They say some music just gets into your brain. But not so often into your brain surgery.
Gavin Brooke, an 18-year-old from the United Kingdom, needed surgery to remove a brain tumor. But his doctors needed him to be awake throughout the operation so that they could be sure that they wouldn't damage his brain.
The solution was to hook up the iPod to the operating room's sound system. The first track Gavin chose for this six-hour headbanger's opera was Apologize by Timbaland, featuring One Republic.
This reflected the fact that, in his mind, he wanted to apologize to the surgeons as this was his second brain surgery. The first time around, they didn't get the whole tumor, so Gavin felt sorry for them that they had to get into his head again.
"The tumor was in a very difficult place that controls the movement of the body," Andrew McElroy, the head neurosurgeon told The Sun newspaper. "And we had to ensure we didn't damage the surrounding area. A few millimeters too far could have paralyzed him, so I let him listen to his iPod. We talked to him all the way through, and he was happy with his music on."
Dr. McElroy, who performed the operation at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, did not reveal how happy he was to be subjected to One Republic while trying to save Gavin's life.
While The Sun wondered whether Gavin might have listened to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery or Bryan Adams' Cut Like A Knife during the ordeal, if it were me, I think I'd have a special re-recording of one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's greatest hits: Have You Ever Seen The Brain?
To unseat iTunes as lord of digital music, challengers are falling over themselves to strip copy protections off music.
Apple's iTunes still wraps most of its music in digital rights management software, and the latest to try to exploit this perceived vulnerability is RealNetwork's Rhapsody. The music service, which has up to now focused on renting music through subscriptions, is expected to announce Monday that it will start selling DRM-free songs.
This means that Rhapsody's music will play on iPods and many other digital players. In addition, Rhapsody has teamed with Verizon Wireless and will offer customers with specific V Cast phones the ability to download unprotected music.
By selling downloads, Rhapsody opens its service up to two important groups: those who don't like subscription services, and owners of devices that were once incompatible with Rhapsody.
But increasingly, one can't help but catch a whiff of staleness surrounding open-MP3 offers. Besides Amazon.com, others offering at least some DRM-free music are Wal-Mart and Napster. MySpace also has plans to offer MP3s.
Amazon began offering open MP3s last September and there hasn't been much movement of the needle. Amazon's digital music store is growing but not at the expense of Apple, NPD Group said in April.
The issue of DRM only counts when iPod owners can't play iTunes music on other devices they care about. Which ones are those, you ask?
That's the point. There aren't any.
I'd be really steamed at Apple CEO Steve Jobs if my iTunes music were incompatible with some must-have cell phone, home-entertainment system, or car stereo. If there were something that his DRM-scheme locked me out of, then I might look for an iTunes alternative.
I don't have this problem because there isn't anything that compelling out there. The big digital home-entertainment system that will enable me to throw video, music, and photos around my house, still hasn't arrived.
When I'm at home and don't want to listen with headphones on, I plug my iPhone into speakers. As for cell phones, U.S. consumers just don't listen to music on them. The sticking points, such as memory, battery power, and poor user interface, haven't been worked out.
Remember, Apple didn't become an all-powerful music company just because of iTunes. Jobs was successful because of the total package: the player as well as a great music store. He made it easier to find, buy, and listen to music. And now, many of us are accustomed and comfortable with iTunes.
To pull us away, somebody has to offer a great new device and service that can do all these things and more. Or else why jump?
All this is no easy task, of course. (See Zune).
Apple is working on an application aimed at letting people remotely control iTunes in the home via their iPod Touch or iPhone, according to a report on MacRumors.com.
The application is described in information included with the iTunes 7.7 pre-release version that was made available to developers on Thursday.
According to the MacRumors report, the application will "presumably" allow people to play back their iTunes audio with the help of Wi-Fi.
The report offers these details from the developers pre-release version, based on the "Read Me" area of the iTunes installer:
Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home--a free download from the App Store.
Such an application would add momentum to Apple's unveiling of its iPhone software development kit in March.
Instinctiv de-randomizes the random shuffle function on iPhones, but only if you "jailbreak" them first.
