Below The Beltway

Or at least peace between Apple Computers and The Beatles:
The maker of the iPod and the guardian of the Beatles’ music resolved their long-simmering dispute yesterday over who has the right to the Apple trademark.
The settlement between Apple Inc. and Apple Corps — which holds the rights to the band’s music — offered greater hope [...]

It looks like the long-rumored deal between Apple and The Beatles may be reality:
Listening Post reported last week that Steve Jobs would soon announce the Beatles’ availability on the iTunes store, now, new details have emerged suggesting that in keeping with Jobs’ oft-professed love of the Fab Four, the Beatles catalog could become available in [...]

Two stories from the Washington Post today demonstrate yet again the extent to which digital music players in general, and the iPod specifically, are remaking the music industry.
First, an international trade group reports that online sales of digital music doubled in 2006 to about $ 2 billion:
LONDON — Global online music sales nearly doubled in [...]

During his speech at MacWorld, where he announced the impending release of the iPhone, Steve Jobs made this statement about the ubiquity of iTunes which was actually pretty stunning:
Apple said iTunes has sold 2 billion songs. The iTunes movie section, with a collection of 250 films, has sold 1.3 million movies in its first four [...]

Steve Jobs unveils the Apple iPhone
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs confirmed yesterday that the company has created an iPod smart phone, a device that will make calls, surf the Internet, send and receive e-mail, and — naturally — play music and video downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Store
The iPhone — which should be available through Cingular [...]

The New York Times has a short, but interesting article today about the how much iPod sales are driving traffic at Apple’s iTunes Music Store:
Apple?s ubiquitous iPod and its iTunes music store were intended to be a kind of perpetual motion machine, with iPods helping to sell iTunes and iTunes helping to sell iPods
Although both [...]

From The Simpsons:
A man from the future says: “If only we’d known that iPods would unite and overthrow the very humans they entertained…”

Read more »

H/T: Wired Blog

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There really is nothing stranger than this.
H/T: Althouse

Kim Jong Il’s Christmas wish list just got dealt a heavy blow:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration wants North Korea’s attention, so like a scolding parent it’s trying to make it tougher for that country’s eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.
The U.S. government’s first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to [...]

Microsoft’s killer app designed to take on the iPod is turning out to be a bust:
Microsoft’s attack on the Apple iPod began with a whimper as Zune players made a lackluster debut in US stores.
Two boxed Zune players sat ignored on the top shelf of a Plexiglas showcase packed with iPod accessories in a Virgin [...]