WhackArnolds – Technology, Politics, Pop Culture, Life commentary delivered hot and fresh!

Steve Jobs, the greatest of all time, once asked, “Who would want to watch video on their phone/mp3 player?”  This was one of the classic, ‘no one wants it until we have it ready for release’ approaches that Apple uses all the time.  It’s pretty stupid, especially when the tech media eat it up and go nuts about how ridiculous it sounds.  Well, I am curious about why people would buy music from iTunes.  I just don’t get it, it doesn’t seem like it would be worth the time to do it.  Let’s look at some of the pros of using iTunes.

1. First off, the system is pretty sound and it’s designed to milk you of your cash in small increments.  It’s so easy to use, find music and click buy…bam there’s your music.
2. The software works perfectly with your iPhone or iPod.  What’s better it automatically syncs your music across to the devices.
3. You are already used to the interface and have no interest in changing because change is scary and scary things are too scary.

Ok, there you go three things that are keeping you from broadening your horizons.  I couldn’t think of anything more than those, if you do feel free to comment and let me know.  iTunes works well and works with your devices, but what about listening to stuff you don’t want to buy?  I guess you could use Pandora, Last.fm, Rhapsody, or you could use MySpace music.  These are great, but they aren’t all that great when you look at them.

Pandora was the greatest thing since sliced bread, heck I use it from time to time and I am listening to it on my iPhone right now!  Last.fm is like Pandora for kindergartners, so that isn’t worth the time.  Rhapsody, is pretty good in that you can listen to whatever you want, but once you end your subscription you are up shit’s creek and that just stinks.  MySpace music is, well, MySpace.  If you enjoy poisoned ads that will infect your PC, then go ahead with that noise.  So, what’s left?  Zune and Spotify of course!

Just so you know, I am by no means into getting my knees dirty for Microsoft but every now and again they do something not dumb.  The new Zune is quite a beautiful piece of hardware, on top of that it is part of the Zune store which is simply sick!    Picture this, being able to download whatever you want and listen to it on your device and get ten songs per month that you can keep forever?  That would be awesome, and I can hear you Apple fanboys hoping now, “Maybe Apple will give that to us in a couple years and I can massage Steve Jobs’ sack”.  Well, this is a Microsoft thing.  Zune Pass gives you this deal and I think this is how music should be distributed.  If you don’t have a Zune, you should think about getting one, unless of course Apple pulls the douche out of their butts and goes to a subscription model.  Who knows, apparently pigs do fly so Jobs could get some cool back.

What about Spotify?  Well, Spotify is basically a Zune Pass, but without the downloading thing.  Spotify is an internet streaming site much like Rhapsody, however you only stream the music and it’s fricken free.  I think this service, once it comes to the US and is legit will change things a lot.  I just hope that the record execs don’t decide to prove that they’re inadequate as they usually do these days.

I am interested in the news about Hulu charging for content.  Why would I be intrigued about something so lame?  Well, truth be told, big media companies need to come to the conclusion that no one wants to pay more to watch a television show.  That’s right, all these programs are on tv for free over the air or on cable.  With the prices that people already pay for cable television and the seemingly endless amount of stupid channels, it’s not hard to believe that no one wants to pay another subscription online.  I know for a fact that this guy won’t be paying to watch Hulu.  I’d rather spend some money on converting my PC to a DVR or buy a Tivo.

The only real reason I go to Hulu is because the show is online with fewer advertisements and usually the commercials that they do run are better.  The sad part about this whole move is that Hulu will probably make some good money, even with their traffic greatly reduced.  When I used the site I would Like/Dislike the commercials, and I know I am in the minority there!  I wish them luck on this change, but not really.  I hope they fail royally and all these stupid companies can open up their minds and get creative.

I think there is going to be a significantly uptick in piracy the moment Hulu starts to charge.  I expect to see more shows getting put up on Vimeo, YouTube, and sites like that.  BitTorrent is going to start rocking even more than it is now.  I would love to have a sit down with some of these suits that think they have the internet solved.  I bet they have their MBA degrees on the wall in nice frames.  What a bunch of idiots you guys are.

I can’t understand how a company with so much money devoted to marketing can suck so bad at it.  News flash, no one cares about your stupid yodel brand.  Most people on the internet care about getting what they want when they want it.  There is nothing more annoying than a big company trying to be cutesy and failing at everything else.  Why aren’t there advertisements and news bulletins about the Yahoo Finance section?  Your real-time stock info is pretty awesome, and you piss that away!  Apparently, your OMG! portal is the most popular destination for gossip and yet I had no idea it was there!  What is wrong with you people??

This promote the lame and hide the great attitude is why you have become irrelevant, and I think you guys need to revisit the land of common sense.  If you need marketing advice, let me know I think my 3 year old daughter can out market your current marketing firm/department.  Holy crap, why would you spend so much money on geocities and then do nothing meaningful with it?  How about this, instead of your happy fun commercials at the end of CNET vidcasts, try substantive commercials about the cool things you do.  At least let the tech community know about the cool things you do so we can enjoy them and bring you traffic.  That’s how the net works by the way.

You are doing it wrong!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Discover for being full of douchey goodness.  You guys suck!  How is it possible that economic environment would make you raise the rate on my account?  You already have garbage rates and I pay my bill up on time every month.  So, now you are trying to make that extra little bit off of everyone who pay regularly?  Get a better business model.  How about now giving cards to everyone with horrible credit or fresh out of high school?  I have friends who have great jobs, and they haven’t been able to get one card from anyone.  I guarantee that if I go to spring break and get a stupid cheap towel, that I can get a credit card.  What a bunch of losers you guys are, and I am not talking about the daily workers.  I am talking about the middle and upper management dingbats that run the company.  How about doing something right for a change and not jacking up your good customers.  I hope your company continues to go through financial hell until you fail and are removed from earth.  You suck!