumours have been circulating that a deal is close to being struck but these have allproven false.
Ono, the 77-year-old widow of John Lennon said that there was simply an element ofthe proposed deal that they weren’t happy about so they were holding out. “Don’t holdyour breath for anything” she told reporters.
The Beatles used to be one of many famous bands and artists who wouldn’t allowtheir music to be sold online. Musicians sighted music pirating and low returns asreasons to stay away from the online market. However one by one the big nameshave caved in and allowed iTunes access to their music leaving the Beatles ratherisolated. iTunes says that it hinders music piracy by making legal music readilyavailable online. It also claims that it gives new generations access to older music andincrease’s the popularity of bands like the Beatles but for some reason the highestselling recording artists in history have refused to budge.
When (if ever) the Beatles do allow iTunes access to their music it will be inmany ways the end of an era. It will mark the beginning of the end for the humble
compact disk and will be a sign that the age of digital music has really arrived.

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Posted in Uncategorized

US tells Wikileaks to stop leaking

August 13th, 2010 by John No comments »
“Give back our classified documents” is what the Pentagon has asked the
whistleblower website Wikileaks to do. It has formally requested that the infamous
website hand over 15,000 secret documents and war records it hasn’t yet published. It
has also requested that the site delete any material which they have posted online. A
spokesman for the Pentagon said they were simply asking Wikileaks to “do the right
thing”.

“Give back our classified documents” is what the Pentagon has asked thewhistleblower website Wikileaks to do. It has formally requested that the infamouswebsite hand over 15,000 secret documents and war records it hasn’t yet published. Ithas also requested that the site delete any material which they have posted online. Aspokesman for the Pentagon said they were simply asking Wikileaks to “do the rightthing”.

Wiki leaks has responded to the request by a twitter message saying that the demand

was obnoxious and a formal threat against Wikileaks. The founder of Wikileaks

Julian Assanage, an Australian national claims that the documents it has not yet

released were held back especially to protect people’s lives and that releasing them

even to the state department could cause people’s lives to be put at risk.

The Justice Department and the FBI are looking into ways to take action against

Wikileaks if they don’t comply. A spokesman for State Department said that if they

were not prepared to do the right thing than they (The United States Government)

would find ways to compel them to do the right thing.

That may not be easy however because Wikileaks goes through a secure server in

Scandinavia. Court action is also a possibility but in order to do that they would either

have to find the source of the leak or prove that the website had broken US law, a task

which is harder than it sounds. Reaction to the leak has been mixed with some calling

Wikileaks a hero of the fourth estate while others claim they are risking lives and

giving information to Americas enemy. The US see’s Wikileaks as a national security

threat according to a list which was itself leaked by Wikileaks. It remains to be seen

how far It will go to neutralise it.

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Posted in Technology

iPhones users still satisfied despite antenna issues

August 13th, 2010 by John 2 comments »

In recent weeks the iPhone 4 has suffered much negative publicity due to “antenna”
gate scandal. However this negative publicity has not led to a drop in customer
satisfaction according to independent research done by a research company
called “change way“. The survey which asked 213 iPhone 4 owners about their
phones found that 72% were very satisfied with the iPhone 4 experience while 21%
said they were somewhat satisfied with apple’s new release.
When asked what was the worst thing about the iPhone 4 experience, most
respondents didn’t even mention antenna issues. Only 24% of those asked sighted the
antenna and call drop outs as a major problem. While their were some complaints
most of the iPhone 4 users said that they were very happy with their purchase and
would buy an apple product again.
It seems that horror stories about reception consistently dropping out are either
exaggerated or isolated incidents. Reception it seems, is just not a big issue despite
what the media have been saying. The statistics back up the survey findings with the
iPhone 4 only having a 5.2% dropout rate while the previous model of iPhone of 3GS
had a 6.3% dropout rate. This should be seen as a warning for potential iPhone for
buyers who were going to buy the previous model because the new one is supposedly
unreliable.
Steve Jobs recently appeared at an apple convention to defend the iPhone 4 saying
that other phones with Antennas suffered similar issues. Critics have however pointed
out that he had to hold other phones in unusual positions to make them drop out while
the iPhone drops out in the usual speaking position.
The reception issue will undoubtedly be rectified when Apple release the next
generation iPhone (probably some time next year) however for now it seems
that iPhone users simply don’t see the “antennagate” scandal as a major issue.

In recent weeks the iPhone 4 has suffered much negative publicity due to “antenna”gate scandal. However this negative publicity has not led to a drop in customersatisfaction according to independent research done by a research companycalled “change way“. The survey which asked 213 iPhone 4 owners about theirphones found that 72% were very satisfied with the iPhone 4 experience while 21%said they were somewhat satisfied with apple’s new release.
When asked what was the worst thing about the iPhone 4 experience, mostrespondents didn’t even mention antenna issues. Only 24% of those asked sighted theantenna and call drop outs as a major problem. While their were some complaintsmost of the iPhone 4 users said that they were very happy with their purchase andwould buy an apple product again.
It seems that horror stories about reception consistently dropping out are eitherexaggerated or isolated incidents. Reception it seems, is just not a big issue despitewhat the media have been saying. The statistics back up the survey findings with theiPhone 4 only having a 5.2% dropout rate while the previous model of iPhone of 3GShad a 6.3% dropout rate. This should be seen as a warning for potential iPhone forbuyers who were going to buy the previous model because the new one is supposedlyunreliable.
Steve Jobs recently appeared at an apple convention to defend the iPhone 4 sayingthat other phones with Antennas suffered similar issues. Critics have however pointedout that he had to hold other phones in unusual positions to make them drop out whilethe iPhone drops out in the usual speaking position.
The reception issue will undoubtedly be rectified when Apple release the nextgeneration iPhone (probably some time next year) however for now it seemsthat iPhone users simply don’t see the “antennagate” scandal as a major issue.

2 comments »

Posted in Technology, Uncategorized