SolipsismX
"AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED"
Alas, my lovely wife would probably agree with you these days.
I agree with you that 'Stupid Hoe' by Nicki Minaj is beautiful—if beauty is ugliness and good is evil.
What I find odd about it is that I didn't see a single shot of a gardening implement. She certainly sounded frustrated by it. Maybe there were troublesome weeds, or perhaps she was just having a bad day in the garden.
I guess we’ll never know.
I was surprised to learn that she has a shiznick to go with her enormous butt.
Probably just what it looks like, an action to protect iTunes sales, make headway into a subscription streaming service and get a bigger slice of headphone sales.
Oh no, you'll start the the old Martin v Gibson argument lol, I abandoned both a year or so back for Taylor, sold my D28 for for three times what i paid for it new. ... that said i still like Gibson / Epiphone electric.
Ok, interesting story, at least for me. Back in the 70s my girlfriend and I, now my wife, were hanging out in Yellowstone when some rouge dog came up and started attacking our German Shepard for no reason. Chaos ensued and I jumped into the mix and grabbed the offending dog by the neck and rump and threw him away by perhaps an Olympic record for dog throw. Then I looked back and some guy was running away with my Martin guitar which had a distinctive fiberglass case with bold lettering on the side. I went chasing after him and our German Shepard took up pursuit as well. She passed me and grabbed the thief by the pant leg and brought him down thus saving my precious D35.
I thought that the latest Verge article on this topic was interesting, in the sense that it talked about Apple possibly being interested in Beats for reasons other than simply adding headphones as a product line.
Specifically, The Verge was talking about the way Beats could work with Apple in terms of wearables generally. That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Whatever you might say about the quality of Beats headphones, I think it's worth mentioning that Beats have been able to take a fairly boring object and spin it into a high-fashion product (Beats headphones are definitely designer items that carry a whole lot of perceived value outside raw sound quality).
In other words, there is a sense in which Beats owners are buying these accessories for more than the sound quality alone: things like industrial design and materials are obviously key as well, because Beats have made them key. And that very much reflects some of the focuses of the work Apple does.
Maybe some of you bashing and mocking Apple/Cook shouldn't be too quick to hand out judgement- you likely have little understanding of all the angles of this deal, and potential future benefit to Apple. If this acquisition is being done, you can guarantee Apple as researched the shit out of it, has done its due diligence, and is going forward based on convincing and solid reasoning. I'd trust Apple at this point more than negative armchair analysts in this thread and elsewhere- these are the same people who have been wrong about Apple 1000x in the past. Let's see where this goes- Apple has sure as hell earned some goodwill and the chance to at least be proven right or wrong.
So he should leave because he happens to perhaps disagree with the overwhelming sentiment of doom and gloom in this thread, finding it ridiculous (as it is)? And in the same breath, you state how blogs are open- yet are encouraging him to leave because apparently his opinion struck a nerve with you. You sound like a fucking hypocrite. Yeah, he's free to leave - as you are - the fact that you had to point that out to him- when he was simply voicing an opinion on the topic, is pretty absurd.
After a bit of thinking, and a lot of reading (500+ posts!) this is starting to make a lot of sense. Financially it seems like a no-brainer. Beats will likely easily pay for itself in negotiations with the record companies with the threat, or creation, of an iTunes record label. Cue is undoubtedly fantastic at what he does, but doesn't have the time, or the music industry credibility, influence, and personality to work with artists and develop a label. However, with Jimmy and Dre, Apple now has the fuse to arm their iTunes cannon, while the record labels are holding slingshots. And of course, with $1.4B and growing revenue, Beats will pay for itself in the not too distant future.
Aside from being a great financial move, there are several other HUGE potential benefits to this deal:
-Improving iTunes/iTunes Radio: Personally, I feel the music curation alone would be worth the $3B. For a company that revolutionized the integration of humanities and technology for consumer electronics, iTunes has a surprising lack of human touch, and IMHO terrible music curation. I've been playing with the Beats Music app since yesterday, and for me it's already WAY better than iTunes radio. The aesthetics are great too.
-Starting point for iTunes subscription service.
-Apple gets credibility in a demographic that will likely see the acquisition as an acknowledgment of the merits of that culture, and Apple will be rewarded with loyalty (purchases, word of mouth, social media attention). Beats' significant influence amongst younger people, respected celebrities, and hip-hop culture has proven it to be much more than a fad.
-With its minimalist aesthetic, Apple is bound to have to deal with the issue of style eventually. The austerity and lack of style and branding is one of the reasons why I love Apple products. But people, particularly young people, like to use style as a way to express themselves, and Beats allows Apple to do this without tainting the core brand.
-Dedicated set of audio/product engineers that can help Apple in wearables, and the inevitable transition to bluetooth wireless as a standard that will replace the headphone jack in the not too distant future. A (good) Apple bluetooth headset might be able to mitigate one of the "compromises" Apple refused to make in delaying the introduction of a larger screen iPhone.
