COMIC & BLOG
iTUNES FEED
EMAIL JOEL
Give Me Something To Bitch About
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Sorry for the late comic. I was preparing for, then participating in an actual job interview for an actual job. The Experiment isn’t over, just evolving. More on that as things develop.
Re: The background of this comic - I asked Twitter what my background color scheme should be and Josh suggested (rather CHALLENGED) “dopefish3d @hijinksensue no no no, houndstooth, alternating between mauve and periwinkle.” Far be it form me to back down once the gauntlet has been thrown, so there you go. I don’t really like it, but I still win.
I’ve really been relying on the “I would totally buy form iTunes if not for all the DRM sadness” crutch for years. Now I have nothing to justify my thevery.
The iTunes Music Store is a brilliant piece of technology. I know people who aren’t normally susceptible to traditional ads and upsales that MARVEL at how ITMS gets them to fall for “you just bought this song… your playlist would be twice as awesome if you added these other 3 songs… i bet some hot chick would totally do you if you played those 4 songs for her and burned some incense and got all suave talkin’ with lotions and oils and shit… click here to buy some incense…” But is it really “getting you to fall for it” if it is actually helpful and you enjoy the shopping experience? Their marketing genius can’t be denied, but you are welcome to debate the true nature of their intent. Is Apple the next RIAA or are they the harbingers of fair and just digital distribution?
I don’t have these questions about Bit Torrent. It’s like paying cash for RAM in China Town. It’s cheaper than retail, comes in a paper sandwich bag that said “RAMS” in Sharpie marker, and I know before I buy that if anything goes wrong the people that provided the goods would sooner drug me and steal my organs than help me out.
For more DRM comics, click up on THIS!
Links:
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Apple dropping DRM from music in iTunes, keeping DRM for audiobooks, video
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Apple Makes DRM Deal with Big Three Music Labels, Plus 3G Downloads Coming?
January 8th, 2009 at 2:10 am
I guess until they make iTunes for Linux, my excuse still holds up!
January 8th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Josh, those sunglasses make you look like the gay extra from Top Gun.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Lame response. Read Wikipedia and see how many devices support AAC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Codin...
The only "new" player out there that don't support it is the SansaDisk. No idea why, since some of their other product support it just fine.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Woof, Josh! You wouldn't happen to wander to IML when you hit Bear Pride, would you?
January 8th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Its $1.29
But regardless, Josh in the last frame is awesome. You need an iPhone app that has all your comics in it.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:41 am
I seriously laughed out loud at that. My co-workers are looking at me phunny…
January 8th, 2009 at 3:44 am
I am unfortunately right there with you on the BitTorrent justifications. "The record companies owe me for all those years I bought overpriced CDs" can only ring true for so long…
January 8th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Opportunity cost doesn't mean money. What if you place a high marginal valuation on not paying money for music?
further pontification abridged by liquor and my most recent piracy -For The Masses a Depeche Mode tribute album. Mmm the Cure covering Depeche Mode.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I forgot.
FIRST POST.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:00 am
Love the use of hands in this one, especially Joel's in panel 3 and Josh's in panel 4. It's like he dropped a blanket on the remote, and now he's trying to find the remote under it and change the channel without lifting it off. Excellent.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:03 am
"the Cure covering Depeche Mode" ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Is it just the sound of children watching their pets die?
January 8th, 2009 at 5:14 am
I've always heard that the artists make most of their money from touring and merchandise sales anyhow, since the labels keep most of the profits from album sales. That's what I keep telling myself anyhow.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:15 am
That made me spit some cherry coke out of my nose. And if you knew how much I cherished cherry coke, you would know how awesome that joke was.
Damn, son.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:19 am
The background works, oddly enough. Maybe it's cause Josh is there. (Thinly veiled gay jokes.)
Anyway, most regular recording artists still DON'T get paid enough from music sales, and they ARE being ripped off. Or Lou Perlman'd, as I say. You could still be an audio snob and claim ITunes isn't high enough of a bitrate or something. I dunno, I just like CDs to hold onto.
Also Joel's pompadour is in the way of too many bubbles! And Josh wouldn't be voyeuristic if he couldn't pull a steady audience!
