OPEN
Hello, I�m B.C. in for Molly Wood, with the Buzz Report.
This week: Why Amazon�s holding its sides, stupidity from the skies,
and giddily happy with AT&T Wireless � clearly Molly�s out this week.
But first, the Gadget of the Week.
They say there�s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has
come. Or as weak as an idea whose time will never come. Like
movies on SD cards.
Disney and Panasonic announced they�ll be doing just that in Japan �
selling Disney studio films on microSD cards, the format you never
wished for.
And to get one of these movies on a card you�ll have to buy it bundled
with a DVD version of the same title, equipping you with both a
waning and a pointless format of the same film. Great for that next
Luddite�s conference you attend.
Luckily, Disney and Panasonic only have plans to inflict this on the
Japanese market.
Now the news.
Some tech companies still provide free soda in the workplace, Apple:
Free LSD.
During the company�s earnings call this week, COO Tim Cook said of
their AT&T exclusive partnership from hell:
�I think it�s an excellent relationship and we�re very happy with it.�
Really, Tim? Very happy with it? Well, since you are clearly a
Verizon or Sprint customer, I suggest you borrow Steve�s iPhone for
a day. Then come along for the commute of one of many iphone
users. Enjoy their drop zones. Figure out why they have a 3G icon
and 5 bars but NO PAGES LOADING.
But pre-heat an explanation for when Steve asks why it looks like
someone ground their heel into this iPhone when you bring it back.
Oh, and good and somewhat related news for Amazon: Plastic
Logic, the company making an soon to be released supposed Kindle
Killer that will boast greater connectivity than a Kindle, to really
embrace online information � just announced they�ll power their
devices via the 3G network of � AT&T.
Somewhere, Amazon COO Jeff Bezos is opening up a really
expensive bottle of champagne, pumping his fist and finally writing
the last chapter of his autobiography �How I Won the eBook War
Without Even Really Trying.�
I�ve been covering cars for a long time. And the most enduring goofy
idea is cars that fly, because God knows turning us into a nation of
half-assed drivers in the sky is an elegant and measured reaction to
the problem of traffic congestion.
So I got all red and chafed this week when the Parajet SkyCar was in
the news. It combines all the horrors of the general populace taking
to the sky with a good dose of DIY dorkiness.
I mean, look at this thing. Crocodile Dundee would roll his eyes.
I like this picture. There�s a sleek catamaran ferry creasing the sea
while a SkyCar buzzes above looking like a piece of space junk that
got caught up in some parachutist�s rigging.
Then there�s this one. �Hell no, my (bleep)�s not short. I just like dirt.
And noise. And stupidity.�
And I love the copy on this one: �Once you have tasted flight, you will
forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward -- Yeah,
nervous as hell that some other dork with a SkyCar is going to land
on your head!!!
And the SkyCar is biofuelled, so add greenwashing to its list of
intellectual insults.
They�ll start inflicting these things on the public late in 2010 for a price
of around 82 grand.
Now you know I don�t really get space, but widespread adoption of
these things would be just about enough to get me excited about a
move to Mars.
That�s the Buzz Report, I�m B.C. Don�t worry Molly�s back next week.
