Looking back

I seldom look back on a week, preferring to always look ahead to the next week. Even rarer are the occasions when I would allow the occurrences to coalesce into a posting, but in the technology world, a lot has happened – one event was substantial in scale, others… smaller but portending the development and shaping of the future, and then… there is what is ahead! So here we go…

iPhone 4 – Like many others around the globe, I stood in line a week ago Thursday (June 24th). For 13 hours… which is a long time for just about anything. Fortunately, The Apple Store’s WiFi at The Falls in South Miami was working, so my iPad was in contact with the world, Victoria Secret let me charge my iPhone, and it was largely a productive and somewhat pleasurable day. While my iPad arrived on the release day, April 3rd, direct shipped from China, the last time I’d gone to a store to buy any new product on the day of release was in 1995 – August 24th, for Windows ’95. A lot can change in 15 years in the technology world. I expected that Apple would sell 2 million phones over the 4 days from Thursday through Sunday. This week, the 1.7 million number surfaced in reference to 3 days of sales. So 2 million over 4 days is probably light, irrespective of limited stock etc. The phone is great, for me – I’m not experiencing any antenna issues. I truly can’t believe how stunning the display is. Any CD covers in the iPod section look incredible. And FaceTime is amusing.

Kin – RIP – No surprise – As I wrote in April I indicated the prospects were grim for this device before launch. And since then, Robbie Bach and Jay Allard have exited Microsoft, the device was widely criticized, and it surfaced that that factional dissent existed between the flagging Windows Mobile and Kin teams – never a positive indicator for an aligned corporate strategy or a product’s potential. We may never know how many of these devices were sold – yes, the rumors were “around” 500. Nor could we calculate how many hundreds of millions this mistake cost Microsoft in cash outlay, lost opportunities, and reputation damage.

But certainly, iPhone 4′s first weekend sales killed the Kin.

Great week for Startups!

Woot! - Woot! gets acquired by amazon. After investing several million dollars into Woot in 2008, amazon fully immersed itself in the social commerce space by acquiring Woot.

Tapulous – Disney certainly had the inside knowledge of how successful Tap Tap Revenge is, through the tight relationship with Apple. Great to see this frugally funded startup joining a company with significant investments and acquisition successes in social and mobile properties.

TESLA – TESLA IPO’s – Behold the new Tesla Roadster. Stunning, quick, and green. Congratulations on being the first American automotive manufacturer to IPO in 54 years – not since Ford in 1956 has there been a new public company creating cars here. If only Silicon Valley’s speed of innovation had once been embraced by others in the automotive sector.

BuyWidget – One of our apps, BuyWidget, got mentioned in Billboard this week. As the music biz saying goes, you’re not a hit until you’re a hit in Billboard. Thanks for the mention! Thanks also to the many, many new sites who signed up for BuyWidget this week. Among them, one took me back a few years. Steve Kilbey was the unmistakable voice of The Church, whose big hit “Under The Milky Way” is still alluring, even a “few” years after it was first released. Steve has teamed up with Australian Martin Kennedy and has made some great new music. Check out their site, and this performance clip to hear what they’re creating.

Canada Day - Canada Day was July 1st. So, a belated Happy Canada Day to all my friends and family.

Looking ahead

July 3rd

I’m not much of a fan of Wimbledon, and the World Cup holds only a passing interest for me. But starting tomorrow I’ll undoubtedly be mesmerized for three weeks by the Tour de France. This year there are four strong teams in contention – Astana, Radio Shack, Saxo Bank and Cervelo – all with great riders, and the potential for great stories and drama. As I wrote a year ago, Lance Armstrong remains the story, but there are significant sidebars to be found along every mile of the ride. the race is defined in the Time Trials and mountain stages, so with the Prologue on the 3rd, mountains starting on the 8th, and final TT on the 24th, it will be an epic tour.

4th of July – Have a safe and enjoyable Independence Day!

A couple of years ago I spent some time digitizing some of my production work. Most of it is on a mix of source formats, 1/4 inch analog tape, DAT, CD, and even a few reference copies on cassette. For anyone who has undertaken format conversion, I feel your pain. While ultimately rewarding, it’s a time consuming process. Especially the 1/4 inch tape. Depending on the tape manufacturer, my reels were doing one of three things on my Otari MX5050-BII. Either clogging the heads and forcing me to sit with a Q-tip squeezing the tape against the head to optimize the audio signal. This necessitated stopping every 5 minutes, cleaning the heads and picking it up where I stopped. Then putting the whole work back together in Cool Edit Pro. Other tapes played perfectly. Others still played perfectly, but the oxide was flying off the tapes as they crossed the pinch rollers. It makes you really appreciate how easy digital is as a format. Pain aside, it’s great to have everyday access to the shows, interviews and recordings now. I have a bunch more to go through and will add them over time, for now a brief explanation of what these are.

Listen Up – The Lives Of Quincy Jones – 1990. Syndicated radio special, marking the release of Listen Up, the film and CD. Met and interviewed Q – he was an icon as a producer for me – with what he achieved on Off The Wall, Thriller, Back On The Block, not to mention his work in A&R, and as a jazz musician, so meeting him was a highlight. Listen Up was narrated by Sandy Hoyt – one of my favorite Toronto announcers at CHFI. Sandy was a class act – incredibly funny, versatile and original – he even hosted wrestling at one time in his diverse career.

Rent Boys Inc. – Recorded live In Toronto. 1982.The post-punk/alternative music scene was phenomenally strong in Toronto. We fueled the fire at CKLN, gave the bands an outlet – they’d produce their 45s and cassettes, we’d play them, they’d fill the clubs at their shows. Rent Boys Inc. were among a number of second generation punk bands – kids who’d grown up influenced by Television, and The Ramones in New York, and The Diodes, Demics and Viletones in Toronto, with a healthy dose of Manchester’s Joy Division/New Order thrown in.. Kinetic Ideals, Breeding Ground, Dave Howard Singers, Sturm Group, Disband, L’Etranger, Rent Boys and others – the scene in Toronto was vibrant, and music in Canada during that period wasn’t just Loverboy, Bryan Adams and Men Without Hats. If Queen West in Toronto had been the Bowery in NYC, all of these groups would have been famous. But as another Canadian – Neil Young – once said – “if you’re big in Canada, you’re only big in Canada. If you’re big in the US, you’re big everywhere”

The Beat Generation – Sunday Sunday, CHFI – 1991. Short radio story about the impact of the Beat Generation. Timed with the release of Rhino’s Jack Kerouac box set, and Carolyn Cassady’s book – “Off The Road – My Life with Cassady, Kerouc, and Ginsberg”.

Trudy Desmond Quintet – Recorded at CBC Studio 4S. A singer with an alluring presence, backed by some of Canada’s finest jazz musicians. I loved working in that room – it had great history, as a recording studio, and as a TV studio – I’d seen some CBC TV shows shot there as a kid. I recorded a number of great jazz performances in 4S, and was always thankful for the opportunity to work with some exceptional musicians in an amazing setting.