Year: 2006

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Since Apple released the new iTunes, movie downloads, games, and television show resolution changes, I’ve been testing them all out on my Windows PC.

Originally I had my main iTunes installation and music on my Mac; it has now been converted to purely photography and development, which means I needed to move the installation. However, my iPod had been formatted to Mac, which was unusable on the PC. Luckily, the new iTunes interface provides a Restore option that restores the iPod to factory settings–including the FAT32 operating system. After reformatting, I then uploaded all my music back to the iPod in preparation to move to the PC using the new transform process.

Unfortunately, transforming only works with Apple purchased media. Luckily, I have the Apple folders backed up on my portable storage device and it was simple to add the music using iTunes Add Folder import option.

Once moved, I downloaded a couple of TV shows (Eureka) and a move: Under the Tuscan Sun. I also downloaded two games: Bejeweled and Majong.

The games are amazingly well done, considering that the only user interface you have with an iPod is the touch wheel. I wondered how the designers could get the Mahjong tiles to show up on such a small screen, but the entire game is beautifully crafted, and the tile designs sharply distinctive.

(Rich colors, clever use of feedback, lovely background.)

For the TV shows and the movie I used the iTunes player and projected the shows on my new 27 inch HD widescreen TV. The extra resolution of the downloads is noticeable. They’re not as sharply detailed as a DVD would be through my upconverter DVD player through HDMI connector to the TV, but much more rewarding than watching the shows on my old television. Especially the color: I don’t know how these were digitalized, but I’ve never seen richer colors. Even the indigo blue color, impossible to pick up on a regular television, came through with flying colors. The same for the movie, though it seemed crisper and better viewing than the TV shows.

Unless you sit a few feet from the TV screen, the viewing experience is very satisfying. The iTunes player also provides chapter selection, so you can go to a specific scene in the movie just like with a DVD.

I had my iTunes sound turned to the max (one bug was having this set lower) and I controlled the sound through my Logitech speakers. With their associated base unit, I had a surprisingly good media experience from a file that was originally meant to be played on an itty bitty iPod screen.

People have had problems and iTunes 7.0 has been touted as a ‘lemon’. However, I’ve tried iTunes on three machines and have had nothing more than minor glitches. I noticed a few quirks with the download, and having to re-authorize my system to play the games. I could have wished that Apple provided a way to upgrade already pre-downloaded television episodes to the new advanced resolution, as well as provide a way to backup all files from iPod to computer, but, I like the new interface. I like being able to ‘flip’ through albums (and have been inspired to create something based on this, using PHP and Ajax), and the cleaner, simpler interface.

As for the movies and not being able to burn a DVD, I must confess this is not a problem for me. I can watch these movies and TV shows on all my computers and my television. The quality is very good, and though the price isn’t as cheap as I’d like, it is cheaper than Amazon. More importantly, I don’t need plastic, and would prefer that we get to a point where media is not burned on plastic. (Plastic is not eco-friendly.)

When I hear people concerned about not being able to burn a DVD, and not being able to ‘loan’ DVDs to friends and so on, I have to wonder how much of an issue this is. I, personally, would never borrow a friend’s DVD (I’d be too worried about damaging it). As soon as I buy a DVD, I rip it to have on my machine or in secondary strorage, though I’ve not been able to rip any movie to match the quality of Apple’s digitalization. (How did they get that vivid indigo blue?)

Another issue is DRM. If we go Apple, we’re going DRM, but if we go Zune, we’re going a different DRM (same for Guba, for Amazon, and so on). Unlike music, I don’t think that we’ll ever be able to burn DVDs from a download service. Either we continue buying movies-on-plastic, or we go with the internet/digital approach that works for us.

I’ll probably pass on iTV, as I have a decent connection between my computer and my TV–in fact, I have an entire media corner, and feel just like the hip kids (so cool–kiss my toes). I do like the wireless connectivity of iTV, and being able to use an HDMI or composite video interface between computer and TV, so I’m keeping my options open.

If Apple hasn’t given me the ability to burn DVDs to plastic, it did give me something else: freedom from cable. I can now download my favorite television shows from iTunes, watch them whenever I want, and joyfully cancel service from a company who thinks they have me ‘locked’ in, and has been treating me and all their customers with extreme indifference. There’s more than one form of lock-in: right now, I’ll pick Apple’s over Charter’s.

I’m not that interested in the iPod announcements, other than it is good to see price drop and storage increase. I’m happy with my 30GB and still have room, even with the games. I think we should start a pool to see whose iPod Shuffle goes through the spin cycle first. The brushed aluminum for the Nanos is a good idea, but I bet you can still easily scratch the view screen.

Microsoft also just released it’s new player: Zune. Or is that released a press release talking about its new player and service?

Interesting use of colors. I like what one commenter said:

And did market research tell MS that people were CRAVING a brown DAP? “I Love the iPod, but I wish it was colored like a turd!”

Did I read the rumors correctly? Will you be able to run Apple media files on Zune? If so, that’s one less nail in the lock-in door. If not, hopefully over time we’ll not have such proprietary formats. I still wouldn’t buy a Zune: the larger video screen of Zune doesn’t do that much for me. I don’t watch movies on my iPod, and think the new game option is a better time killer.

