To print: Click here or Select File and then Print from your browser's menu

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://comment.silicon.com/weeklyroundup/0,39024756,39123910,00.htm

The Weekly Round-Up: 10.09.04
Fore!

By The Round-Up

Published: Friday 10 September 2004

"I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games."

So spoke the late, great golfing legend Ben Hogan of the greatest/silliest game ever invented (delete as applicable to your own beliefs).

The Round-Up likes to imagine that many mega-bucks deals are made on the golf course. However, being neither a golfer nor a hard-nosed businessman it seemed proof of that particular pudding would remain elusive were it not for an intriguing story this week.

Japanese daily Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun has revealed that online music giant and erstwhile computer maker Apple offered to sign a strategic agreement with Sony over online music earlier this year.

For Apple, the deal would have boosted the profile of iTunes and given it another valuable foothold in the non-Mac market, while the Japanese company would have got a backstage pass to the biggest most happening party in technology.

What's more it would have tossed a multi-coloured spanner into the works of Microsoft's recent arrival on the digital music scene.

The paper alleges that during a 'friendly game' of golf organised by the Japanese firm in Hawaii, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told Sony counterpart Nobuyuki Idei he was prepared to open up the iTunes music store so the downloads would be compatible with Sony's digital music players. It seemed an offer Idei couldn't refuse.

But Idei did refuse. Maybe the deal didn’t appeal to him. Or maybe he was just jealous that Jobs' golf buggy had more gadgets and a sleeker brushed-metal finish than his. Whatever.

Apple has so far refused to open its wildly successful iTunes store - over 125,000,000 downloads and counting - to customers not using iPods. Considering Apple has sold several trillion iPods (give or take) off the back of the store it seems to be a strategy that's working.

This closed-door policy has clearly annoyed other technology companies. Take Real Networks for starters. It got so upset at being snubbed it took it upon itself to hack Apple's DRM technology.

Then of course, there's Microsoft.

No sooner had the balloon-festooned door at 1 Infinite Loop opened to reveal Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer standing there politely announcing they too had joined the online music party than it was slammed in their face by the sneering, bigger boys.

Which must be a novel experience for the dynamic duo from Seattle.

After picking himself up from the dust, the Microsoft chairman straightened his glasses, brushed down his best party shirt and explained that actually its recently launched MSN Music download service offered a far better service than iTunes because it offered digital video downloads as well as a music-for-rent model.

Ignoring the roaring laughter coming from behind the door and handing the inconsolable Ballmer a banana, Gates rejected the notion promoted by Jobs that portable video doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

He said: "Ask kids in the back of a car on a two-hour trip, 'Hey, would you like to have your videos there?' My kids would."

Hell yes. "I guess Steve's kids just listen to Bach and Mozart. But mine, they want to watch Finding Nemo," he added before making an ill-advised segue into stand-up comedy.

"I don't know who made that, but it's really a neat movie," he said, no doubt with a wink and a cheeky grin and a nudge to the ribs of the still blubbering Ballmer.

(For anybody who didn't 'get' Gates' joke, don't worry, it wasn't that funny, but his chortle-free aside referenced the fact Finding Nemo was made by Steve Jobs' sideline/hobby/other company Pixar. Also, is it just the Round-Up or does anyone else have difficulty in imagining the Gates family driving long-distance on vacation in their station wagon? - "Shut up in the back, will'ya? I'm tryin' to drive...")

Gates insisted there's room in the market for both Apple and Microsoft and bemoaned the fact that songs bought at MSN Music don't play on the ubiquitous iPod. Something Apple took great pains to point out.

Gates said: "We're sorry that this isn't easier - unfortunately Apple refuses to allow other companies to integrate with the iPod's proprietary music format."

"If you are an iPod owner already and unhappy about this policy, you are welcome to send feedback to Apple requesting that they change their interoperability policy," added the ever-helpful software baron.

Microsoft complaining bitterly about unfair competition practices? Apple dominating market share? What’s going on here? Too...much... irony...

Either way at the end of the day, with iTunes going stratospheric Sony boss Idei may yet regret not jumping on board the sleek and shiny iTunes golf buggy.

Sony's decision not to join the party may turn out to be a big mistake. Maybe one of the biggest since Apple laughed off Bill Gates' 1985 memo suggesting the company license its operating system and watch the Macintosh take over the world.

Ho hum. Funny how things have a habit of coming round full circle in this industry...

Meanwhile, a crazy technology double act whose wacky antics usually ended up leaving a swathe of destruction behind them have won a top accolade among British boffins this week.

