Blockbuster and Barnes and Noble wont exist in their current form in 5 years

20 years ago it used to be an event, something exciting. Dad would bring us to the Wherehouse to pick out two movies, one for me and one for Matt. (so that we wouldn't fight) The stores were usually pretty crowded as people fought for the latest new releases. Sometimes we would browse the return pile anxiously awaiting if someone had returned a copy of "Rainman" or "Dragnet" We were satisfied whether we got our movie, or if we just rented "Raiders" for the millionth time.

Nowdays like many other families we have Netflix on demand, and Amazon on demand. We can browse the screen and pick out the movies that we want to watch. New releases we can watch instantly with a HD copy sent right to us. And that's me, Im 36 years old though. The younger generation grabs their movies and content right off of bit torrent and Pirate Bay for free. That is why Blockbuster videos are closing down. As an aside there is an interesting other reason called Redbox. I'm sure you have all seen these Kiosks around 7/11's and supermarkets. For only 1 dollar a day you can rent new releases if you don't mind the 30 day "windowing" period. I saw one of these Kiosks at the airport in Austin, for a buck you can grab a movie to watch on your laptop and then return it to any Kiosk in the country. And it's totally self service and convenient. Why would anyone want to go to Blockbuster and pay 5 dollars? or even 3 dollars? So price, convenience and selection are killing the "brick and mortar" Blockbuster stores. Hollywood video is already gone, and Blockbuster stores will soon only exist on the internet competing with Netflix, and for a while Redbox.

Barnes and Noble has not "gone under" but they have been put up for sale. I love books and I love browsing in Barnes and Noble. But they have been seriously hurt by the amazing company that is Amazon. People like Amazon for the ease of shopping on their site, the selection that B&N cannot match, and the entire experience. Also millions of people like myself are now choosing to buy their books directly on mobile e reading devices like the Kindle. B&N has tried to compete with Amazon by launching both their own e reading device the "Nook" and their online store at bn.com In both cases they do not offer nearly as good of an experience as Amazon does. I knew this would eventually happen with them, but I didn't think it would happen so fast.

And the bottom line is this, whether you think these changes are good or bad, it is what the consumer wants.

Albums everyone should have

One of the great things about Itunes is the fact that it tells you how many times you have listened to a song...and as such it tells you how often you have listened to a specific album.

(These stats go back as far as 1-31-07)

What is the number one album that I have listened to?

No surprise here...."The Soul Cages" by Sting. (51 times)

An absolute masterpiece...it's hard to put how great this album is into words, it is a sonic experience...I have been listening to it continuously since I got it in 1991.

Number two "The Joshua Tree" by U2 (49 times) The definitive U2 album...The classic of my generation.

Number three "Nothing Like the Sun" by Sting. (46 times) A truly great record, amazing musicianship, sonically beautiful, and as always the classic vocals.

I feel what I eat!!

When you are fat like I was, and then spend about 2 years at a normal BMI, you begin to notice a few things.

I stayed fat for so long because I was physiologically addicted to foods high in saturated fats, sugars, and empty carbs. I would eat those foods and a lot of them. If I didn't eat those foods I wanted to because they made me feel good. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I drank too much alcohol too, lets not forget that little chestnut.

I didn't want to exercise or eat right because that made me feel bad. That is why I think half our population is fat. Everyone wants to feel good, and food is an easy way to make us feel that way.

The difference now is that I am physiologically addicted to working out. I really don't work out that vigorously, I only do 30 minutes a day on the elliptical, and light weights every other day. When I was on vacation, I swam 1/2 a mile every day when I could. I do this because I want to, because it makes me feel good. About a month ago I felt an endorphin rush after the elliptical similar to the rush of opiod pills. I have been chasing that natural dragon ever since! Now I know that when I eat things like In and Out I have a high, and then a crash. And the crash does not feel good, so it makes me somewhat less inclined to eat food like that now. But I still do, just not as much. And now its time for some ice cream!!

