By John Gruber
WorkOS launches auth.md — an open protocol for agent registration.
Linked List: September 15, 2006
Friday, 15 September 2006
- Zune Won’t Play ‘PlaysForSure’ Protected Songs? ★
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Kind of crazy if you think about it. There’s a very strong case against paying for DRM-protected media from any vendor, but at least with Apple, the deal seems pretty clear: stick with Apple and the stuff you’ve paid for will continue to play. If Zune really doesn’t play PlaysForSure protected WMV files, what’s the message to people who paid for PlaysForSure songs and want to buy a Zune? “Microsoft: We plan to force you to re-pay for all your music every two or three years?”
This is so insane I can’t believe it’s true. PlaysForSure is Microsoft’s own DRM-licensing program; Zune is Microsoft’s own player, and it’s based on a Toshiba “Gigabeat” player that already is PlaysForSure-compatible. Why wouldn’t it be PlaysForSure compatible?
- An Ive for Design ★
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BusinessWeek retrospective on the work of Jonathan Ive. Their feature article is worth reading, too.
- Microsoft, SanDisk Overstating Accessory Support ★
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Microsoft claims Griffin Technology will be producing accessories for the Zune; Griffin spokesperson tells iLounge no deal has been signed:
“As the leading accessory maker for portable media players, Griffin is always interested in evaluating new opportunities,” a Griffin spokesperson told iLounge, “However we continue to focus our efforts on the market leading iPod due to our close relationship with Apple.”
Sort of like asking a girl out for a date, her telling you that she’ll get back to you, and you going out and announcing to your buddies that she said yes.
- Skype 2.0 Beta ★
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Includes support for video chat.
- Cory Doctorow: Amazon Unbox to Customers: Eat Shit and Die ★
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Doctorow’s caustic analysis of Amazon’s Unbox terms of service is, well, his usual stridency. But he’s correct that you get far fewer rights with an Unbox download than with a DVD purchased from Amazon. He doesn’t mention in it in this essay, but the same goes for iTunes movie downloads, although I think iTunes’s usage rights are better than Unbox’s. My favorite bit is this one, on how entertainment industry executives think:
I once attended a DRM negotiation where an MPAA vice-president said, “Watching a show that’s being received in one room while you’re sitting in another room has value, and if it has value, we should be able to charge money for it.” Siva Vaidhyanathan calls this the “if value, then right” theory — if something has value, someone must have a right to sell it. So while you might be accustomed to extracting unexpected value from your old media — ripping a CD to play it on your iPod, copying a cartoon and sticking it on your fridge, taking your books with you when you move overseas — forget about it from now on.
- 3hive on the Brown Zune ★
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Sean at 3hive got to see the Zune in person, and he likes the brown:
Design: The overall design and user-interface really surprised me. My favorite color is the brown. The pictures don’t do it justice. But when you’re holding it in your hand there’s this warm, vintage look to it, like you’re cuddled up to your grandparents’ hi-fi, dropping needle to Herb Alpert groove. And the screen size puts Apple to shame I’m afraid to say.
- Microsoft Doesn’t Have ‘zune.com’? ★
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“Under construction”, and according to the
whoisresults, not registered by Microsoft. - More Details on Zune Sharing ★
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Ends up the Zune can be used to beam non-DRM tracks to other Zune users, but according to Blackfriars Marketing:
It turns out that the play-three-times-over-three-days limit applies not only to purchased music, but also to any music you may have transferred from CDs.
(Via Ross Jones via email.)
- Google Hires Scumbag Lobbyist Firm ★
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So much for “Don’t be evil.”
- Reflections Are the New Drop Shadows ★
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If it ain’t shiny it’s crap!
- Media Ownership Study Ordered Destroyed by FCC ★
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The Associated Press:
The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.
Good old memory hole.
- Dissecting iPod Games ★
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Dan Dickinson examines the contents of iPod game bundles. Includes info on Easter eggs in the Texas Hold ’Em game, and concludes that:
Homebrew is probably an impossibility at this point because of the expectation of a signed cert from Apple.
(Via Mark Pilgrim.)
- EETimes.Com: Mystery Chips, No Portal Player, in iPod Nano ★
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EETimes reports on the components in the new iPod Nanos:
Apple Computer Inc.’s new iPod Nano player has three Apple-marked chips of unknown origin, but no chip from PortalPlayer Inc., according to a Wedbush Morgan Securities report discussing a teardown of the long-awaited media player.
They speculate that because flash memory prices have fallen significantly in the last year, that Apple’s profit margins on the new Nanos could be significantly higher than last year’s.
(Via Jeff Atwood via email.)