January 8th, 2009 at 5:23 am
I am having no luck finding shirtless pics of Josh on Flickr. I am so heartbroken.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:25 am
The comic is pretty good… but what really got me was the last paragraph of your post. That's good shit.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:31 am
wow, houndstooth? that's a brave choice son.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:33 am
you should do a nice fleur de lis next.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Then you are not trying hard enough.
http://flickr.com/photos/cubinplano/2504333704/
January 8th, 2009 at 6:49 am
all the good ones are "super best friends only." I dont even get to see those.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:49 am
you should stop suggesting backgrounds. Im not taking any more challenges.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:19 am
That is true for the most part.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am
.69 is for old and busted songs, .99 is for DRM and 1.39 is for no DRM… I think.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Linux is it's own excuse for… EVERYTHING!
January 8th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Joel's comments are what got me into HE, and now i love all of it. the comic, podcast,forum,etc.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:32 am
i loved the drawing of Josh in panel 4. absolutely brilliant!!!!
January 8th, 2009 at 8:15 am
How about "it's still in AAC, which won't play on anything that doesn't have an apple logo on it so it may as well still be DRMed"?
January 8th, 2009 at 8:16 am
This one makes me look so much cooler.
http://flickr.com/photos/cubinplano/2102584370/
January 8th, 2009 at 9:10 am
so what am I paying 1.39 for exactly? What is this tier system for?
January 8th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I can't believe I forgot! Google "Kratos" and click on that beautifully rotund gentleman in red body paint and a utilikilt.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I disagree, from all the crappy movies, CDs, and games I bought in my youth I consider myself paid up at least until I'm middle-aged.
Great comic, the facial expressions and hand gestures really sold it.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
looks like it was updated
"masturbate in front of a mirror" i love how lumpy he looks.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:51 am
We have a winner.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:06 am
And given some of Josh's stories on the podcast, do you really want to see anything set to "super best friends only"? There could be eye-bleeding…
January 8th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Danke schön!
January 9th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Agreed. The combination of Josh's hand gesture and orgasmic eye-rolled back-in-head look in the last panel is priceless.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Actually Wii upgraded their picture channel to exclusively play AAC files (it also, very inexplicably, dropped MP3 support).
Though, if the file is not DRM'ed and you have iTunes set to import files as MP3's then you should be able to right-click on the track and select "Convert to MP3", and it will automatically convert it.
The real reason Apple is sticking with AAC is you tend to get a higher quality sound vs MP3 at similar file sizes.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:02 am
All the songs are now DRM free, even the .69 and .99 ones (or will be eventually, 20% of the catalogue still has DRM, but they say it will quickly be 100% DRM free), and it's $1.29 for the high end songs.
So essentially they are adding or subtracting $.30 based on a song's popularity. Allegedly the majority of songs will end up being .69, since the majority of the iTMS is filler music.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Because why go with a standard that will play on everything from cell phones made in 2000 to advanced PMP devices to the friggin wii via flash when there's a wiki page to guide users to buying a new player?
Amazon got it right, iTunes is faking it. End.
And I'm not even factoring in being able to buy songs with pepsi points…
January 9th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Mp3 is limited to 2 audio channels, while AAC is limited to 48.
If you're happy with just using 2 channels for the rest of your life, knock yourself out.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
You know, you're just my wife's type. Except the gay part. So yeah, I told her she can't have you. I like to think, however, that I could if I were so inclined. Which I'm not. But you know, just to rub it in her face.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Chartreuse and lilac fleur de lis that intertwine and alternate, in an Escher-like manner.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:00 am
The porn version would be "Top and Bottom Gun."
January 15th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Re: The background
Oddly enough, it works.
((Also, my justification has always been the same. I use file sharing to introduce myself to new groups. If I like their stuff, I hunt down the physical album. If I don't, I delete the files and move on to the next group I'm curious about.))
January 16th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I like to use mp3fiesta.com. It's way cheaper than iTunes, and one step up from blatant piracy. At least it's legal *somewhere*. (Maybe.)
January 17th, 2009 at 1:03 am
rub WHAT in her face?!
January 17th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Thats what sucks. AAC is a better format. Period. We are just talking math, not coolness, and AAC has better math. That said, I still go with MP3's when I do my own compression. I dont know why.
January 17th, 2009 at 1:05 am
except not in any way legal at all any where for any reason
January 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
You know – *it*!
I mean, I'm thinking… Josh's junk, probably? After I was done rubbing it in my face. Is that weird? I mean, I wanna treat him right and stuff, but I confess I don't quite know how to go about it. Pretty sure he'd be teabagging me some, though.