Winnepausakee

View and download a larger version here

The Genius of Steve Jobs

On Monday Consumer Reports (influenced by an overzealous media and after giving it their highest rating) said that they "could not recommend the Iphone 4 due to the Signal Attenuation issue"

Throughout this entire process I felt like Annie Wilkes in Misery...."Has everyone gone mad? What's wrong with you people! Don't you understand? This is the greatest Cockadoodee consumer electronic product in the history of the world!"

I knew what was going on here from the beginning, it is a case of overblown media hype. In Apple you have a company that has basically revolutionized the world in the last ten years and has put out products that are so far superior to the competition that it is laughable. They have overtaken Microsoft in terms market valuation, Their stock price has risen from about 50/share to 260/share. They changed the way we acquire and listen to music, they revolutionized the smart phone with touch screen technology, they made the personal computer fun and into something beautiful. With the exception of Apple TV, pretty much every single product since Jobs returned in 1997 has been phenomenally successful.

It is against this backdrop that we started to see youtube videos that displayed signal drop when you hold your phone in a certain way. It wasn't until last night that I was able to replicate this issue, and I was trying every day. But the issue is minor and it is not unique to the Iphone. So why is the Iphone singled out? Again it is because this "perceived" chip in apples armor comes against an amazing track record.

So today Steve Jobs comes out and says a couple things. And I am paraphrasing his lordship.....

"Guess what folks, every smartphone has antenna issues, and then he proved it by demoing the exact same issues on the Droid, Storm, Samsung, etc" ----I felt like saying Haleleuia! take that Consumer Reports!

"Just over 1 half of one percent of our Apple care calls have had to do with Antenna issues, based on what you have been hearing you would have expected it was at least over half!"

"Compared to the 3gs the Iphone 4 has reported about 1 percent more dropped calls....again based on what you have been hearing you would have expected it to be a lot more!...but even this is unacceptable to us and we are not satisfied"

"Everyone gets a free bumper case"

"If you don't like the phone return it for a full refund"

And my favorite quote......

"We love making products that surprise and delight our customers"

Nothing could be truer steve

Long live Apple!!!!

P.S. Oh yeah I almost forgot, Steve said today that in the three weeks since they've been shipping IPhone 4...they've sold 3 million of them (:

The Iphone 4 Antenna Song

Sorry this is in a bad format...but click through to the 16/9 version.

My review of the Iphone 4

"This is the biggest advance to the Iphone since the original Iphone"

====Steve Jobs (Grandmaster of all things and bringer of light)

With the competition of the "Android" phone which is the second best phone on the market (a distant second in my opinion) Apple had to fill in a couple holes where the android had caught up. And folks, they did this and more, I got everything I asked for. HD video, a 5 MP camera with a flash, and a second camera. But to me the killer part of this new iphone is the "retina display" which is an amazing feature that really makes reading on your iphone like reading on paper. It is a serious competitor to "e ink" and even is superior to the Ipad display which I had raved about when I got it. To appreciate the display, you really have to see it for yourself..I still am not used to how pretty it looks, amazingly sharp, and yes I have not seen any pixelation!

In terms of the phone design itself, in a word it is beautiful, elegant metal with glass on the front and back. (There is never a need for 3rd party scratch resistant cover on your iphone guys...it's glass! Unless you carry sharp diamonds in your pocket, I think you'll be OK) The phone is very thin, making the 3g and 3gs look bulky by comparison. I purchased the bumper case from Apple and it is a great addition to the phone, making it easier to grip and protecting it to a degree from any accidental drops.

If I could only have one gadget in the world I would choose the Iphone 4 over everything else.

Luckily I can have all of them though (:

And finally here is my take on the antenna thing....it is a made up fake bogus story that the media glommed onto and is total BS

====Garrett the Apple geek

P.S. My only disappointment was that they did not double the storage to 64 GB

Iphone 4 32 GB

Iphone 3GS 32 GB (Tasha's Iphone)

Imac 2.0 GHZ

Mac Book Pro 2.2 GHZ

Ipad 64 GB Wifi only

Ipod Classic 160 GB

Ipod shuffle 4 GB