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Apple, Sony On A Collision Course?
MacSpeech Chief Evangelist On Talk Show TV
RAW, iPhoto, and Mac OS X
Time for an iPod IPO?
One Size Does Not Fit All: Mac Solutions for the Entry Level
Still No iTunes Music Store In Europe, And The Competition Is Moving In
FCC Chairman Michael Powell An iPod User
eWeek: Announcing a New Mac Blog -- Not Just for Mac Fanatics
eWeek: Microsoft Updates MSN Messenger for Mac
DRM 'will be cracked' says iTunes hacker
Mac Night Owl: The Tiger Report: Would You Want One in Your Tank?
Repeat After Me: Apple is a Business
O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference Call for Participation[/url]



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Apple, Sony On A Collision Course?

ZNet's John Borland says:

"Sony's foray into music downloads this week unleashes the most potent rival yet to Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, setting the stage for a high-stakes battle between two technology titans known for stylish innovation.

"And if you squint just a little, Apple and Sony seem to look more alike by the day....

"Each company is looking closely at a long-predicted future, when digital 'convergence' potentially allows traditionally separate hardware and software markets to merge into a single device that can surf the Net, play movies, music and video games, and serve as the brain of a network that distributes that content to subsidiary devices around a home...."

For the full report, visit here.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5206708.html





MacSpeech Chief Evangelist On Talk Show TV

Chief Evangelist Chuck Rogers of Macintosh Speech Recognition authority MacSpeech, Inc. appears in an interview with Grant Sutherland of Talk Show TV. Rogers talks about MacSpeech's flagship product, iListen as well as the future of speech recognition.

The entire interview was done with iChat using Apple iSight cameras and can be seen at:
http://www.talk-show.tv/macspeech.html

More information about MacSpeech can be found at the company's web site: http://www.macspeech.com






RAW, iPhoto, and Mac OS X

MacDevCenter's Derrick Story, coauthor of iPhoto 4: The Missing Manual, has posted a tutorial article on using RAW image files with iPhoto.

"iPhoto does an excellent job of breaking digital photography's chain of pain -- that is, as long as the independent links are JPEG, TIFF, Photoshop, PNG, or a handful of other formats. But RAW files are tugging at our easygoing workflow. As you probably know, iPhoto doesn't support RAW files, at least not directly. So at first glance, it appears that the pain is returning once again.

"Fun-loving shooters everywhere need not worry. By definition, RAW files are unprocessed images. To manage them, you simply need to add a few easy steps to your existing workflow to keep misery at bay. And I'm going to show you how to do that today.

"These techniques are not for high-volume professional environments (where pain is an inevitable side effect of production cycles and deadlines). Rather, these steps are designed to get the serious hobbyist's feet wet with RAW without destroying his or her comfortable workflow -- all while staying within a reasonable budget.....

"[RAW files are]essentially unprocessed images until you load them into your computer and do something to them. Unlike JPEGs, where your camera settings are applied to the image data in-camera, RAW files enable you to fine-tune characteristics, such as white balance, later on the Mac, and without image degradation penalties...."

You can check it out at:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/05/04/iphoto_raw.html





Time for an iPod IPO?

Businessweek's Alex Salkever says:

"Apple would profit nicely from spinning out its digital music biz now -- before the market gets commoditized, which it will be for sure....

"The new iPod mini is selling so fast that Apple has trouble keeping up with demand. According to Jobs, it holds a 40% market share in digital-music players and a 70% share of the paid music-download market. At the current rate, Apple can expect to sell 140 million songs via iTunes in the coming year, an average of about 2.7 million per week.....

"Still, if the iPod were a stock, I'd dump my shares. It's hard to imagine Apple maintaining its dominant position in digital music. Jobs had actually predicted 100 million in iTMS song sales in the first year, and he missed by a wide mark. Apple managed to turn in only a 10% quarter-over-quarter increase in iPod sales last quarter, implying the market is slowing. And several top executives dumped millions of their own Apple shares in late April, the first major sale by insiders in years...

"For Apple, the best move right now is to spin out iPod and pocket the cash, because Wall Street's current euphoria marks the market's peak. Although Apple would be loath to admit it, digital music players are on the verge of commoditization...."