(Credit: Instinctiv)A couple weeks ago, I pondered if early adopters of the iPod and other MP3 players were starting to lose patience with the random shuffle function. Too much black and white, not enough gray.
Almost on cue, start-up Instinctiv came out on Thursday with its first application, an iPhone and iPod Touch application called Instinctiv Shuffle that will derandomize the random iTunes-shuffling feature.
Instinctiv Shuffle uses an algorithm similar to that developed by Pandora and other taste-tracking sites to select the perfect song to play next--like having a professional DJ sift through your collection.
There's a catch: Instinctiv Shuffle works only on so-called "jail-broken" iPhones, which means that you have to download the right firmware (version 1.1.4), then download and run another piece of software called iLiberty (or take matters into your own hands, if you have the technical sophistication to do so).
Doing this has risks: Apple's been known to release software updates that disable third-party applications and prevent unlocked iPhones from using alternate cellular networks. Instinctiv apparently didn't want to be bound to certain limitations in the iPhone SDK.
JVC NX-PN7: His-and-hers iPod speaker
(Credit: JVC)Back in January, JVC unveiled the NX-PN7, an iPod speaker system with not one but two iPod docks. The company sent out a press release today to announce that the NX-PN7 is officially available. Otherwise, it looks like nothing's changed since the unit's coming-out party six months ago. Despite doubling down on the music players, the unit is just 13 inches wide. In addition to being able to toggle between "iPod A" and "iPod B," the NX-PN7 features a clock, an auxiliary line-in, and a horizontal light beneath each iPod dock that can be set to any one of nine colors. It has a sleep timer, but apparently no alarm. The list price is $150, but it looks like Amazon is already selling it for closer to $130.
If you think the JVC NX-PN7's dual iPod capacity is overkill, remember that Griffin offers PowerDock chargers that can juice up iPods and iPhones two or even four at a time. So, what do you think: are these multi-iPod accessories a good idea, or just more proof that some people have far too many iPods in their home?
On Sale Now: $187.49
View the latest prices for JVC NX-PN7 iPod/iPhone audio system
Last week, my wife's Dell Inspiron decided to stop printing to our wireless HP all-in-one. It was apparently a problem with the spooler, whatever that is. At that point, I had two choices: leave it alone and hope for a miracle, or fix it and perform some upgrades I'd been putting off.
Let me back up and explain something. I hate working on my wife's computer. Whatever I do inevitably screws something up, it takes way longer than I would like, and well, let's just say, my wife is impatient when it comes to technology.
It's OK for a doctor or dentist to poke and prod her, but when I poke or prod her computer, she acts as if I do it for the pure sadistic enjoyment of screwing up her peaceful existence. ... Read more
Good things happen to software publishers that listen to their users.
Fring, an aggressively growing company that builds a chat and cheap calling application for Symbian, iPhone, and Windows Mobile platforms, heeded a swell of feedback from iPod Touch users who had been using the pre-release iPhone version for jailbroken iPhones on the voiceless iPod Touch (review). On Friday, Fring announced a new pre-release version for the iPhone that also fixes a bug found when using the application on the iPod Touch.
Both sides were pleased that the initial experiment had worked, Fring reports, but not quite satisfied with the results.
(Credit:
Fring)
It turns out that when applied to the iPod Touch, whose specifications were never considered when designing the iPhone version, Fring IM was a little rocky. Users who had tried it out couldn't see the text they'd punched in until after the message was already sent. The update, available through the application called Installer, should rectify the surprise oversight.
In a video tutorial on the Fring blog, iPod Touch users are reminded that the iPhone cousin is a silent device. Since there is no built-in microphone, Fring's international VoIP service is suspended on iPod Touches, leaving Fring for iPod Touch as a cross-platform IM service. There has been forum chatter about forging a workaround with the Touchmods microphone application, but forum contributors have attempted it with no luck.
As one contributor, blueridgebruce puts it, if Fring were to succeed to give the iPod Touch a voice, "iPhone users will love you...BUT...Touch users will worship you!"
The MP3 player market is one where logic is thrown out the window and as long as the player is manufactured by Apple, it'll perform quite well. Although there have been a number of solid alternatives, none have gained ground. And by the look of things, the Zune is up next on the chopping block.