To the people who seem to confuse their dislike of certain aspects of hip-hop culture (which I share to some extent) with the actual genera of hip-hop as a whole (which clearly has artistic merit), I am reminded of an undergraduate class I took that looked at Manet's Olympia. The critics of the now highly-renowned painting challenged its counter cultural characteristics ("it's incomplete" "the hand looks like a spider" "the cat is offensive" [should have been a little dog, ironically symbolizing the loyalty of the prostitute to her married male solicitor]) without realizing that the counter cultural aspects were its primary inspiration. In modern and pre-modern society, there has always been a place for certain groups to point out the inconsistencies in culturally accepted norms, while simultaneously giving a voice and sense of community to a group of people who felt disenfranchised, whether it's 19th century French artists, or the urban hip-hop culture of the late 20th century.
And no, I don't think rapping about "bitches," "pimps," "hoes," or glorifying drug use and violence counts as astute cultural commentary; this aspect definitely warrants criticism. For anyone interested in listening to hip hop that doesn't fall into this category, I would suggest looking into The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Matisyahu, and 2Pac (despite the gangster elements, his music often has positive messages).
Look ar the expression on the faces of the [other] AI's three finalists at about 49 seconds in -- when the dorky-looking guy with orange glasses first sings -- This party just ended (began).
There is no way I would have ever heard this if someone[s] hadn't had an interest [profit motive] in curating that for the AI viewers.
I love it when I hear good music for the first time, or when it grows on me. Most music created, whilst of some value, doesn't pass the test of time. So the more you expose yourself to music you haven't heard, the more likely you are to be disappointed. But you may also hear a gem.
We shouldn't be greedy. Imagine if you only heard one piece of music in your whole life. Which one would it be?
Here's a song that, likely, would be atop my list -- easy listening, but a flood of memories of my late wife, Lucy:
[VIDEO]
I love the song and the presentation --- but the lyrics, oh the lyrics ... the memories ... they belong to me, alone! That's what this thread is all about!
¿Dónde va? que mi voz
ya no quiere escuchar, ¿Dónde va? que mi vida se apaga si junto a mi no está.
Working directly with talent. Bringing in two industry luminaries to handle artist relations and essentially build a label. Why pay royalties to labels if you can work directly with the artists instead?
If they want them that much, just pay the $X per year and see if it works. Dropping $3.2Billion for these guys, who have created absolutely terrible headphone/earphone products, is unwise. My kids have them and I can't even get replacement screws to fix the headbands - after a boat load of calls and website visits. Their whole show could not be more un-aapl.
Yours is the second post in this thread, and it says:
"Dr Dre is going to be an Apple executive. Cook has lost his fucking mind."
Yeah, you could stand some broadening.
Broadening is great but and aapl has done that throughout its history. If you don't see the culture clash between the products that Beats makes (very poorly made), Iovine's demeanor and the Dr. Dre et al video that was taken down, you have rose color glasses. If they want these guys to help them, hire them $x millions a year. If it doesn't work, part company. Don't set the company up for a colossal mistake for no good reason. This will look like The Learning Company acquisition by Mattel in a few short years. This cash belongs to stockholders, not the Board or Cook.
I do hope that Apple is not considering using Beats for their sound quality? They are utter rubbish. I have never heard a more terrible sounding set of headphones except the original headphones that Apple supplies with the iPhone or iPod.
Comments
I was surprised to learn that she has a shiznick to go with her enormous butt.
Hey, the blogs are open, feel free to leave.
EDIT: Not to be taken seriously. Tongue in cheek comment made as Suddenly Newton had suggested I could leave the USA for a comment I made.
Yours is the second post in this thread, and it says:
"Dr Dre is going to be an Apple executive. Cook has lost his fucking mind."
Yeah, you could stand some broadening.
Beats Electronics: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/result.html?p=1&srch=ezsrch&pn=&apn=&all=&ttl=&abst=&aclm=&spec=&apd=&apdto=&isd=&isdto=&prir=&ccl=&icl=&in=&icn=&is=&ic=&an=Beats+Electronics&acn=&as=&ac=&ref=&fref=&oref=&parn=&pex=&asex=&agt=&uspat=on&date_range=all&stemming=on&sort=relevance&search=Search
Patents: 27
Apple Inc: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/result.html?p=1&srch=ezsrch&pn=&apn=&all=&ttl=&abst=&aclm=&spec=&apd=&apdto=&isd=&isdto=&prir=&ccl=&icl=&in=&icn=&is=&ic=&an=Apple+Inc&acn=&as=&ac=Cupertino&ref=&fref=&oref=&parn=&pex=&asex=&agt=&uspat=on&date_range=last20&stemming=on&sort=chron&search=Search
Patents: 9,875
The mystery goes on.