(Too much time being killed, must behave now.)

I’m intrigued by the subscription service of Zune, and wonder how many studios MS has signed to provide music. I can’t imagine many of the big labels being happy about a subscription service. It’s a good option though and will be curious to see how this works.

Oh, and I’ll pass on the Wifi. Stream a song to your friend (who also has to have a Zune) just so they can listen to it three times before being told to buy it? This is a joke, right?

The concept of customer cloning is representative of who Microsoft sees as its audience: Zune is being targeted so aggressively at the under 30’s (and the über chic) that I feel Microsoft doesn’t really want me as a customer; sort of like me buying one would be, “There goes the neighborhood.” I already experienced customer disdain from Charter, I’ll pass on it from Little Blue.

So far this week:

Amazon – A big 0 Zero, zip, nada, burn the witch

Apple – +1

Microsoft’s Zune – Don’t ask me, I’m not a 23 year old Urban Goth who listens to independent garage bands and hip hop.

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I tried out Amazon’s Unbox, and unlike others didn’t have problems downloading a rental and running it. I was able to connect my TV via VGA (my television has a PC input) and the viewing experience was quite good. Not as good as a DVD, but good enough.

However, the costs was too high and the license too restrictive and too unfriendly. End of experiment.

Unfortunately, though, the uninstall has not gone well. I’m aware of how to pull software by pieces, but would rather dump the problem back on Amazon. I’ve sent them a scathing email, and will see what it brings.

This does demonstrate, though, the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: you test before you release in 1.0.

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

The reason Amazon’s Unbox connects to the internet to uninstall is that everyone’s local objects are mirrored at Amazon. To disable an account, it has to be disabled both at Amazon and on the PC.

The only problem is, the uninstall disables the validation of the PC as the first part of the uninstall process, and if it doesn’t go through clean, you can’t run the app, reinstall the app, or uninstall the application. The computer is permanently ‘tainted’ as not validated.

The only response I had from Amazon is:

I am sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with the Amazon Unbox
service. The uninstall process should proceed without issue.

To uninstall application, follow these steps:

1. Close any open applications that may be running on your computer.
2. Open the Control Panel and double-click the Add or Remove Programs
icon.
3. Locate “Amazon Unbox” in the installed programs list and click the
“Uninstall” button.

If you still can’t uninstall the software, please try these options to
make sure your uninstall goes more smoothly.

First, please confirm that you are logged in with an account with
administrative privileges.

Next, please follow these steps.

1) Press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys on your keyboard at the same time.
2) Choose “Task Manager” from the Windows Security window.
3) In the Windows Task Manager, click on the “Processes” tab.
4) Look for these programs in the list of running processes:
ADVWindowsClientApp.exe, ADVWindowsClientService.exe, and
ADVWindowsClientSystemTray.exe.
5) End Task on these three services.
6) Open the Control Panel and double-click the Add or Remove Programs
icon.
7) Locate “Amazon Unbox” in the installed programs list and click the
“Uninstall” button.

Assuming that ending these processes does not allow you to uninstall
you can try these optional steps and try the uninstall again after
each. After taking the following optional steps please be sure that
the aforementioned processes are still not showing up in the Task Manager.

You may want to confirm that the following directories on your PC are
empty.
– “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Amazon\Amazon
Digital Video\Data”
– “C:\WINDOWS\Temp\Amazon Digital Video”

You can also check if there are multiple copies of the installer in
your Task Manager. If there is an instance running please end the task
on this. The process name should end in “msi.” If there are multiple
instances of this installer and you can not end task on these because
they are locked by the system or if the previous steps do not work,
you may have to consult a local PC technician to assist you further.

Aside from being intimidating to a non-tech, these instructions are inaccurate. By closing down the Amazon client you break the uninstall process; it has to connect to the Amazon site in order to disable the account’s mirrored data store. Even with connection, if the change is committed at the remote site, but not the local site, then the PC never validates to complete the uninstall.

The need to synchronize between two data sources and the problems associated with this not happening, is what led to two-phase commit in database systems: all updates are synchronized and a failure at one point is a failure at all points and the change is rolled back across the board. This has been around as a fundamental understanding of technology since the 1960’s! And Amazon violated it. Absolutely unbelievable.

Amazon, in its rush to paint itself a Web 2.0 company, has put out a Bad Product. Not just a bad product, a Bad Product: one that defines the company and undermines confidence in its technical proficiency. I had originally thought about trying some of its services such as S3. Now, I don’t trust the company’s quality controls and engineering practices enough to incorporate a dependency on it for anything I create.

This is symptomatic of the Myth of Web 2.0–that innovation transcends consistency, and an IT department should be able to handle late changes in requirements, be flexible and agile. To hell with agility: the only -ity I want is reliability. Perhaps Jeff Bezos needs to attend fewer Web 2.0 conferences, and spend more time at home, creating stuff that doesn’t break.

Excuse me while I go manually dig this piece of crap out of my system.