Tag: Apple

RIP iTunes

images.jpgApple has unofficially announced that it is decommissioning their iTunes program. Word on the street is that this should have happened years ago: the iTunes concept of purchasing songs or albums is no longer relevant.

I remember when all this started. Napster was willing to give songs away for free and Apple’s concept of charging a reasonably small amount for each tune made sense. Other services attempted to grab the market, not by selling songs but by selling instances of listening to a song. I was probably unduly biased in favor of Apple but I thought this competing business plan was stupid.

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Having Drank the Apple Juice

Apple

In 1977 I bought my first Apple computer: a venerable Apple ][ with 48K of memory and eventually my first floppy disk drive (at work we had eight inchers but this was 5.25).That Apple ][ lasted me several years and was eventually replaced by an IBM clone and later sold to a friend for his daughter. During its life I added a memory card (another 16K!!!), a modem card (300 Baud, no doubt), and learned Pascal when Apple made it available. It’s hard to believe now but I had a custom suitcase that allowed me to carry my Apple ][ with three disk drives and a bunch of other stuff which I used when I took my computer to work (there were no personal-type computers where I worked even though I was in the Computer Department). I loved my Apple ][ and the IBM clone only lasted a few months before I was severely strapped for cash and had to sell the whole thing to an accountant who needed to run Lotus 1-2-3.

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Apple and the Conservative Noise Machine

As those who have followed this weblog from the beginning know, I have been highly critical of Apple on several occasions. Going all the way back to 1977 I have experienced great triumphs with Apple and also several highly disappointing failures. Did you buy a Lisa? An Apple serial card for your Apple ][? What about that Cube thing? So despite my allegiance to Apple products and my complete avoidance of anything from WINDOZ, I am aware that Apple is not sacrosanct and I will readily admit it.

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