The Digital Home

AMD's decision to split up is a precursor to a possible acquisition. But will AMD admit it?

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Steve Wozniak said it best in his exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph earlier this week: "The iPod has sort of lived a long life at No. 1," he said. "Things like, that if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after awhile.

"It's kind of like everyone has got one or two or three. You get to a point when they are on display everywhere, they get real cheap, and they are not selling as much."

Finally, someone on the "inside" at Apple has made some sense about the iPod and its future. Although it may be difficult for Apple zealots and even CEO Steve Jobs to understand, the iPod is not going to be one of the most important devices forever, and if we consider the impact the Walkman had on the industry, the iPod should be moving to the execution chamber in the next 5 to 10 years.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Apple Store itself. How many times must Jobs find his way to the stage only to show off an iPod with barely upgraded specs and a so-called fresh design that we've seen already? Granted, the iPod Touch is unique in its own right, but the iPod Nano and Shuffle have been the joke of the iPod world for years now. The design changes look more like Apple felt it needed to do something to get people to keep buying them, so they went from long and thin to short and fat and back to long and thin again. And don't even get me started on the iPod Classic.

But it's tough to make the argument that iPods will die when sales are up. According to the company's latest quarterly filing, iPod revenue is up 7 percent since last year and unit sales have jumped 12 percent.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from wanting the iPod to die off as soon as possible.

I ask if iPhone sales really matter in the latest Digital Home Video. Check it out!

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Reports have surfaced claiming Sega is getting back into the hardware business with a new device called the Vision PMP, slated for a U.K. release in 2009.

The Vision PMP will reportedly be able to play MP4, Java-based games, and double as a camera and eBook reader. There's no word yet if Sega wants to throw the kitchen sink into this thing too, but based on all that, it probably will.

Is it just me or does this device have failure written all over it? You mean to tell me that Sega actually believes this product will be a success? Sure, it might be a success if we compare it to the 32X or something, but when compared to all the other devices in the market, I simply don't see why Sega would even consider playing this game with that device.

Worse, Sega went out of its way to tell the world that its latest device isn't a handheld gaming platform. Instead, its latest hardware can do it all.

What a joke.

Listen, Sega: I realize that this latest ploy to get into the PMP business is a reaction to the fact that you can't sell video games nearly as well as you did in the past, but getting into a different market is the wrong idea. It's time you put all your money down on a console and do it right this time.

It's your only hope.

Today, I go hands-on with Warioland Shake It. Check it out!

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CNN's iReport featured a story on Friday saying that a "reliable source" told them that Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. Since then, Apple has denied the report, saying nothing of the sort happened. After confirming Apple's statement, CNN took the article down.

So it looks like Jobs is doing just fine. But then again, what if he wasn't? I'm willing to accept that he never had the heart attack (why would Apple lie?), but doesn't it beg the question of whether or not Apple should appoint an heir apparent?

I know, I know: some people believe Jobs' health is a private matter and should stay that way, but the stock price plummeted on an unsubstantiated report that Jobs had a heart attack. Can you imagine how far it would fall if it was true?

See, what too many seem to forget is that Jobs is the key to Apple's success and the figurehead that shareholders look to for safe-keeping of their money. Thousands of people are willing to put their retirements in the proper judgment of Jobs, and I think it's time Apple wakes up and realizes that simple fact.

Apple and the labels got their way: artist royalties will stay the same. Why don't the artists start complaining to the labels?

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Psystar, the hackintosh developer that's selling Mac OS X on its own machines, is finally getting some backlash from Apple over its claim that Steve Jobs and company is a monopoly. Apple claims that it's not, that it has numerous competitors, and that Psystar's complaint should be dismissed with prejudice.

I can't help but agree that, yes, Psystar's complaint of an Apple monopoly is total and utter garbage, but I think the company should be supported in its fight against Apple. I know that may not be the popular opinion in Cupertino, but the way I see it, supporting Psystar could lead to significant changes at Apple that will benefit all of us.

When I say that I support Psystar, I should note that I don't really care if it succeeds or not. See, I look at Psystar as a necessary evil; a company that matters little and will probably never have any real impact on any of us directly. More than anything, I look at Psystar as a company that can help Apple fill a void that's growing more significant in the marketplace each day: the need for a more ubiquitous robust operating system.

If nothing else, Psystar has shown that Apple's control over the market isn't necessarily best for consumers. Sure, it serves Apple's purposes well as the company continues its climb in the hardware market, but it locks us down into machines that we may not want.

And if Psystar is successful in its case against Apple and is able to continue selling Mac OS X on its own brand of machines, I think you'll see a significant shift in Apple strategy that will have a lasting impact on all of us. Of course, the one casualty in all this is Psystar itself.

Besides the fact that Apple's threat to possibly shut down the iTunes store if regulators approve a royalty hike for artists is utterly ridiculous, the news that artists are actually getting excited about making $0.15 per track instead of the $0.09 they're making now is laughable.

Of course, the musicians were quick to point out that Apple's (and the record labels' by the way, which they fail to cite) idea to change the fee structure from a set payment to a percentage isn't fair either. Apple and other retailers want to set the royalty rate to six percent or $0.048 per track, while the record labels are looking to put the rate at eight percent or $0.056 per $0.99 iTunes track.

Granted, Apple's idea is more than a little ludicrous considering the artists are already making almost twice that on each track and it's fine paying up to the record labels, but why haven't the musicians finally seen the light and spoken out against the labels too? They're trying to undercut the price as well and yet, the musicians have nothing to say to them?

What a joke.

Why do the record labels get a pass when Apple and the rest of the music services are being lambasted by musicians when the record labels are treating them just as poorly? I know, I know: it's all about who pays your bills. Fine. I can accept that. But don't you think that maybe (just maybe) some of these musicians would wise up and realize that their beloved employers are treating them like garbage and the vast majority aren't making nearly as much as they should on each sale on iTunes?