pixelated
Maybe I’m going insane, but cassette’s are becoming more and more appealing.
In the age of streaming music, iPods, Phones and YouTube, my enjoyment of music has slowly decreased. More and more I find myself using music, abusing the sounds of a songs for a cheap high. I’ve forgotten what actually stopping and enjoying music feels like.
See, I missed a lot of the cassette and CD age. A lot. But I did get to experience a bit of it. Making mixtapes, waiting for a song to come on the radio so I could record it or just listening to a whole album that I’d bought with my own money. All of these things made me appreciate the music more. It felt like a connection, not just listening, but feeling something. Now, however, I download music like it grows on trees, constantly searching for something new, never enjoying what I already have. My iTunes library of 4000 songs goes on and on, and Shuffle reveals that I don’t even know half of the music in my own library.
Which is why, and this is going to sound crazy, but it’s why I’m considering going analog. I’ll still download music. No doubt about it. But the thing is, I’ve become used to making playlists and leaving gigabytes of music to waste on my phone. And I’m sick of that. Sometimes freedom is a restriction itself. Which is why I’m considering cutting myself off from the world of MP3’s and Spotify. And returning to the humble cassette tape where I have a set limit for how much music I put on it. Where I have to make choices, not just put everything on in case I need it oneday.
There are a lot of negatives. Sound quality is obviously different. I’ve already realised that I take my collection of 320kbps MP3’s for granted, after listening to the wobbly tone of a cassette, something that I forgot existed. The portability is also another problem. Cassette players are huge and need AA batteries, which now is just ancient. And finally, everything plays in one order. No shuffle, unless you remake it.
But then again, one of my fondest memories is writing down a list of music and spending an hour recording a tape. Convenient, no. But it, again, made me choose wisely.
But the postives are appealing to me. Firstly, I can actually enjoy music. I can get an album and not have the temptation to listen to something else. Things like the slowness of skipping a song, while sounding annoying, could actually let me listen to something I’d usually skip. And this is a huge problem for me. I get albums like they’re growing on trees from Spotify or iTunes, but I never actually listen to every song. I do sometimes. But not as much as I want to.
This is probably, thinking about it more thoroughly, just another nostalgic novelty that I’ll quickly grow tired off. But I think I’m going to give it at least a try. I’ll probably end up just dusting off an old iPod, or just going straight back to my Windows Phone and only sync a playlist of songs. But I think the non-negotiable restrictions may be good for me when it comes to using a tape player. Now, which one should I buy? ^CS
“Privacy! Google just hacked millions of home computers in UK, presumably bank accounts, fotos etc while screening streets for Google maps.”
~
- Rupert Murdoch on Twitter.
Poor Rupert, trying to understand technology and failing to see the irony of the fact that he has taken away more privacy with his media empire than this uncited Google news, which is kinda true, but also making assumptions of what Google were doing. Did I mention this story happened last year?
And we wonder why FOX News and News Corp. are fairly poor sources of reliable news.
His tweets are unfortunately hilarious. Follow him.
podcast
As well as writing here, I also write and podcast with some great writers and friends at TECHGEEK.com.au.
This is the TECHGEEK Weekly podcast.
Episode 91
The Samsung Galaxy S III is finally out in Australia, Zune is killed off and Yahoo launches a browser – yes, another browser. Plus, we go off on tangents, a lot. That’s this week on TECHGEEK Weekly.
Terence Huynh, Stewart Wilson and Chris Southcott recap the news, offer commentary and pretty much discuss other things outside the world of tech. Because it wasn’t an eventful week. Though, next week is E3 – and we’ll be covering it.
Don’t forget to listen and subscribe!
This is what happens when I hear the words “Pixel Custard”
Original image by Shanti, shanti (Flickr/Creative Commons)
Microsoft finally on track to do something smart?
So Engadget and Examiner are reporting that the Xbox 360 will be getting Air-Play-style streaming from iOS, Android and Windows Phone, as well as Windows 8.
“Using the app, users will be able to play video and other media on tablets and phones and, more interestingly, push that content right to their consoles for playback on the big(ger) screen. But, it gets better: this app is said to be available for tablets and phones running Windows, Windows Phone, Android and iOS.”
I swear, despite the hell that is Windows Phone, and kinda Windows 8, this occasional glimmer of hope that they give off sometimes makes me think that they’ll actually do something cool. And this is cool.
Sure, they’re copying some of Apple’s success with AirPlay, but at least they have a massive advantage and a better product here. If it’s multiplatform and works with the Xbox 360, which is obviously hugely successful, then I will happily use my Xbox 360 more. It’s looking like the Xbox 360 will finally feel connected to Windows and mobiles, whereas it’s right now just disconnected.
Looking forward to E3, where this will hopefully come true.
R.I.P Zune. Long live Xbox Music?
