steve jobs

Disney Will Stop Making Painfully Embarrassing, Awful Direct To DVD Sequels, And You Can Stop Buying Them

Disney Will Stop Making Painfully Embarrassing, Awful Direct To DVD Sequels, And You Can Stop Buying Them

Disney will discontinue their line of painfully embarrassing and awful direct to DVD sequels on the recommendation of Steve Jobs, according to MacWorld. We consider this a coup for parents, because no one older than 8 likes these steaming hunks of crap, yet they are extremely commercially successful.

Apple Denying Warranty Repairs? E-mail Steve Jobs.

Apple Denying Warranty Repairs? E-mail Steve Jobs.

By far the most common “Apple” complaint we get at Consumerist is about our readers being denied warranty repairs because of some sort of “damage”.

Want An iPhone? Don't Go To An Apple Store

Want An iPhone? Don't Go To An Apple Store

“Don’t go to an Apple store,” Jobs told me. “It will be a madhouse there. People will be lined up around the block, sleeping on the sidewalk to get one. Go to an AT&T/Cingular store. Most people don’t know that they will be selling them too.” Uh, they do now, Steve.

If you sleep on the sidewalk in order to buy a cellphone, you may want to consider getting professional help. —MEGHANN MARCO

Get Your Defective Laptop Replaced By Sending Well-Written Emails To Steve Jobs

Get Your Defective Laptop Replaced By Sending Well-Written Emails To Steve Jobs

We have, on occasion, heard tales of people emailing Steve Jobs and magically, as if carried on the wings of angels, a new laptop appears at their door, along with 12 lbs of really good salami, a bubblegum machine, and one of those rare Star Wars posters that everyone wants. Apparently, there is a little bit of truth to the legend. Don’t worry vegans, there’s no salami.

Microsoft Joins Apple In Offering DRM-Free Music

Microsoft Joins Apple In Offering DRM-Free Music

Following Apple’s lead, Microsoft has announced that the Zune Marketplace will offer DRM-free downloads from EMI’s catalogue. Microsoft also claims to be discussing similar arrangements with other music labels.

“The EMI announcement on Monday was not exclusive to Apple,” said Katy Asher, a Microsoft spokeswoman on the Zune team, in an e-mail to the IDG News Service today. She said Microsoft has been talking with EMI and other record labels “for some time now” about offering unprotected music on its Zune players in an effort to meet the needs of its customers.

Microsoft has kept mum on the specifics. We don’t yet how the price or quality of Microsoft’s music will stack up against Apple’s offering, nor do we know when the DRM-free music will be made available on the Zune Marketplace. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

EMI To Go DRM-Free

EMI To Go DRM-Free

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that EMI, a Big Four music label and RIAA member, will release “significant amounts of its catalogue” unencumbered by DRM. The announcement from EMI is expected at an 8 a.m. EST press conference in London, featuring Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Privately most labels rejected the idea out of hand, but EMI, the world’s third-largest music company by sales, was already quietly exploring the idea of dropping DRM. EMI has struggled to overcome poor results and a laggard digital strategy, potentially contributing to its willingness to take a bold stance on DRM.

EMI will make the DRM-free portions of its catalogue available for download via iTunes. We wonder how the RIAA will react. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Warner Music CEO Says Jobs' DRM Free Proposal Lacks "Logic or Merit."

Warner Music CEO Says Jobs' DRM Free Proposal Lacks "Logic or Merit."

Bronfman said the proposal was without “logic or merit.”—MEGHANN MARCO

RIAA Responds To Jobs' Open Letter Applauding Him For Agreeing To License FairPlay, Except He Didn't

Apple has concluded that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses from the big four music companies.

Steve Jobs Open Letter On The State Of DRM

It seems that with legal challenges to Apple’s iTunes DRM flying at him left and right, Steve Jobs just can’t ignore it any longer. He’s penned an open letter addressing the state of DRM, and it contains some interesting news:

Genius Bar Might Be Staffed By Douchebags, But Apple Executive Customer Service Works

Genius Bar Might Be Staffed By Douchebags, But Apple Executive Customer Service Works

Apple’s iTV vs. RCA Cable

Apple’s iTV vs. RCA Cable

Valleywag gets all player hater on the Apple iTV which is supposed to be the flux capacitor between TVs and computers.

Apple Store Opening Revealed

Here’s everything we missed by staying home from the Apple Store opening on Friday.