Craig's Blog

Heavy metal cat

Video ITunes

Apple recently announced they are coming out with an iPod that will play videos. Very cool and a  long time coming. Once again Apple will lead the way. I know there were pocket video players already in the market but was anyone buying them? Overpriced junk mostly. Apple also announced a new version iTunes, (has Apple copyrighted the letter “i”?) which is the software that interfaces to the iPod. It's also a standalone media player much like Windows Media Player. The new version of iTunes will allow users to download TV shows for $1.99. That is a huge thing. The whole Tivo thing was all about being able to watch a show when the consumer had time to and be able to skip commercials. Now you don't even need to own a Tivo, you can just download it to your new iPod or iTunes player. Plus Apple is coming out with their own media center software for the Macs so you can hook up your Mac to your TV and voila you have Apple's version of Tivo. I find it refreshing that the tv networks are finally starting to embrace a new way of selling their shows, via the internet. So if this new way of watching tv really picks up, and it probably will with the younger crowd, how will advertisers make up for the loss of their captured audience? On a similar thread, the BBC has also started putting their shows on a private bit torrent network. Right now only a select number of users in Britain have access to this network, but we only hope that this will be expanded. The times they are a changin'.

Scooter needs to die

You know it's one thing for FOX to add the idiotic diamond cam to their playoff coverage of the baseball playoffs. But now they have added Scooter. Scooter is an animated baseball that explains to the audience in an overexuberant way what a curve ball is or what a breaking pitch is. How come networks feel they must cater to the lowest common denominator? In this case it would be 5 year olds. Not that there is anything wrong with 5 year olds but I'm just getting sick and tired of the world conforming itself to them. Either we are censoring ourselves to “protect the children” or making sure little Johnny doesn't get any germs. You know this country has a child fetish. They are obsessed with their children and in the process are creating a generation of germaphobic, narrow minded, selfish people.

Maybe FOX has the right idea. Baseball is a very boring sport, it needs to be livened up. But dudes, find a better way to do it. Hire somebody like Terry Bradshaw that has some personality than the bores you found. I've had more fun listening to fricken golf announcers.

The Lone Rider on the Storm

Raise your hand, who is sick to death of those Cadillac commercials that play the Led Zeppelin songs. I for one hate them. Face it, Cadillacs are for senior citizens or fat capitalist with small dicks. Adding a very cool classic rock song that was listened to by a very cool generation who drove VW Beetles and muscle cars to a car commercial that the Led Zep generation spoke out against is just wrong. Now they are hitting up the Doors for their treasure trove of tunes to make Cadillac look hip. Finally somehow has stood up against their onslaught of denigration. The drummer from the Doors refuses to sign off on the deal saying their music has integrity and was never about making money. Here's a link on the story - http://www.boingboing.net/2005/10/05/doors_drummer_wont_a.html It's a breathe of fresh air to see that some artists refuse to be whores to the Madison Avenue pimps.