OK, I want one

So this is the video iPod, eh?

Engadget Posted Feb 10th 2006 2:28PM by Ryan Block

Ok everyone, what do you think the odds are that Apple so nonchalantly let loose some images of the full-screen iPod video the very day after ThinkSecret's supposed confirmation on the video iPod hit the wires? Did we mention the Photoshop metadata in the images' EXIF tags? No, we're not at all prepared to call this a "leak," but we'll definitely attest to this being a very nice rendering of what we hope could be the 6G iPod.

Indeed.

Why I don't buy gadgets within the first year

money.cnn.com/2006/03/21/technology/apple_ipod/index.htm

Analyst: Apple's 60-gig iPod 'at risk'
Company may phase out 60-gig Video iPod, which retails for $399, in favor of a new model, analyst says.
March 21, 2006: 10:20 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Apple may be phasing out its 60-gigabyte Video iPod, according to one analyst who tracks the company.
The company has told its distributors that the 60-gigabyte iPod, which launched in October and retails for $399, is "at risk" until the end of April, meaning that it could be discontinued or replaced, according to Shaw Wu, an analyst for American Technology Research,
Apple launched its video iPods in October
...
In a note to clients, Wu said he believes the company is readying a wide-screen video iPod with Bluetooth headphones that could be ready as early as the June quarter. The analyst said his checks indicate that Apple is working on such a product.

This just has to drive people nuts... the coolest and latest toys seem as exciting as yesterday's soggy breakfast cereal within a year or less.

MovieBeam

A New Way to Avoid the Video Store

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG and KATHERINE BOEHRET

After a long day at work, there's something calming about filling a bowl with popcorn and watching a movie at home. But the experience can be diminished if you have to drive to the video store to rent a DVD. And it's worse if you get there only to find that the film you want is out of stock.

Even if you subscribe to a DVD-by-mail service, like Netflix, you may have to wait for the most popular films, and the movies you have on hand at any one time might not fit your mood. Plus, you have to pay a monthly fee.

Now, a new company called MovieBeam is aiming to ease those DVD issues. It is selling a $200 digital gadget prestocked with 100 movies -- some in high definition -- that you can rent at the click of a remote-control button for as little as $1.99. There's no drive to the video store, no chance of a movie being out of stock, no monthly fee, no waiting for the mail.

I don't get it. This device/service adds another box to your Home Entertainment setup (many potential customers probably already have a DVR/Tivo, a DVD player, a video game console and/or a cable set-top box) which at this point seems limited to a (smallish) selection of movies falling between the DVD and pay-per-view windows. No mention of an iTunes-like selection of TV programming, even though the device's developer (Disney) was the first company to offer video to iTunes.

Not to mention yet another remote.

Lost in 'Lost'

Interesting blog post about one of my favorite television shows...

Finding Lost

...Narratives by definition work by withholding information about future events; you tune in to find out what will happen next. But with Lost, the mystery lies in the present tense: half the time, you have no idea what's happening right now.

No wonder I enjoy the show so much... half the time, I have no idea what's happening right now.

Movie Reviews and the Selection Bias

This does make sense...

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-02-23/#5

What Critics Don't Write About Speaks Louder Than Words, Says Study

A Duke University study has concluded that many movie critics, faced with a huge number of films that that they are required to watch, often avoid writing reviews of the bad films they've seen while others avoid writing reviews of good films if other critics have already given them "thumbs up" notices. "Our model demonstrates that the fact that an expert is silent about a product may imply a positive or a negative review, depending on the expert," the study said. The study appraised the work of 46 critics and what they had to say -- or didn't have to say -- about 466 movies. One of the researchers, Peter Boatwright, said later that he and his colleagues did not take into account the fact that many critics mentioned in their study have little say about the selection process, since they are assigned movies to review by their editors, and that in the case of many major newspapers, a lead critic is expected to review the films that attract the greatest pre-release publicity.

I have wondered why it doesn't seem as though Roger Ebert and other leading critics write really bad reviews, and this seems like a plausible explanation. Out of curiousity, I looked up the reviews for one of the worst movies I could think of ("Eye of the Beholder") -- the list of reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes had fewer recognizable names than normal.

Movies on PSP

A pause in the action


By JENNIFER NETHERBY, SUSANNE AULT

Sony's PlayStation Portable isn't turning out to be the hot new movie platform many in the biz had hoped. With sales falling below expectations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video are cutting back on movie releases for the PSP.

While comedies that appeal to the core young male gamer demo are doing well, execs say other PSP movies simply aren't selling. Sony handheld device plays games, movies and music.

In a bid to boost the format, execs from SPHE and sister unit Sony Computer Electronics America, which sells the PSP, are touting a new adapter that would allow a user to watch a PSP pic on a TV. If it's successful, that could overcome widespread criticism that consumers have to buy two separate copies of a movie to watch on PSP and TV.

Execs plan to visit other studios to tout the adapter in the next month.

"It would be a huge boost to (PSP movies) if we can arrange for the disc to play on TV players," said SPHE prexy Ben Feingold.

Most people who would be likely to own a PlayStation Portable already have a DVD player, and probably wouldn't relish the idea of connecting another device to their TV set. Once the novelty of playing movies on a portable device wears off, people catch on to the fact that a platform-specific version of a movie probably isn't the best investment. A DVD can be played on most newer-model PCs or laptops, a portable DVD player (some of which are less than PSPs), and a DVD player connected to a television, but the PSP disc has one use only.

The model of the future needs to a personal license to a given film (or TV show, video, etc.) which is independent of the platform. You should be able to buy the rights to say, 'The Island' and be able to download it to your iPod, your PC, burn it to a DVD, copy it to a PSP disc, or whatever else makes sense.

Obligatory 'What's in my iPod' Post

My favorites based on iTunes' play count...

Song / Artist

Possession - Sarah McLachlan
Crucify - Tori Amos
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Crazy - Seal
Born of Frustration - James
Vapour Trail - Ride
Piano Lessons - Porcupine Tree
Precious Things - Tori Amos
Such a Shame - Talk Talk
The Freshmen - The Verve Pipe
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Wonderwall - Oasis
Gravity Eyelids - Porcupine Tree
Monkey Gone to Heaven - The Pixies
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
In Dulce Decorum - The Damned
Gong - Sigur Ros
Lined Up - Shriekback
Saeglopur - Sigur Ros
The Other Side - Paul Van Dyk
Who Am I - Peace Orchestra
Into the Lens - Yes
1999 - Binary Finary
Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree
There's No Other Way - Blur
Insomnia - Faithless

Top 25 Favorite Movies (at the moment)

In no particular order:

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rear Window
Gattaca
Donnie Darko
Animal House
Office Space
The Sound of Music
Brazil
Blazing Saddles
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Vanilla Sky (or Abre Los Ojos)
The Matrix / The Second Renaissance pts 1 & 2 (The Animatrix)
Vertigo
12 Monkeys
L.A. Confidential
A Clockwork Orange
The Sting
Toy Story 2
The Sixth Sense
Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Scarface (1983)
Trainspotting
Groundhog Day
Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Titanic

First Post

The blog title means nothing, which was the point of the lyrics to the song which inspired it.