According to GameStop, it will stop selling the Zune in its stores due to insufficient demand from customers. And although it may not matter to, oh, 99 percent of you, the fact that GameStop is ditching the Zune tells you that Microsoft's media player is on its way out.
"We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a GameStop spokesperson. "It (also) did not fit with our product mix."
GameStop's decision to remove the Zune from its store shelves reflects an increasingly prominent notion among retailers that suggests that only the iPod is a viable product regardless of the fact that Microsoft has sold more than 2 million Zunes and its other competitors have fought valiantly.
So what's the deal? Is it really true that iPods are the only MP3 players that matter? You better believe it.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
I'd bet the average person under 30 hasn't purchased a serious home stereo system in the last five years.
And it's not because they don't like music. Quite the opposite, actually. The popularity of online streaming music sites, rise of music blogs, and skyrocketing digital music sales from places like iTunes, Wal-Mart.com, and Amazon.com show that young people are voracious music consumers.
But are they true audiophiles? No, at least not in the way people who came of age trying to find the perfect sound on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon were. They'd buy high-fidelity speakers and systems that play back music in a quality as close to the original performance as possible.
And why not? If you think about it, the equipment that has traditionally defined the audiophile is antithetical to the way we experience music today. Speakers are clunky and immobile, and expensive shelf systems don't play easily swappable digital files. Instead, stereo shopping nowadays often means picking up an iPod and a speaker dock. The combination is cheaper, mobile, convenient, and, for better or worse, cool.
The effect is that it's slowly killing an industry.
Home audio sales have been in decline for the past half decade, and have drooped even lower in recent years. Home CD player sales totaled $36.2 million last year, but that's 35 percent below 2005 sales figures. Home speaker sales are down 2 percent, but home shelf systems sales are down 40 percent in the same time period, according to data gathered by the NPD Group.
"Before, people would listen to music through their stereo system, or 10, 15 years ago over their home theater system; that doesn't happen anymore," said Steve Guttenberg, who writes The Audiophiliac for the CNET Blog Network. "People have sort of moved away from that sort of mindset. It doesn't happen except for audiophiles."
While it's unclear if it was the cause or simply a response to a new generation's needs, the runaway success of the iPod played an important role in this change. The iPod either tapped into our desire to listen to music on the go--and bring the entirety of our music library with us--or told us that's what we should want.
In the face of slowing sales and brand awareness, the industry has responded by consolidating many of the original home audio brands and manufacturers.
Electronics companies like JVC and Kenwood, known for their audio equipment, said last week they had officially set up shop together after what seemed like a yearlong dance. They will fold the brands into one company, JVC Kenwood Holdings, in hopes of reducing costs and scaling their distribution in the already crowded Japanese consumer electronics market.
But those two are not alone in their plight. Last month it was revealed that D&M Holdings, known for audio brands like Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Snell Acoustics, and Boston Acoustics is up for sale, and that Harman International, which already operates dozens of brands, is interested, along with JVC Kenwood, in snapping it up.
Little brand awareness
The problem is that the awareness of audio equipment beyond the iPod and its ilk is disappearing, according to Guttenberg.
"If I stopped people on the street and asked them to name (an audio) company other than Bose, 80 or 90 percent wouldn't have a clue," he said.
Companies like McIntosh, the original high-end audio company, catered specifically to audiophiles. Begun in 1949 in Binghamton, N.Y., it still builds its speakers by hand, just as it always has. If any of its products were ever in need of repair, the company would take it back and fix it, not just replace it. The products were made to last for decades, not just the length of a one-year warranty.
The brand is now on the block, its personalized service, handcrafted products, and attention to detail no longer as relevant to the majority of music consumers.
Music today is a commodity--ripped for free track by track, or bought for 99 cents and eventually added to a vast digital library, either destined to become a favorite, or more likely forgotten for good after a couple of listens. Today's music players are regarded the same way--mostly as disposable. Either the player will work for two or three years before sputtering and dying, or a newer, faster, smaller, better player that has far more cachet will be released in six months."I often wonder about the 30-year-old iPod," Guttenberg mused. "Will someone still use an iPod in 30 years," like audiophiles do high-end speakers?
The answer is, of course, not a chance.
