Okay, so I bought some stuff on Amazon the other day. Some music (the new James Taylor, the old James Lee Hooker) and some books, and Amazon tells me I have all sorts of free streaming stuff I can get in my Digital Library. It's a promotion.

So I go clickety-click to check it out.

But looky here... 1) it's Windows Media Player only and 2) ya gotta have a PC, no Macs need apply.

So, I'm miffed, and I write a little email:

I have received free Digital Library items, but the only format they are available in is Windows Media Player.

This makes them useless for me, a Macintosh user.

Do you plan to offer a RealAudio version?

Behold, I get a response just a few short hours later:

I apologize for any confusion regarding this streaming audio promotion. Unfortunately, this streaming file is not compatible with Macintosh systems. This is because the Windows Media Player for Mac does not support the copy protection feature that these files contain.

So the good news is that Redmond realizes that Mac users won't stand for copy protection. And the bad news is that we're too small a segment of the market for Amazon to be bothered with providing an alternative. (Of course I could fire up Virtual PC and listen to them, but it's the principle of the thing!)

Let's all smile together and celebrate the fabulousness of copy-protection combined with good old-fashioned monopoly power.

Well, I can put up with all this because I know I'll have a zippy spotted cat box waiting for me in the office when I get back to Washington. Na-na-na-na-NAH-na!

10:54:57 PM