Stephanie writes, “I’m guessing I’m not the only Consumerist reader to ever get a sewing machine hand-me-down or buy one from a garage sale sans operating manual.” In fact, there are all sorts of devices that require some level of instruction before you can get the maximal use out of them. The problem is, people lose manuals, and companies don’t always make them available for download once they’ve been pulled off the market. Stephanie almost paid $35 for a digital copy when she decided she’d try asking the company directly.
downloads
ITunes Offers To "Upgrade" The Already DRM-Free Songs You Bought From Amazon?
By 2.26.09
Update: Mike writes back to say that after reading the comments below, he checked his purchase history and the album is indeed listed there. What’s confusing is Mike didn’t buy it through iTunes, but through Amazon, but he says that other people did have access to his account and may have purchased it without his knowledge.
By 1.9.09
../../../..//2009/01/09/remember-that-norwegian-site-that/
Remember that Norwegian site that was offering Beatles songs for legal download? Yeah, well, not anymore. It turns out their licensing agreement stipulates that the shows they put online have to have been aired within the past 4 weeks, and all the Beatles shows are from 2007. [Exclaim News] (Thanks to elc81!)
Oprah & Orman Give Out Free Book: "2009 Action Plan"
By 1.8.09
“Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan” is free to download from Oprah.com for the next week. Unlike last year’s “Women & Money,” this book is intended for pretty much everyone. We haven’t read it, so here’s a line from the Amazon editorial review: “There are safeguards to put in place, actions to take, costly mistakes to avoid, and even opportunities to be had, so that you are protected during the bad times and prepared to prosper when things take a turn for the better.”
Blizzard "Can't" Refund My Money For Downloads That Didn't Work
By 10.13.08
Reader Zach is having some trouble with Blizzard and is wondering what he should do. He tried to download a copy of Diablo II from their digital store, but the download didn’t work. Blizzard’s customer service then tried to download it again — which also didn’t work. Finally, they told him to buy it at an actual store — which he did. Now he’s bought the game three times and would like some money back.
Economics Professor Self-Publishes Textbook To Subvert Overpriced Publishing Industry
By 9.17.08
R. Preston McAfee, a Cal Tech economics professor, is annoyed at how overpriced textbooks are. “‘The person who pays for the book, the parent or the student, doesn’t choose it,’ he said. ‘There is this sort of creep. It’s always O.K. to add $5.'” To fight back, he’s foregone the potential six-figure advance traditional publishing would have granted, and published his textbook online for free.
Quickly Get A Live Rep With Dial-A-Human
By 8.26.08
Dial-A-Human.com is just like Gethuman.com, offering a cheat sheet of secret codes to bypass annoying phone-trees and get right to a live operator.
By 8.5.08
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For all six of you Americans out there who use a Symbian phone, SymbianGear is offering one free app per day for 10 days. You’ve already missed days 1 & 2, but they’ve got 7 more to go if you’re interested. (Today is Texas Holdem). [SymbianGear via Symbian-Guru.com]
Netflix Lifts Restrictions On Downloadable Movie Rentals
By 1.15.08
Netflix has removed the monthly limits on all but its lowest-cost plan in an apparent attempt to position itself more competitively against Apple, which is expected to announce a downloadable movie rental service tomorrow. Now for as little as $8.99 per month you can watch as many movies on your PC as you can download.
Amazon Expands DRM-Free Music Store, Adds Warner Music
By 12.28.07
Starting today, Warner Music songs are now available on the Amazon MP3 music store, in DRM-free formats and at prices competitive to what iTunes charges. According to Reuters, Amazon has now reached “deals with music labels Universal Music Group, part of Vivendi, and EMI. The remaining major recording group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, has yet to offer its songs for the service.” Sony BMG, you guys are very, very old dorks.
By 12.28.07
../../../..//2007/12/28/fox-and-apple-have/
Fox and Apple have reached a deal that would allow movie rentals through the iTunes Music Store. No official announcement yet, so no details on pricing, date, or how the rentals will work.
Walmart Shutters Video Download Store
By 12.27.07
It’s official: Walmart is no longer in the video download business.
New Microsoft Patent App Provides "Enforceable" Ads That Can't Be Skipped
By 12.21.07
Last year Microsoft filed a patent application, published yesterday, that explains a method by which embedded advertising can’t be skipped. From the application abstract: “Enforcing rendering advertisements and other predetermined media content in connection with playback of downloaded selected media content. Playback of selected media content is made conditional on acquisition of a playback token that is generated in response to playback of the predetermined content.”
By 12.14.07
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If you’ve ever wanted the professional version of DivX for free, now’s your chance: for a limited time, DivX is giving it away (it’s usually $10). (Thanks to Andy!)
DG Launches DRM-Free Classical Music Store
By 12.3.07
The Internet always seemed like a logical sales outlet for classical music, which has long been the neglected step-child of the record labels. We’re happy to see that last week, Deutsche Grammophon launched a music store that sells DRM-free files of classical recordings—the files are constant bit rate 320 kps MP3s, and prices range “from $/€1.29 for a full-length track to $/€11.99 for an album.”
RIAA Told To Provide Breakdown Of Expenses Per Each Downloaded Song
By 11.27.07
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a Brooklyn judge made a defendant in an RIAA lawsuit very happy when he ordered the RIAA to document the actual expenses incurred per downloaded song.
MLB Rips Off Everyone Who Bought Games Under Their "Old" DRM
By 11.7.07
Major League Baseball, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to deactivate its system for “authenticating” downloads, and they apparently expect people to repurchase the games in a new format. What?