You can check it out at:
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/may2004/tc2004055_8689_tc056.htm





One Size Does Not Fit All: Mac Solutions for the Entry Level

Low End Mac's Dan Knight says:

"Remember Square Pegs, a delightfully quirky show that starred Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1982-83 season -- long before she discovered sex in the city? The theme song, performed by The Waitresses, repeated the line, 'One size does not fit all.' (Available from the iTunes Music Store for just 99¢.)

"Just as that justifies the existence of the Mac OS, Linux, and other operating systems in a world dominated by Windows, it also means that one Mac won't meet the needs of every user -- especially not on the low end...

"Apple has done it before, offering the same motherboard in two different enclosures (such as the Quadra 650 desktop and Quadra 800 minitower) or the same model with different clock speeds and feature sets. With the various slot-loading iMacs, Apple sometimes had two different motherboards and four different processor speeds....

"I'm going to suggest that Apple look to its history to find inspiration for creating several lower-cost entry-level models......"

You can check it out at:
http://lowendmac.com/musings/04/0505.html






Still No iTunes Music Store In Europe, And The Competition Is Moving In

Independent Digital's Charles Arthur says:

"Apple's iTunes Music Store turned one year old last week - but only in the US. Its European counterpart is still nowhere to be seen, even though the incentive for Apple to launch it could hardly be greater. With thousands of Britons who snapped up iPod digital music players last year as potential users of the service, Apple is in effect losing business with every day that passes.

"In the meantime, rival download services - which sell songs that cannot be played on the iPod, because they are encoded with "rights management" software that only works on Microsoft Windows - are gaining ground. OD2 and Wippit are selling hundreds, perhaps thousands of songs every week; Wippit in particular has signed up both EMI and BMG as well as scores of independent labels, and is already distributing their catalogue through its legal peer-to-peer service. The now-legal Napster also plans a service for the end of the summer...."

For the full report, visit here:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=518148





FCC Chairman Michael Powell An iPod User

The Christian Science Monitor's Kim Campbell says:

"FCC Chairman Michael Powell, atop an agency built to handle bandwidth and licensing, finds himself in a pivotal role for an election year: point man in a values clash over free speech and indecency.....

"Like his father, the secretary of State, Mr. Powell commands attention when he speaks. The eldest child and only son of Alma and Colin Powell, he is not quite flashy fodder for the cover of People magazine. But as head of the Federal Communications Commission, his pop-culture footprint is large. An unelected official, he's in charge of regulating what people see and hear, and how. His purview ranges from new technology - using the Internet as a telephone, for example - to old debates with new heat, such as how much profanity seeps into TV programs.

"Powell is talkative - even his own family says so - and often funny, reflecting an easy-going upbringing. A self-described technology fiend, he owns all the latest gadgets, listening to classical music or Outkast on his iPod. His management style? Military- influenced, of course. As his critics know, the man is decisive. He slips easily into that robe-and-gavel mode, reflecting more than a decade of studying law and free-market philosophies....."

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0505/p15s01-uspo.html





eWeek: Announcing a New Mac Blog -- Not Just for Mac Fanatics

Take a look at the newest eWEEK.com blog -- long-time Mac watcher Matthew Rothenberg brings you informed analysis, the inside skinny, and everything in between, fresh daily. In fact, it's like "The Daily Show" for anyone who wants to know what's going on with the platform.

Read more at:
http://blog.ziffdavis.com/rothenberg





eWeek: Microsoft Updates MSN Messenger for Mac

" Microsoft Corp., just weeks away from shipping the next release of its Office suite for the Mac OS X, has launched a new version of its MSN Messenger instant-messaging client for Apple Computer Inc.'s operating system.

The Redmond, Wash., software maker on Tuesday released MSN Messenger for Mac Version 4.0 with additional integration into its new Office 2004 for Mac, a new feature for stopping unwanted messages and improvements to file sharing and alerting."

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1584855,00.asp





DRM 'will be cracked' says iTunes hacker

The Register's Patrick Gray reports:

"According to the Australian researcher who cracked the authentication used by Apple's iTunes software, current-generation Digital Rights Management (DRM) will never work.

"David Hammerton, a 20-year-old Arts-Science student, reverse-engineered iTunes' authentication measures last week, allowing non-iTunes clients to connect to Apple's servers. It was the second time he had managed to crack the authentication, however this time it took him just eight hours to break the brand-new iTunes 4.5, which had been patched against his previous research....."

