Linked List: March 11, 2009

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

On the App Store 

Adam Lisagor, on Apple’s insistence that apps are available not in or at but on the App Store:

Let’s look at it another way: what destinations built for the trade of goods would the word “on” apply to? I could say I bought a song on iTunes, but when I speak of it like that, I think of iTunes as more of a network for content rather than an outlet, much in the same way I’d say I saw 30 Rock on NBC or heard my favorite song on my favorite radio station. So does this mean that Apple likes to think of its iTunes Stores as networks? And if the iTunes App Store is a network rather than a retail outlet, what does that make the apps it sells? And herein lies the real question: is an app a product or is it content? […]

Apple, it seems, thinks of apps as content created by developers in the way that music is created by musicians and movies are created by filmmakers.

iTunes 8.1 

The Genius feature now supports TV shows and movies, and Party Shuffle has been renamed iTunes DJ:

With iTunes DJ, iPhone users that have Apple’s Remote application installed can request songs to be played. Users can also vote to control when songs are played. The DJ feature even has its own preferences, so you can send a welcome message to users and control whether voting is turned on or off.

Christopher Breen on the New Shuffle 

Breen nails it:

But I’m not the target buyer for this device. If you walk along any city street, ride a subway or bus, or wander through the local gym, you’ll see that nearly everyone uses the stock Apple earbuds. It’s not that their ears are any more ideal for these things than mine, it’s just that most people don’t care or know any better. This is what I got, this is what I’ll use.

Exactly. Lack of compatibility with no-button headphones is not an outrage. What matters is whether these headphone-cable controls are a good interface for controlling a Shuffle. (I’m skeptical, as are others.) It isn’t meant to be good for everyone, it’s meant to be great for most people. That’s how Apple rolls.

Third-Party Headphone Adaptors for New Shuffle on the Way 

Stephen Wildstrom, for BusinessWeek:

What if you don’t like the indifferent ear buds Apple supplies or, if like me, ear buds just won’t stay in your ears? You can buy the iPhone In-Ear Stereo headphones ($79); the remote is the same. Apple says there will also be third-party adapters that will let you add a remote to your favorite headphones.

I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this today, all of them from people who use non-Apple headphones with their iPods. (I do too.) It’s good that adaptors are in the works, but clearly, today, the new Shuffle is not usable unless you’re using it with Apple headphones. But so then don’t buy it. It’s an odd decision not to include any playback controls on the Shuffle itself, but not the least bit surprising for Apple.

And for the time being, at least, the old-style 1 GB $49 Shuffle is still available.

Apple’s Inline Web Page Audio Player 

Did you notice the little inline audio players on Apple’s iPod Shuffle web pages?

Screenshot of Apple's web page audio playback controller.

When playing, it animates with a circular progress meter:

Screenshot of Apple's web page audio playback controller.

Very cool — and very much like the iTunes song preview controller on the iPhone. Even cooler: no Flash involved. It’s QuickTime with this JavaScript to draw the animation using the HTML 5 <canvas> element. Doesn’t work in MobileSafari (yet?), but at least MobileSafari can play the audio in its usual (full-screen) way.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile 

Microsoft announces their upcoming mobile app store:

Developers will be able to see detailed feedback during and after the certification process of their application on the Windows Marketplace for Mobile developer portal. Ultimately this enables developers to devote more time to writing innovative applications, and less time trying to navigate the approval process.

Wonder who that’s in reference to?

Kutiman, Big Media, and the Future of Creative Entrepreneurship 

Merlin Mann:

Unsolicited tip for media company c-levels: if your reaction to this crate of magic is “Hm. I wonder how we’d go about suing someone who ‘did this’ with our IP?” instead of, “Holy crap, clearly, this is the freaking future of entertainment,” it’s probably time to put some ramen on your Visa and start making stuff up for your LinkedIn page.

Apple’s Documentation for New iPod Shuffle Headphone Button Controls 

Double-click for next track, triple-click for previous; double-click-and-hold for fast-forward, triple-click and hold for rewind. Clever, but I don’t think most people will discover these shortcuts without reading about them, and most people won’t read about them.

Apple’s War on Buttons 

The irony is that Apple makes such nice buttons — the buttons on the older Shuffles had a nice clickiness to them.

Scott Simpson Is Dreamy 

Scott Simpson:

Why is the word “dream” synonymous with “ideal”? My nighttime dreams never reflect what I really want.

Ember 1.0 

New $10 iPhone client for Campfire.

Ego 1.0 

New $2 iPhone app by Garrett Murray — lets you monitor web stats from Mint, Twitter, and FeedBurner. Terrific interface design.

Redesigned iPod Shuffle, With VoiceOver 

Sounds like a clever idea.

Two colors, silver and black, both 4 GB and $79. The guided tour video explains how it works. The VoiceOver spoken menus and song/artist names are generated on your computer in iTunes, and you can hear examples on the VoiceOver page. Mac OS X Tiger and Windows users get a lesser quality voice; Leopard users get the new high quality Alex voice.