Teaser movie for the forthcoming Throwing Muses live DVD, filmed in Hollywood, May 2003. Beware the Spinal Tap feel to the teaser, and the weird way Bernie behaves at the top of the stairs. Observant ones will also notice Tanya Donelly in the live footage, as she took part in some of the US dates of the tour.
Gosh, this really is so funny. Sony have unveilled their new Walkman device, which according to some media people is supposed to be the first serious competitor to Apple’s iPod. Certainly its capacity (20GBytes), size (slightly larger than the iPod mini) and playback time (30 hours) seems to indicate this.
But that’s as good as it gets.
The Sony NW-HD1 — funny how none of the iPod “competitors” have decent names — will be available in the US mid-August for $400. The device plays only Sony’s proprietary ATRAC format. Not MP3 or WMA or WAV. Unless you run it through Sony’s Windows-based SonicStage software. Let me think a bit… So, if you have your music in MP3 format, which is a lossy format, to be able to listen to it on the NW-HD1, you need to convert it into another lossy format. And wait for it to convert. Say, about 4 minutes per album. Smashing.
What if I want to buy music on-line? Well, I can use Sony’s online store and download music in ATRAC format. That’s okay. It’s just like Apple’s iTunes Music Store. One store that only works with one type of device. But, Sony have a problem here. They are heavily tied into their own record labels such as Sony Music, Columbia Records, Epic Records, and a few others. Sure, they sell other labels’ music (e.g. Mercury and its parent company Universal Music), but where are the raft of independents?
Additionally, whilst the iTunes Music Store only works with iPods, iPods work with any store that sells MP3 or AAC format music. I’ve bought music from places other than the iTunes Music Store and played them on my iPod. For example, AudioLunchbox, sells music in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis formats. I wouldn’t be able to do this with the Sony NW-HD1 without converting the music first. So, if you buy the NW-HD1, you tie yourself into one music store, which might have a reduced selection of music because of corporate ties, and you set yourself up for loads of grief with having to spend time converting files you might already have into ATRAC format.
The first serious competitor to the iPod? Don’t make me laugh!
Throwing Muses:
It's just the lack
Of time I keep
Reaching out, lashing out
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