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/drm_will_be_cracked/





Mac Night Owl: The Tiger Report: Would You Want One in Your Tank?

Let the speculation commence.

Here's the URL for today's commentary:

http://www.macnightowl.com/index.htm#tank





Repeat After Me: Apple is a Business

OSNews special contributor Aaron Vegh says:

"Is there no larger contingent of armchair corporate CEOs than Apple fanatics? Let's examine the so-called wealth of opinion out there and see how it measures up....

"Apple Computer is a publicly-traded business. The purpose of a business is to generate profit for shareholders. The purpose of a business is not to cater to the needs of a minority of fans.

"This distinction appears to be lost among some in the Macintosh community. This is a group of folks who grapple with what they would love to have Apple do, as if they were Apple's only customer. So without further ado, here is a sample of some recent armchair CEO-ing for your enjoyment… with commentary...."

You can check it out at:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6954





O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference Call for Participation

2004 O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference Call for Participation Proposals Due June 11, 2004

The dust has settled from Apple's remodel from Classic to Mac OS X, and the consensus among developers and users alike--from artists and educators to scientists and senior citizens--is that this is a versatile, exciting platform. Apple's infectious passion for computing has it and other companies churning out a lengthening list of must-have tools and goodies. Rendezvous, Bluetooth, digital music, mobile computing, digital video, AirPort Extreme, and on and on--all continue to reward longtime users and convert geeks and power users alike from other platforms. Mac users, and the administrators who support them, are eager to master the incredible wealth of functionality that's now available, especially as Mac's digital lifestyle transforms both business and home environments.

The third annual O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, happening October 25-28 in Santa Clara, CA, is evolving right along with Mac OS X. "This is *the* platform for innovation," observes Derrick Story, conference program chair. Story and his committee are seeking conference proposals from people creating the future of the Mac, as well as those immersed in its day-to-day care and feeding. In particular, they're seeking presentations delving into technologies, methodologies, techniques, and just plain useful and cool stuff appealing to:

- System administrators, especially those in cross-platform environments. This includes traditional Mac admins who are now getting up to speed on Unix and working the Mac into both sides of the firewall in businesses and organizations of all sizes, with an emphasis on networking, security, and workflow.

- Developers who want to understand and leverage the new paradigms at the heart of Mac OS X, from Rendezvous to Bluetooth, Core Audio to Quartz Extreme, Cocoa to Java. Working in Xcode is important, but so is scripting with AppleScript, Perl, Python, Ruby, and PHP.

- Digital musicians and their computer gurus who fine tune Macs for peak performance, design workflows to manage huge amounts of content, work with professional applications to create music, understand how to get new music in front of audiences, and can share insider business tips to keep the ink flowing in the black.

"We're also hoping to have a substantial number of talks aimed at pushing the Mac envelope in the 'Insanely Great Mac Track,'" says Story, "showing off the wonders of Mac OS X related to mobile computing, the iApps, home automation, creative networking, or digital media. Everyone who has a Mac loves to learn cool tricks that save time, increase efficiency, and make a computer fun to use. We want innovative sessions that will make both developers and administrators sit up and take notice, from overviews of cutting edge projects that will inspire attendees to come learn about the future of the platform, to practical, hands-on advice that will make it a no-brainer for IT departments to send their staff."

Submitting Proposals:

Individuals, companies, and project teams interested in making presentations, giving tutorials, or participating in panel discussions are invited to submit proposals in two categories: tutorials (three or six hour presentations) and conference sessions (45 or 90 minute presentations).

Proposals need not be works of art--a thoughtful summary or abstract of the talk is sufficient for consideration. Outlines are preferred for tutorials. The proposal is what the conference committee uses to select speakers, so the committee needs enough information to understand the topic being covered. Presentations by marketing staff or with a marketing focus will not be accepted; neither will submissions made by anyone other than the proposed speaker. All session presenters whose talks are accepted will receive free admission to the conference. Proposals are due no later than June 11, 2004.

If you have an idea for a panel discussion or a particularly provocative group of panelists that you'd love to see square off, feel free to send your suggestions to

Additional Resources:

For complete conference details and to submit a proposal, visit: http://conferences.oreilly.com/macosxcon/


***



Charles W. Moore


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