I am really pleased that the proliferation of legal downloadable content is on the increase in the UK.

Our American cousins have it way better than we do with new movies and TV shows.

However in Europe the way content is licensed we are essentially locked out. So our digital revolution hasn’t really started (yet).

Its like the dawn of the TV all over again with only 3 channels to chose from.

Some decent content is slowly appearing but look how they hamstring us further.

Apple’s iTunes Music Store

£41.58 for the entire 22 episodes (£1.89 per Episode)

Play.com Internet Retailer for the DVD Version

£17.99 for the entire 22 episodes on DVD (£0.82 per Episode)

What you also need to bare in mind is the quality of the iTunes version will be far below that of the DVD version.

Typically their content is H.264 with a resolution of 640×360 with a bitrate of 1540kbps.

That’s fine for a video clip on a computer window or iPod but looks terrible on a TV.

Additionally you lose out on special features with the iTunes digital version things like: Dolby Digital, making of’s and commentary tracks.

So in summary the digital version in the UK is 56% more expensive than the DVD based equivalent. To make things worse its of inferior quality. How dumb do they think we are?

The problem is with the episode price point of £1.89 in the US store the price is $1.99 so about a £1

This show is in the US sells for $37.99 or £19.20

In the UK for this to viable from a consumer point of view the cost per episode needs to be £0.99 or less. Then having the convenience of a digital download might make sense. As it is today this pricing is just a rip off.

When you download an application you should be given the full disclosure about what is being installed on your equipment and given some options/choices.

If you download the latest version of iTunes for Windows what you are really installing is:-

iTunes
Quicktime
Apple Mobile Device Support
Apple Software Update
Bonjour

If you decide to uninstall you are faced with 5 separate uninstall’s from the control panel add/remove programs.

Nice touch for a user who changes their mind. A unified uninstaller would be welcome.

To cap this off the Apple Software Updater then suggests the additional download of the Apple Web Browser Safari 3.1.

The motive behind the web browser install is ad revenue. Apple have an inroad to 100m windows PC’s. How very opportunistic of them!

Where do Apple draw the line on this issue?

You may think why does this matter?  I look after hundreds of PC’s and I care what gets installed right under my nose.

Take Bonjour for example. This is Apples networking protocol that makes connecting devices easier (PC’s and Mac’s)  It operates on UDP Port 5353. Now as a network admin what if someone were to design an exploit that does something bad with Bonjour for Windows.

Do I now have to wait on Apple to fix it or run around frantically getting it uninstalled. I hope I don’t have to find out.

Dealing with Microsoft security is bad enough. Do I really need to worry about drive by installs from Apple, a company that really should know better.

For those who like a conspiracy theory why is Bonjour in this software bundle in the first place?  Why now?  I suspect we will find out in 10 months time at the Macworld 2009 keynote. But it doesn’t take a genius to see it has to do with networking PC’s and Macs.

The BBCi Player. Using the devices built in WiFi you can browse to a web page designed to work on the iPhones small screen (pictured above).

Then you can browse through the last seven days worth of viewing and choose the show you are interested in.

On Windows the BBC iPlayer can download or stream, on the iPhone you can only stream.

Now if you have ever experienced streaming video on a handheld the quality is usually quite poor.

But this streaming model has been designed for WiFi only so they can deliver much better quality video as the target connection would typically at broadband speeds.

I had a chance to play with this the other day on someone else’s iPhone.

First the user experience, you click, you play its that simple.

The quality of the Video has the WOW factor.

For those interested the streams are 516Kbps streams (400Kbps H.264 video, 116Kbps AAC audio).

My advice is till avoid the iPhone 1.0 its still a 1.0 product, better will come. But its great to see Apple allowing innovation like this on the platform. Especially as some of the content is in direct competition with paid for content on iTunes.

Link: BBC Article About iPhone and the BBCiPlayer

Euan our six year old was being really nice to me.

I couldn’t figure out why until he sheepishly brought me my iPod that he sometimes like to play with.

He managed to accidentally set the screen lock combination and lock both him and me out of the iPod.

Have no fear: I have worked in I.T. for 20 years, perhaps rebooting it will solve the problem. Alas Not.

Thankfully all you have to do is re dock it with your computer. I had to look it up.

Pesky Kids.

Link: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302255

They did a major refresh on the iPod line yesterday.

The new range has something for everyone.

The web is full of commentary on this so I only have two points to make.

My first is an observation on the cultural impact of technology.

I am 37 this year I got my first CD player in 1987 or something like. I remember being a 17 year old going into town to visit record shops to buy music.

Apple yesterday launched the iPod Touch a Music and Video player that has built in Wifi so you can sit at home or in a Starbucks buying and downloading music directly to the device in the palm of your hand.

Part of me thinks this is wonderful, as I love when technology meets my expectations. Then my mind wanders, I am a parent now, my kids will have access to this type of technology.

Inevitably Apple have just put a cash register in the hands of any iPod Touch user. I can imagine a time 5 years from now my kids pestering me to let them buy, buy, buy.

My next observation:-

Dear Apple

You should be commended for dropping the price of the 8gb iPhone from $599 to $399. What a bold move.

Now kindly refund $200 to everyone who paid the $599 in the last 2 months and 6 days since you launched the iPhone at the $599 price point.

That is no way to treat early adopters and clearly apple supporters.

Tip: If you have purchased an iPhone within the last 14 days you can get a refund within the initial 14 day period. Then repurchase at the $399 price point.

____

Update 07/09/2007: They are offering early adopters a $100 voucher.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6982717.stm