I know the Zune product line failed, but this decision from Microsoft makes no sense. Why should I open ‘Xbox Music’ to listen to music? For most, that brings connotations of gaming. And it’s going to be one hell of a confusing task to sell that to people if they don’t own an Xbox. How is somebody meant to know Xbox Music works on their Windows Phone or Windows 8 PC or Tablet? And Xbox is not successful because of a brand-name. Microsoft should really learn that, in the end, marketing, while important, isn’t as important as the actual product. In the end, if you’re flogging a bad product, a smart ad won’t fix the fact that it’s bad.
And also, Zune is a great name. It just is, in my opinion. When I listen to music, I want to listen with Zune on my Windows Phone, not Xbox Music on my Windows Phone. That’s just too confusing for anyone. And the brand name didn’t kill the original Zune’s. Microsoft’s designs and lack of competitive products and pricing did.
But I guess all I can say is, R.I.P Zune.
New Samsung Chromebook & Chromebox review: Chrome OS grows up
I really hope I can get one of these to review somehow, but either way, here’s The Verge’s comprehensive review on the new Chromebooks and Chromebox with the new Aura UI.
Eduardo Saverin Finally Opens Up: 'No Hard Feelings Between Me And Mark Zuckerberg'
In a “world-first” exclusive interview with Brazilian magazine Veja, Eduardo Saverin, the usually private Facebook co-founder, has talked about his relationship with Mark Zuckerberg and answered some questions on The Social Network, getting rid of his US citizenship days before the Facebook IPO and why he has been so private for all these years, which allowed the media to sculpt their own idea of the billionaire.
On Zuckerberg, Saverin says:
“I have only good things to say about Mark, there are no hard feelings between us. His focus on the company since its very first day is anything short of admirable. He was a visionary, he always knew that the only way for Facebook to grow was to maintain its central idea, that of people truly presenting themselves as they are, without nicknames or pseudonyms. That’s Facebook’s biggest strength, what allowed us to transform it into an instrument of protest, like what happened in Egypt, but also in an instrument of business, not to mention a way of naturally connecting with friends.”
I guess if I were worth $2 billion because of Mark Zuckerberg, I would have no hard feelings towards him either, no matter what he did.
And when talking about The Social Network, the critically-successful movie, he says:
“That’s Hollywood fantasy, not a documentary. Facebook wasn’t built out of a Harvard dorm window. And I would never throw a laptop at someone, like it appears in the movie. Not even at Mark.”
An interesting peek in a usually private man’s life. Hit the link above for the full interview.
How Google Can Beat Facebook Without Google Plus
Look, I don’t really agree at all with this, but it’s become popular around the web.
Basically, the writer thinks that Google’s current services, such as Scholar and Reader, already have a dedicated following, so instead of making Google+, Google should instead make these existing products a social network and focus on their existing community.
There are some valid points, but, overall, I disagree.
To beat Facebook, a social network needs to have everything, out of the box, that Facebook has right now, as well as offer something unique. And Circle’s don’t cut it.
The technology blogging circle-jerk has convinced us all that privacy is important, but to the average joe, and to me, I don’t really care. Most of my Google+ posts are public, my Twitter is public and if I want something private, I’ll share it with my 124 Facebook friends. Sure, some of them I don’t know as well as others, but overall I’ve tried to be very strict with who I add, and my privacy settings. I have it all setup, I trust the friends I have and that’s that. I don’t want to have a different privacy setting for each post. That’s overkill. And if having one setting for privacy is too hard, then for regular people, a different setting for each post is too scary too, and for me, I’ve found it even scarier on Google+ to share things I’d usually happily share on Facebook, because I always forget what setting I had for each post.
And again, after that tangent, I must again say that Google+ does nothing new. Nothing. It fails at being Twitter and it fails at being Facebook. And that means a lot coming from me, a hardcore Google fanboy. I even love the Chromebook. Yet Google+ offers me nothing except a geek-hipster badge. And I don’t even care for that.
Google+ needs users and it needs an API, and everything Facebook has, or else it’s dead. It just is. And as I said when it first arrived, Google+ just doesn’t have the users to survive. And why would anyone sign up when Facebook offers everything, and much, much more, compared to Google+, excluding Hangouts which is the only interesting feature, but is still typically used as a novelty for me.
The article above does have merits, but Google’s other “networks” aren’t as powerful as Google wants. And Google+ is the perfect product for them, but sadly, it’s lacking for anyone else.
HTC One X – a beautiful device with a super-fast processor
I’m really tempted to pick up this phone. I’m starting to find iOS boring, even though I know it’s better in many ways than Android is, polish-wise. But I need a phone that can multitask (for more than 10 minutes, iOS) and I found that ICS was truly a massive step up for Google, one that allows them to fully compete in the high-end market like never before.
App quality on Android is still lower, with apps from even Google themselves looking better on iOS, but I still find that that the open-ness of Android makes up for lots of it. And the Holo UI of 4.0 is amazing.
If the next iPhone looks nice, I might get it. But right now, Android is where it’s at. Apple just seems to have hit the wall recently, and I’m guessing they’ll knock through that wall this year with iOS 6 and the next iPhone. But I’m not too sure that they will.
