Jobs Rocks Out at ‘Rock On’, and PS He’s Still Alive
NBC and Apple have kissed and made up, reports Mediapost, and the whole world knows about it – because the whole world was watching Steve Jobs at "Rock On" earlier this week.
Gossip-hungry viewers may have tuned into Jobs’ speech in front of that now-oh-so-familiar black backdrop (via Engadget) more to see if he was still alive than to know more new Apple products. Bloomberg, in updating its 17-page obituary for the famed CEO accidentally published it, prompting Jobs to quote Mark Twain: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
But, as always, reports of Apple’s "genius" products were also greatly exaggerated. The ultra-slim, oval-shaped, 8GB/16GB Nano – which is receiving less verbal applause from bloggers than they gave it at the event – may be nicely innovated, sure. But the iPod Touch as the best handheld gaming device? Apple iTunes as the only platform with recommendation features? (Have you heard of Pandora, Steve?)
The most newsworthy news, therefore was the truce with NBC. The battle of the two titans was over pricing flexibility for NBC shows sold on iTunes, and the broadcaster emerged as the clear winner, as now some shows will be priced differently.
No, I take it back. Apple is the clear winner. Why? Because it always is, because it has to be. The triumph of the hip nerd over the corporate chunk. He’ll take three-quarters of the music and TV show download market – but wouldn’t dream of stealing your lunch.