Oh no, you'll start the the old Martin v Gibson argument lol, I abandoned both a year or so back for Taylor, sold my D28 for for three times what i paid for it new. ... that said i still like Gibson / Epiphone electric.
Ok, interesting story, at least for me. Back in the 70s my girlfriend and I, now my wife, were hanging out in Yellowstone when some rouge dog came up and started attacking our German Shepard for no reason. Chaos ensued and I jumped into the mix and grabbed the offending dog by the neck and rump and threw him away by perhaps an Olympic record for dog throw. Then I looked back and some guy was running away with my Martin guitar which had a distinctive fiberglass case with bold lettering on the side. I went chasing after him and our German Shepard took up pursuit as well. She passed me and grabbed the thief by the pant leg and brought him down thus saving my precious D35.
How many patents did Siri and Lala have when Apple bought them?
Your post reads as antagonistic. I don't think he was complaining; I think he was just amazed by the number of comments, and rightly so.
I thought that the latest Verge article on this topic was interesting, in the sense that it talked about Apple possibly being interested in Beats for reasons other than simply adding headphones as a product line.
Specifically, The Verge was talking about the way Beats could work with Apple in terms of wearables generally. That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Whatever you might say about the quality of Beats headphones, I think it's worth mentioning that Beats have been able to take a fairly boring object and spin it into a high-fashion product (Beats headphones are definitely designer items that carry a whole lot of perceived value outside raw sound quality).
In other words, there is a sense in which Beats owners are buying these accessories for more than the sound quality alone: things like industrial design and materials are obviously key as well, because Beats have made them key. And that very much reflects some of the focuses of the work Apple does.
Interesting read and perspective:
http://www.dailydot.com/technology/apple-beats-jimmy-iovine-dr-dre/
Maybe some of you bashing and mocking Apple/Cook shouldn't be too quick to hand out judgement- you likely have little understanding of all the angles of this deal, and potential future benefit to Apple. If this acquisition is being done, you can guarantee Apple as researched the shit out of it, has done its due diligence, and is going forward based on convincing and solid reasoning. I'd trust Apple at this point more than negative armchair analysts in this thread and elsewhere- these are the same people who have been wrong about Apple 1000x in the past. Let's see where this goes- Apple has sure as hell earned some goodwill and the chance to at least be proven right or wrong.
Hey, the blogs are open, feel free to leave.
So he should leave because he happens to perhaps disagree with the overwhelming sentiment of doom and gloom in this thread, finding it ridiculous (as it is)? And in the same breath, you state how blogs are open- yet are encouraging him to leave because apparently his opinion struck a nerve with you. You sound like a fucking hypocrite. Yeah, he's free to leave - as you are - the fact that you had to point that out to him- when he was simply voicing an opinion on the topic, is pretty absurd.
A classic:
http://www.vevo.com/watch/2pac/changes/USUV70502228
That was brilliant!
My hat's off to the video editor!
I agree! Very creative. Although, I'm biased; I have a bit of a crush on Nicki Minaj.
[VIDEO]
Look ar the expression on the faces of the [other] AI's three finalists at about 49 seconds in -- when the dorky-looking guy with orange glasses first sings -- This party just ended (began).
There is no way I would have ever heard this if someone[s] hadn't had an interest [profit motive] in curating that for the AI viewers.
That's what music can do!
Bought their album because of that performance!
Here's a song that, likely, would be atop my list -- easy listening, but a flood of memories of my late wife, Lucy:
[VIDEO]
I love the song and the presentation --- but the lyrics, oh the lyrics ... the memories ... they belong to me, alone! That's what this thread is all about!
¿Dónde va? que mi voz
ya no quiere escuchar,
¿Dónde va? que mi vida se apaga
si junto a mi no está.
Working directly with talent. Bringing in two industry luminaries to handle artist relations and essentially build a label. Why pay royalties to labels if you can work directly with the artists instead?
If they want them that much, just pay the $X per year and see if it works. Dropping $3.2Billion for these guys, who have created absolutely terrible headphone/earphone products, is unwise. My kids have them and I can't even get replacement screws to fix the headbands - after a boat load of calls and website visits. Their whole show could not be more un-aapl.
Yours is the second post in this thread, and it says:
"Dr Dre is going to be an Apple executive. Cook has lost his fucking mind."
Yeah, you could stand some broadening.
Broadening is great but and aapl has done that throughout its history. If you don't see the culture clash between the products that Beats makes (very poorly made), Iovine's demeanor and the Dr. Dre et al video that was taken down, you have rose color glasses. If they want these guys to help them, hire them $x millions a year. If it doesn't work, part company. Don't set the company up for a colossal mistake for no good reason. This will look like The Learning Company acquisition by Mattel in a few short years. This cash belongs to stockholders, not the Board or Cook.
I do hope that Apple is not considering using Beats for their sound quality? They are utter rubbish. I have never heard a more terrible sounding set of headphones except the original headphones that Apple supplies with the iPhone or iPod.