Writers Block Live

I think this statement from Amazon’s UnBox website tells the whole story:

If your device is Plays for Sure compliant it may work…

May work…the mind boggles at the way Microsoft gives their products names which embody the exact opposite of what the thing does. Play for Sure, Windows Genuine Advantage, Windows Defender…doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy.

PS
Unbox looks to me to be another ill-conceived and half-hearted effort by the big studios to get people to pay higher prices for lower quality and less flexibility. Oh ya, give me some of that please.

The boycott of the new HD disc formats that I proposed back in February has gotten a lot of press coverage; which is just great. But now that the silly machines are actually starting to be sold I think it bears updating.

My view is simple: the movie studios are seeking to drastically curtail or even eliminate the concept of fair use. They are doing this by pressuring the hardware companies into implementing DRM technology which is much more rigid and secure than any that has come before. AACS is the primary DRM technology, and it is downright nasty. Even worse the studios will retain control over how and where you can play your movies even after they have your money. Check out the HD Boycott page for much more information, and just say no. I know we all want better image quality, but this is not a good way to get it.

Having worked in the pro apps group at Apple, I am probably more shocked than most by this article in Macworld where Apple officially responds to the recent negative rumors about Aperture. In case you missed it, it has been reported on Think Secret and Daring Fireball that the Aperture engineering team had been gutted, possibly threatening the product’s future.

This is the first time I can think of where Apple has responded so directly and swiftly to a rumor without using their lawyers. I know a lot of Aperture’s early adopters were very concerned about what these rumors meant to their investment. Kudos to Kirk Paulson and his team (especially Joe Schorr) for putting the customer first. I’m sure it involved some interesting meetings at Apple to get approval for such non-standard external communications.* (more…)