The pair of muppets in question - no, we've moved on from Gates and Ballmer - are Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his trusty assistant Beaker, who easily beat pointy-eared Starship Enterprise denizen Mr Spock and polymorphic time lord Dr Who in a survey to find the UK's top TV boffin.

Muppet fans will recall that Dr Honeydew's experiments invariably went disastrously wrong, with Beaker usually being blown up, electrocuted or forced to patch an unstable operating system. Eh? No, no.

Real boffin Professor Keith Goulding who was attending the British Association's Festival of Science where the result was announced, told the BBC: "I think the fact that they are acceptable, humorous - although they blow each other up a bit - but fundamentally human, says something about science."

Fine words considering the theme of this year's festival is the responsibility of being a scientist.

As part of the CNET UK Awards this month we are looking for the individual who has made the greatest contribution to UK technology.

You, our readers, and the audience of our UK sister site ZDNet UK, also published by CNET, have come up with a shortlist of 10 people. There are some familiar names on the list, while others might surprise you (...and did us!).

Please take a moment to vote here.

Meanwhile, a clutch of stories on silicon.com this week provided further insights into Wired Britain and its technological quibbles.

Brits are being drawn in ever greater numbers to technology with the latest research claims that 75 per cent have now used a computer, with 60 per cent owning their own PC.

The survey by the British Computer Society also found that while 82 per cent thought computers had been beneficial to society, 72 per cent said they were concerned about the amount of "immoral material" on the web.

Which is a shame really as according to the survey that was technology's biggest pull - the internet that is, not "immoral material".

What’s more, the spread of broadband across this green and pleasant land continues unabated and what's more it's smashing the male hegemony of internet users.

Most startling perhaps is the discovery that we're finally using work email for work. (No really, look here).

A MessageLabs survey found that after years of forwarding tired jokes, chain letters and smut, UK employees are starting to get the message that email also has a shadowy dual existence as a business tool.

Apparently, the volume of non-business emails whooshing through corporate servers is down almost 70 per cent on the same six-month period last year and it can't just be attributable to the recent mass-sacking of click-happy civil-service porn lovers.

Perhaps the decline is down to stories of woe that have befallen other business technology abusers, which have affected everyone from the high and mighty to the intellectually flighty.

Alternatively, it could be down to the fact that the novelty of the new toy is wearing off and it's back to work as usual. Either way, it can only mean good things for office productivity and significantly less to write about for technology columnists.

Meanwhile, the hip, new Scottish Parliament has decided it would be a rather neat idea to provide live web casts of all Parliamentary business from its brand spanking new building in Edinburgh.

The administration plans to offer live web-casting of all Parliamentary business, as well as archiving, and interactive forums.

The new Holyrood building was finally completed this week, 10 times over budget and several years late. The admittedly striking piece of architecture comes complete with contemplation 'pods' for all MSPs (Members of Scottish Parliament to you and me).

Maybe some peace and quiet in the pods will give MSPs the time to consider who it was that should have registered all the domain names for the Parliament after it emerged that the URL thescottishparliament.com had nothing to do with devolved politics and everything to do with flexible Finnish ladies without any clothes on.

All this technological upheaval is clearly having a profound effect on the character of Britain.

Former Prime Minister and unlikely grey-hued Lothario John Major once waxed lyrical over Britain's long shadows on county grounds, old maids peddling to communion on bikes and warm beer.

A few years later the maids have hung up their bikes and are attending virtual churches while the pubs serving those warm ales are transforming into Wi-Fi hot spots.

Britain's oldest brewery Shepherd Neame, is offering Wi-Fi access in 15 of its pubs across Kent following a successful pilot of the technology.

While beer and technology sounds like a match made in heaven, the Round-Up confesses to being a little unsure about this particular development, being quite attached to its shiny laptop. After all, resting an ageing mobile phone on a table in a public place is worrying enough let alone a £2,000 computer.

With wireless technology becoming available in an increasingly varied range of public areas the question is: "Would you really feel safe taking your prized laptop down the boozer?" Or into McDonalds? Or on public transport?

Check out our take here and let us know what you think by voting in our latest poll here.

Either way, the steady and incontrovertible injection of technology into John Major's dreamy vision Britain is certainly transforming the character of the country of "warm beer" and "dog lovers".

"Keys? Check. Darts? Check. Wallett? Check. Tablet PC? Check. See you later love, I'm off down the Dog and Duck. Come on Patch..."

Until next week, here's some news:

Microsoft doubles XP SP2 delay as users clamour for more time

Microsoft: Linux is a threat, it may mean prices cuts and less business for us

'Mini-brick' and 'candy bar hybrid' aim to take mobile email by storm

What is the future of email?

Teen admits eBay domain name hijack

Security: Can you really trust JUST techies?