Also, Google Chrome is available on this! (I’m a massive Chrome fanboy) And 32GB of inbuilt storage, which is great compared to other phones. Seriously, what’s with the trend of phones having such a small amount of storage?
Either way, check out the link above for Terence Huynh’s review of the HTC One X on TECHGEEK.com.au.
pixelated
So Spotify has finally launched in Australia, which looks like it’ll be the last piece of the Australian streaming music puzzle for a long time to come. And it’s really great, as Australian’s now have more choice than ever. But for me, I can’t choose any.
See, I already have thousands of songs in my iTunes library, all obtained either through iTunes, through another music store, or the seedy depths of the internet. And this is the only reason why I’m not going to be able to go all-in with Spotify, Rdio, JB Hi-Fi Now, Songl, Zune Pass or any other service. Because they all want to replace local music, and they all give no way to upload music that you have and they don’t.
And in my head I’ve assumed that this was a bigger problem than it is. Spotify tries to solve it on iOS and Android, and they kinda do. But none of those services actually put your music in the cloud. Spotify simply wirelessly syncs it.
In fact, only Apple and Google have thought of uploading your music, and neither have a subscription service. Apple does it with iTunes Match and Google Music does it.
But I’m sick of paying $16.99+ for an album. I want to pay for something like Spotify. But how can I simply throw away songs? How can I say, oh well, Coldplay doesn’t stream on Spotify, so I just won’t listen to them (I don’t listen to Coldplay, but that’s an example. My main problem is with podcast recordings and live music recordings or music by small bands). It’s a major problem for me, as I need these MP3’s in the cloud if I want to replace iTunes, not just have these services dip a toe into my library. And I really do think Spotify is great at this, just because of the local file sync on iOS and Android. But it doesn’t work on my Windows Phone, which is probably a good thing because Windows Phone apps all suck, and it’s not going to let me listen to my library on more than one computer.
Maybe I am overreacting. But this is a major flaw with every one of these services. If I’m paying money to have access to your music anywhere in the world, why can’t I have access to mine? Either match it or upload it.
The Samsung Galaxy S III: "A lot of good, mixed in with a little bit of bad."
While looks don’t mean everything, this phone could easily have been the phone to beat this year if it had looked like a phone from this year.
Overall, though, the S III sounds interesting and Vlad from The Verge liked it.
"stop and smell the flowers and do the basic human things, to take hold of the basic human joys of life."
This post is in response to a feature on The Verge called “Against the future: inside the Jewish anti-internet rally”. You can read and view it by clicking above.
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It’s wrong to want to stop the internet, but a number of points about the negatives associated with the internet, made by an ultra-conservative group of Orthodox Jewish people do make sense, as crazy as that sounds.
We’re so used to instant gratification on the internet (I’m extra guilty), that life can become pointless because of it. Sure that’s hyperbolic, but also still true. Why talk to someone when you can chat online? Why call when you can email? While the internet helps us in so many ways, there are a number of things that it has taken away from us and my generation. It’s given so much, and taken important things too.
Obviously, this group is very backwards, with things such as no women being allowed to come to the rally and the fact that groups have done this for TV, books, movies and radio, obviously on a smaller scale usually, but resistance to new things always happen.
But, as the video in the article shows, why don’t we enjoy life and “stop and smell the flowers” stop and “do the basic human things, to take hold of the basic human joys of life.” as Paul Miller gets to in his year without the internet? While I don’t agree with some of the conservative views expressed, I do find Eytan Kobre’s words fascinating. And I would love to take them on.
When school ends, and if I can ever stop craving 140 character thoughts on Twitter, maybe I might be able to. The irony, though, is that I’m writing this on the internet, posting it on Twitter and Facebook and deep down craving feedback. I’m not proud of this habit, but I haven’t tried to stop it.
Laptop stickers are stupid
As Mike Elgan on Google+ says, laptop stickers are stupid.
“Samsung and other companies actually design and build some really good-looking hardware. But then these garish, ugly, sloppily applied, visually annoying stickers are right there destroying the aesthetic of the hardware, and killing the out-of-box experience. I know, it’s a small thing. But it’s also a symbolic thing. As a consumer[…] it tells me they have no respect for their own product.”
Despite companies obviously existing to make money, I do agree that it shows that they don’t care about the product once it’s been sold. It’s the same as crap-ware. Why put a sticker on a boxed-product? Sure, put it on the display units in-store, but I don’t need to have a ugly, blue sticker telling me I have Windows 7 everyday, or an Intel chip.
As soon as you hand over the money, they don’t care how good or bad you feel about the product. And I really think that, while this is a small thing, it’s still part of the snowball effect that can be fixed by, you know, actually making a product that you’d like to use, not just one that will sell and make money. Because if you love it, then people will probably buy it. If you make it crap for the end-user, but good for you because you already have the money, then you’re making a mistake.
And eventually these companies will hopefully learn that loyalty-driven purchases are more important than one-off purchases influenced by a commercial. And if your product is good, then people will spend more money on things by your company. Otherwise, they’ll have one bad experience and won’t give your company money again.
#tangents
