DrunkenTech.com » iTunes

Drugs and Literature: An App Store Primer

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:51:56 +0000

I am a proponent of the legalization of marijuana. I differ from many fellow conservative Republicans who believe that the devil’s weed is just that: far worse than alcohol and it’s a slippery slope. Now, I don’t believe that kids should be able to walk into a dispensary and get an eighth because he’s got a “headache” but I also don’t think that a kid should walk into a liquor store and get a 40oz. malt liquor, either.

Let’s review a recent addition to the app store: Cannabis. The app allows you to find the nearest dispensary in locations where marijuana has been decriminalized. Currently, Apple has rated this program 12+ for “infrequent/mild” drug use or references. Personally, I think that telling a 13 year old where to find marijuana, even if he/she cannot purchase it, is probably not a fantastic idea. Here’s the screenshot if you’re still not sure:

Let’s compare this rating to another app on the App Store: Eucalyptus. This app, because you are able to access “obscene” texts from Project Gutenberg, has a rating of 17+. Essentially, even if you’re a minor and reading a PHYSICAL book that Apple considers to be a 17+ bit of content, you have to get parental permission first before running this app on your iPod or iPhone. Even if the kid already has the printed version in his or her hands. Here’s the screenshot:

Just thought I’d throw some more fuel on the fire that is raging about how apps are rated by Apple and why developers are pulling their goddamn hair out trying to find any sort of logic or consistency. I don’t envy them at all. Not one bit.

Trent Reznor, I Love You

admin — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:39:45 +0000

http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?9,651569,651569#msg-651569

iTunes selling HD movies now. How about BD-R next?

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:20:36 +0000

So, now that you can buy and rent HD video content from your computer using iTunes, is it not a logical step to want to view your HD content on your HDTV? Given, one can do that if you’ve got a Mac mini home theater system or an AppleTV, but what if you just have a good ol’ BluRay player? I think that the best thing Apple could do to introduce BluRay to the Mac is to allow burning HD video to BD-R discs in iTunes.

When iTunes music was still DRMd, you could burn it to an unencrypted audio CD and still play it on your stereo. With the plummeting costs of BD-R drives, and relatively low cost of BD-R media, I think that now would be a fantastic opportunity to allow the conversion of the video into a (maybe even still DRMd) more usable format! Given, most of us would prefer a non-restricted format, but most folks are just looking to play their content in a format they have easy access to. Audio CD is one format. BluRay is another.

I know that licensing these things is a pain in the anus, but I believe Apple could own the market in downloadable-to-BluRay video, and it should not be underestimated.