News. Yawn. Stretch.

Yahoo is going to reject Microsoft's offer. There is hope for humanity. Well, okay, it isn't that dramatic. No matter what you think of Yahoo, you have to be glad it isn't getting assimilated by the borg. Yet.

Consider the whole internet reduced to a war between Microsoft and Google. Oh wait. That's about what it is now.

Never mind.

In other news...

There is speculation that Apple may introduce a 3G phone. Breathless speculation mind you. People (tech bloggers) have sat up for endless nights pondering the question, "What haven't I written about for a few days?" Oh yeah. 3G iPhone.

Somebody will predict the 3G iPhone in near proximity to its release. Just like someone will win the PowerBall jackpot eventually. It's all about timing. Skill and knowledge are rudimentary. For PowerBall it's about knowing where to buy a ticket and being able to accurately transact $1. For the iPhone prediction it's all about repeating yourself over and over until you hit it.

The blogospheroid who hits the iPhone prediction will become a self-proclaimed expert. Winning the lottery actually pays money.

Core Competency...

Microsoft has introduced new cordless mice. Yeh. That's something they're actually good at. Keyboards and mice. I wonder if the Vista drivers work with the new hardware.

More interesting stuff ...

I read in the newspaper today that Cher is going to be headlining in Las Vegas with Bette Midler and Elton John. No mention of Barry Manilow or Barbra Streisand anywhere. Weird.

The music biz...

The four major music companies have tried to unite to create their own online music service to compete with Apple's iTunes. The DOJ is investigating them for anti-trust violations. This is said to be a help to Apple.

My guess is, Apple couldn't care less. If they all get together in an orgy of stupid to fight Apple, Apple wins. Why? Because Apple is following all the rules of fair play. Nobody is forced to sell anything on iTunes, or buy anything. It just happens to be the best place for both.

Has anyone heard how well Amazon's music download thingy-jobby is working out? How's Napster doing these days? How many subscription services are making inroads against iTMS? None? Why do you suppose that is?

Oh yeah, because that isn't what those of us who buy music want. We want to OWN our tracks. And we want it to be a pleasant experience when we BUY our tracks. The reason that the music companies want to end that is that they want to charge us EVERY TIME WE PLAY our tracks.

If the RIAA had their way, you'd send them a bright shiny quarter every time you hum a song – you copyright-infringing musician hater you.

Too bad for them that iTunes came along.

If the RIAA spends a bunch of money designing yet another attempt to undermine iTMS, their stock will go down even further. They'll lose even more money. And then when their "Pay More For Less" service fails to attract anyone, they'll have even less chance of fighting Apple.

Now they have their lawyers getting dry-humped by the DOJ for even trying.

All that, stuffed salmon filets and steamed asparagus for dinner, too. It's a good day.