VINDICATION, bitches!!
Ok. Two topics leap immediately to mind that I wanna blog about. The first one's a brief tongue-wagging-vindication (nah-nah-na-nah-na) and the second is the greatest that is Steve Jobs.
1.) MIT, for Spring semester 2007, is a offering a Comparative Media Studies course about... American Pro Wrestling. Yes, MIT. That's the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the most famous and prestigious schools in the world. And they are doing what? That's right... there're going to offer a course on Pro Wrestling. Is this.. what is this feeling? Could it be... vindication? You mean when other people made fun of my love of pro wrestling and I always claimed there was value in pro wrestling and people laughed at me (literally LAUGHED!), MIT turns around and proves that there is indeed some value in pro wrestling? MIT is now my favorite school.
2.) So, some more thoughts on Steve Jobs. I already posted some thoughts 2 entries ago (scroll down). The letter that Steve Jobs mentions DRM (actually he full-on tackles the subject of DRM) in is posted on the front page of Apple.com (sorry. Should've mentioned that before). In the letter, Mr. Jobs outright expresses how he personally feels, how he thinks the average consumer feels, the initial reasoning behind DRM, and the reasons why its still be employed. Perhaps it's the reality distortion field but he makes a very good point on all fronts. I do think it's slightly absurd to say that Fairplay is kept proprietary in part to prevent people from breaking it but it's also true that Apple was one of the founding pioneers in the field of digital distribution and that deals they made with record companies have to be seen through those eyes.
Steve Jobs has been described on numerous occasions before as wanting to be a rock star. He certainly has the attitude for it. His "Steve-notes" at Macworld are a combination of KISS and PT Barnum. He has flair and charisma and a certain je ne sais quoi that comes off as... rock-star-ish. Frankly, it took a mind/personality such as Steve Jobs to broach the subject of digital distribution. Let's compare him to... say, Bill Gates. Bill Gates, while ambitious, smart, inventive, cunning, ruthless, and, did I say smart? let's use that one twice, is not a rock star. He has never seemed to have had the rock-star-flair. He comes off as reserved, quiet, shy, and... stereotypical nerd. It's only when you realize what he's done and what he's worth that you think "This guy's more than just a nerd." Bill Gates would never have tried digital distribution... at least not with the amount of red tape surrounding it. Steve Jobs, on the other hand, wants to be a rock star. And birds of a feather... So to say he'd try to surround himself with rock stars, to live in the world of rock stars, to bring rock stars to his world, would not be a stretch. So it would have to take someone like Steve Jobs to bring the iTunes music store to the masses.
And what can I say about it? I love iTunes. I've been a fervent user of the iTunes music store for years now. YEARS of buying music almost 100% off iTunes. Since I bought my first iPod (2004?), I've probably bought... 2 dozen music CDs. Total. If even. Frankly I love using iTunes because 1.) I'm not an audiophile and don't care about the quality after a certain bitrate and 2.) I'm too lazy to get off my tuckus to make trips to music stores. And I feel that iTunes has improved my life (musically). I've listened to more genres of music, more artists, more old-school and unheard of new-school because of the ease and accessibility of iTunes. I mean, some of the CDs I've bought off iTunes are CDs that can't be found in regular Targets or Best Buys and need to be found in Rasputins... something I would never have done myself. I'm a converted!
So I say, go Steve Jobs. Good on ya! If anybody can start a real, honest-to-God, fighting-chance campaign to end DRM, it's Steve Jobs. And this letter might just be the opening salvo. FREE THE MUSIC! FREE THE MASSES!
1.) MIT, for Spring semester 2007, is a offering a Comparative Media Studies course about... American Pro Wrestling. Yes, MIT. That's the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the most famous and prestigious schools in the world. And they are doing what? That's right... there're going to offer a course on Pro Wrestling. Is this.. what is this feeling? Could it be... vindication? You mean when other people made fun of my love of pro wrestling and I always claimed there was value in pro wrestling and people laughed at me (literally LAUGHED!), MIT turns around and proves that there is indeed some value in pro wrestling? MIT is now my favorite school.
2.) So, some more thoughts on Steve Jobs. I already posted some thoughts 2 entries ago (scroll down). The letter that Steve Jobs mentions DRM (actually he full-on tackles the subject of DRM) in is posted on the front page of Apple.com (sorry. Should've mentioned that before). In the letter, Mr. Jobs outright expresses how he personally feels, how he thinks the average consumer feels, the initial reasoning behind DRM, and the reasons why its still be employed. Perhaps it's the reality distortion field but he makes a very good point on all fronts. I do think it's slightly absurd to say that Fairplay is kept proprietary in part to prevent people from breaking it but it's also true that Apple was one of the founding pioneers in the field of digital distribution and that deals they made with record companies have to be seen through those eyes.
Steve Jobs has been described on numerous occasions before as wanting to be a rock star. He certainly has the attitude for it. His "Steve-notes" at Macworld are a combination of KISS and PT Barnum. He has flair and charisma and a certain je ne sais quoi that comes off as... rock-star-ish. Frankly, it took a mind/personality such as Steve Jobs to broach the subject of digital distribution. Let's compare him to... say, Bill Gates. Bill Gates, while ambitious, smart, inventive, cunning, ruthless, and, did I say smart? let's use that one twice, is not a rock star. He has never seemed to have had the rock-star-flair. He comes off as reserved, quiet, shy, and... stereotypical nerd. It's only when you realize what he's done and what he's worth that you think "This guy's more than just a nerd." Bill Gates would never have tried digital distribution... at least not with the amount of red tape surrounding it. Steve Jobs, on the other hand, wants to be a rock star. And birds of a feather... So to say he'd try to surround himself with rock stars, to live in the world of rock stars, to bring rock stars to his world, would not be a stretch. So it would have to take someone like Steve Jobs to bring the iTunes music store to the masses.
And what can I say about it? I love iTunes. I've been a fervent user of the iTunes music store for years now. YEARS of buying music almost 100% off iTunes. Since I bought my first iPod (2004?), I've probably bought... 2 dozen music CDs. Total. If even. Frankly I love using iTunes because 1.) I'm not an audiophile and don't care about the quality after a certain bitrate and 2.) I'm too lazy to get off my tuckus to make trips to music stores. And I feel that iTunes has improved my life (musically). I've listened to more genres of music, more artists, more old-school and unheard of new-school because of the ease and accessibility of iTunes. I mean, some of the CDs I've bought off iTunes are CDs that can't be found in regular Targets or Best Buys and need to be found in Rasputins... something I would never have done myself. I'm a converted!
So I say, go Steve Jobs. Good on ya! If anybody can start a real, honest-to-God, fighting-chance campaign to end DRM, it's Steve Jobs. And this letter might just be the opening salvo. FREE THE MUSIC! FREE THE MASSES!
posted by Chris "Krang" Yang | 11:01 PM
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