maunder | verb [ intrans. ] talk in a rambling manner
I was reading this article on the internets, Boing Boing: iPhone – the roach motel business model, about how the iTunes/iPod/iPhone combination will be a sinister trap for consumers.
There are some good points in the article. However, there’s one aspect of the argument that I’ve never understood. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about Apple’s DRM and how it’s monopolistic, oppressive, and stinks of sulfur and brimstone. But, as a consumer, I have no idea why.
So help me out here, what’s so bad about Apple’s DRM?
[tags]Apple, DRM, iTunes, iPod, iPhone[/tags]
A little less than a year ago I switched from Windows to [tag]Mac[/tag]. I find that with [tag]OSX[/tag] I find myself looking forward to the joy of working with my computer, rather than dreading the million little headaches and hangups I might have to deal with to get basic things done.
I knew going in that I would enjoy using the Mac more. But, what I wasn’t expecting were the million little things in OSX that sounded gimmicky at first, but actually make a huge difference in your user experience. I still use Windows at work, and it drives me crazy that I don’t have these features.
If you’ve been following Vista development, you probably know that Microsoft is incorporating similar features into Vista (Okay, not the Virus / Malware free one). I know a lot of long time Mac users are a bit peeved with Microsoft for stealing these ideas from OS X. But, as someone who has to use Windows to make a living, I look forward to seeing these good ideas on as many platforms as possible.
According to the New York Times, the Danes are happy.
What’s up with that? Well, turns out they have low expectations, so every good thing that happens is a pleasant surprise.
(More after the jump.)
Between the vodka spiked formula and the constant diet of Flintstone’s barbiturates, I don’t remember very much of the 1970’s. Perhaps, this if for the best. In 1971, acclaimed writer, director, and photgrapher, Anonymous, graced the world with the indelible Pink Narcissus! Thereby setting the WTF bar for nigh these 40 years.
Pink Naricissus is the timeless story of a young man’s struggle inside of a vulva. I know, I know, we’ve seen it a million times. Boy flushes himself down urinal. Boy becomes slave to the Zoltar machine from Big. Boy puts butterfly on genitals. Bag lady meets boy. Sailor masturbates at bag lady. Boy is violated by local foliage.
Yes, it’s that old chestnut. But I think the film holds up because its message is as true today as it ever was. If a guy is hot, nothing else matters.
And the guy is, in point of fact, hot. This much is true. If you don’t find yourself creeped out by Mr. Anonymous’ opus, you may actually enjoy the proto-Gondry visual stylings. Some of it is genuinely cool.
I’ve heard it said that this is the movie that made Liberace gay. It’s possible that it might do the same to you. If you’re up for that, do check it out.
[tags]Pink Narcissus, James Bidgood, Michel Gondry, Anonymous, Liberace[/tags]
Today, the intertubes may have brought [tag]Apple[/tag]’s announcement of the iPhone to your attention.
In case you’ve somehow gone without hearing about this marvel of the modern age, the [tag]iPhone[/tag] is a completely sex-tastic cellphone, PDA, iPod, wonder gadget that seems to have sprung, fully formed, from the thigh of Zeus.
When some companies attempt to design a device that combines the roles of several existing products, the result is often a clunky Frankenstein’s monster that fails to perform any of its duties particularly well.
What impresses me about the iPhone, is that it actually seems well-suited to each of the tasks you might ask of it. And then there’s the little things, like the way knows which direction you’re holding it, or the way it adjusts its brightness based on ambient light, or the elegant gesture navigation.
These features may not sound hugely important. But, once you’ve been spoiled with the mag-safe power adapter or the MacBook’s scrolling trackpad, you appreciate what a difference they make.
It seems like everything the iPhone does is designed with the total user experience in mind. Watching the demo movies on Apple’s site, I found myself thinking, “well of course that’s how it should work. Why hasn’t anyone done this yet?”
Granted, I haven’t actually seen or touched one yet. But in my head I’ve already had my way with it. After violating its glossy sensitive surface, my trusty [tag]iPod[/tag] – faithful friend and traveling companion – is starting to look mighty long in the tooth.
Fans of the original Grey Gardens have something to dress up in a cape and sing about. The [tag]Criterion Collection[/tag] has released a DVD of unused footage that serves a pseudo-sequel to the original called, The Beales of Grey Gardens
For those of you that haven’t been introduced to the Edies yet, Grey Gardens
The Beales, Big Edie and Little Edie, inhabit the titular [tag]Grey Gardens[/tag], a seaside estate in the Hamptons. Like the ladies themselves, the house is sort of falling apart and infested with raccoons.
I’ve recently been introduced to The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm podcast. If you follow the episodes from the beginning, you’ll hear the show evolve from an entertainment review with a very special guest, into an off the wall variety show.
The stable of recurring characters includes such luminaries as Judy Garland, Bernadette Peters, Carol Channing, Gollum D’Smeagol, Katherine Hepburn, Gwen Verdon, and Roger Darling.
What’s nice about the show is that there’s nothing mean-spirited about it. It’s a premise that could easily devolve into cheap and obvious parody, but it doesn’t. Instead you end up with something more like The View if it were co-directed by John Waters and Busby Berkeley.
Episode 16.5 of the podcast opens with a rousing rendition of the Super Mario Brothers theme as interpreted by Judy and Bernadette. Thinking back on the Super Mario Brothers
[tags]The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm, Judy Garland, Super Mario Brothers[/tags]