Friday, May 2, 2003

Re: Apple's music store: one step in the right direction, five steps back Apple has built a great music store, but it's not enough to get me to switch. For the cost of a "CD" from Apple's music store, I can by a real CD from Amazon. Apple's CD has DRM built in.... [MediaSavvy] Well, you can't expect everyone to embrace the future. There are still people who won't use ATM machines, either. But most people recognize the value in convenience. I personally won't buy another CD again because all I do now is rip them to iTunes and store them away. Easier for me to just back up my iTunes collections to an external HD. 11:13:31 AM

Google Readying for IPO? Fortune: Google Finds a Good Analyst One of Silicon Valley's favorite parlor games is guessing when Google will go public. Though CEO Eric Schmidt says an IPO isn't imminent (see Tech: Where the Action Is), here's a sign that Google is at least thinking of testing the public waters: It has hired respected former CSFB analyst Lise Buyer, 43, to be what she calls "official lug-nut checker." (Buyer left CSFB in 2000 and has not been implicated in any of the charges against former boss Frank Quattrone.) I think that they will go public soon so that they can throw more money at developing their advertising offering, specifically expanding Adwords internationally. My money is on October this year. [marketingfix] My money is on next year. :-) 10:58:33 AM

Success in Iraq? Join the E.U.! I have a crazy idea for measuring success in Iraq: nominate the country for inclusion in the E.U. Countries that want to get into the E.U. must elevate their politics and economics to a certain level before being considered. It's a win for Iraq, since it gives them a clear goal and a potential reward of healthy participation in the free world. And it's a win for the E.U., since they can show that their form of governance is exportable. ...OK, I'm sure there is much more to it than that, but it's an idea... 9:40:11 AM

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up! If you're a regular reader, you may have noticed my week long absence. We took a long weekend to Capitola, to escape the unpacked boxes, the buggy beta code, and the unresearched legal issues. It was good to get away and clear our heads a bit, although vacation with small children isn't quite the same. They still need their routine, otherwise they'd become unmanageable. Jackson held up well, and seemed to really enjoy being with us more. He seemed sad when we packed up to come home. Ah well, we're back now, and things are looking more calm for the immediate future. We've got another trip next month, the annual Yosemite migration, but it looks as though we have to pass on the annual Clear Lake trip in anticipation of my Bro's wedding in Maui. That should be a blast! ...And now back to our regularly scheduled program... 9:35:56 AM