Scripting News for 5/3/2006

Apple’s new TV ads are great, incredibly irreverent and cleverly produced, and Macs are easier to connect than Windows machines, but the bit about PCs getting stuck is way off base. My Macs, even the super-high-end desktop machine, do exactly what they say the PCs do. Okay, I’m still using PowerPC Macs, but that’s all they sold when I bought these machines, less than a year ago. And that’s another thing not to like about Apple. They’re always making you feel stupid for having bought their latest and greatest. I’d like to see Microsoft fire back with ads of their own about Apple’s planned obsolescence and how much it costs, really, to keep up with them. You have to be rich to love Apple. PCs, even if the OS and apps are butt-ugly, and the viruses are just awful, are computers lots of people can afford, people who couldn’t afford Macs. And dollar for dollar, Windows machines perform better than Macs.  

Another one — the apps Apple bundles are marvels of lock-in. Try to get your data out of them. No no, says Uncle Steve. We own your ass. Or at least your data. 

And the ad about viruses is just plain STUPID. Man are they asking for it. What happens when users who bought Macs thinking they couldn’t get viruses all of a sudden are getting them. The Federal Trade Commission is going to love that. Can you spell Class Action Lawsuit? 

Meanwhile, here’s what I’ve been saying to people I see, so I might as well say it here. Microsoft better get it’s shit together soon. Apple and Google are clawing at them, and winning. I figure they have a year, maybe two, to start having some products that make sense on the net and the desktop; and offer the media stuff Apple does, and solve the malware problem (and also bake-in BitTorrent). They’re falling behind, seriously. It’s not about marketing budgets, Apple and Google have great piles of cash too. That used to be Microsoft’s security blanket. Not no mo. At the same time, one of these three companies might want to try to make some friends among the bloggers. It’s not in Microsoft’s DNA, Apple sues the bloggers to keep them from talking about them, and Google is the most arrogant self-absorbed company to hit Silicon Valley since Netscape. None of these companies do community marketing efficiently, and they all really need to be great at it.  

Mac OS Rumors: “Mac OS X 10.5 will include a system-level BitTorrent filesharing client that can be user-customized to donate upstream Internet bandwidth for things like pushing Software Update packages to Leopard users, delivering iTunes Store content.” 

Lifehacker: “Ponyfish lets you create an RSS feed for sites that have none.” 

NY Times: “Faulty evidence masquerading as science sent two men to death row for arson in Texas and led to the execution of one of them, a panel of private fire investigators concluded in a report released Tuesday in Austin.” 

This year’s Gnomedex, which I am participating in, will be an unconference. 

PubSub reading lists.  

It’s about BitTorrent 

On Sunday I talked about an idea and a project that would be good for the Internet, and now it’s time for the goodness to start. It’s also something for folks to talk about at the OnHollywood conference that’s starting today in southern California.

You’ve heard about Rocketboom, hopefully good things. They’ve been written up in all the major publications. They’re cool, and are making video entertainment and news work entirely in the context of the Internet. They aren’t a product of television making the transition, Rocketboom is entirely from the digital world.

Rocketboom has been distributing the daily show through BitTorrent, but not with much uptake, so far. What’s needed are more and better download clients that are tuned for BitTorrent distribution. It’s the ideal content for BitTorrent distribution, because there are a huge number of downloads all at once, at 9AM Eastern every weekday, when the new show is available.

So it’s a bit of a chicken and egg thing. When we met in April in NY, we talked about what can be done to drive more use of BitTorrent, in this non-infringing application, and arrived at an idea that we felt was worth trying. Produce a “best of” Rocketboom, a large download, and put it through the normal BitTorrent distribution system.

So here it is. A Mininova download of the Best of Rocketboom, a 659MB movie, ready to go. I’m downloading it now from one of my machines. They’re seeding it at Rocketboom headquarters. And you can help:

1. Download it yourself and enjoy the great Rocketboom entertainment experience.

2. Leave your copy up so you can help feed the distribution network.

3. Talk about it to your friends, write about it on your blog, if you’re at OnHollywood, tell the entertainment industry how the blogging world is moving forward using this technology in cool and entertaining ways. Tell them we’re having fun and the users love it. Tell them they’ll love it too, when they start distributing entertainment (with commercials if they want!) this way.

4. Think of new cool ways you can use BitTorrent to distribute entertaining podcasts that you create yourself for your friends and for the world. Let Rocketboom be a model for your creativity, a great Pied Piper that gives you ideas.