The end of iTunes

Earlier this month, Apple announced it was ending iTunes, news that was met with a shrug. It seems that many people hated it, and it did, indeed, seem a relic because, as the chart above shows, revenue from streaming music overtook digital downloads some time ago. But when it was introduced, iTunes was revolutionary and a perfect example of “disruptive technology”. Times have changed.

When iTunes was announced in 2001, it created a way to load music onto the company’s iPod music player. In so doing, it began to usher in the era of digital music. When they introduced the iTunes Store in 2003, it became the first legal way to buy and download digital music and created the then-radical idea of allowing customers to buy individual songs, not just entire albums. Some artists hated this, preferring to think of their album as a kind of unitary entity, but consumers loved it.

In 2005, Apple added support for podcasts to iTunes and the iTunes store, which made the medium much more widely available and easy to use. That development killed off some of the independent software, called “podcatchers”. However, as iTunes has declined, it’s no longer the only way that people get their podcasts, and various other ways, such as Stitcher Radio, though there was controversy about that (see also below), relating to Stitcher placing ads on podcasts they provided, without sharing revenue with the content creators.

It’s probably fair to say that the end of iTunes won’t affect (or, apparently, bother…) many people, since most people now stream their music or download it from one of those services. And, people will still be able to buy music through Apple, just not using iTunes.

Desktop Macs will be like iOS devices (iPhone, iPad), with three separate Apps, one for music, one for podcasts, and one for movies. Making Macs work more like iOS devices will appeal to some people, especially those new to the “Apple ecosystem”. Backups of iOS devices will be handled in Finder, which is the basic level of the MacOS and includes the desktop.

To some of us, however, it’ll be annoying to have three different Apps to manage digital audio-visual content and a fourth thing to handle iOS device backups. Also, the history isn’t good: When the Podcast App was first introduced to iOS, replacing iTunes, it was terrible: It was frustratingly hard to use, and it was difficult to add podcast subscriptions. That got better with upgrades, but there will be an opportunity for third-party developers to make a “better iTunes” to re-merge the functions. There are companies making podcast apps for iOS, so it seems natural to have fully integrated Apps, at least for audio content.

I seem to be one of the few people who actually didn’t mind iTunes’ shortcomings because of how easy it was to make playlists to organise music and podcasting libraries. I also used iTunes to create the MP3 versions of my podcasts because it was easier and faster than the other methods I’ve used. When iTunes goes, I may end up changing how I make podcasts, too.

Still, people complained about the “useless” features of iTunes, and there is one that even I don’t use anymore: Burning CDs of music. In fact, modern Macs don’t even have CD drives anymore, and we don’t have a disc player hooked up to our TVs, either. It was convenient and easy to use back in the day, though. iTunes also worked the other way: Creating MP3 copies of physical CDs, but we did that years ago (and there are other Apps that specialise in creating digital audio files from physical media).

I don’t always want to stream music—sometimes I want to buy it. So, given how confusing everything is, I decided to look at the alternatives. It’s important to note that all of the streaming sites also allow “offline listening” (downloads) of music, but it’s not clear from their websites what happens to those downloads if a customer quits the service. Only two of the services offer digital sales to New Zealand.

Any talk about pricing of digital sales has to begin with the granddaddy, Apple’s music store. Apple customers outside the USA have always subsidised American consumers by paying higher prices—sometimes dramatically higher—than do buyers in the USA. This has been true for all products sold by Apple, including their computers, phones, and so on, as well as digital music.

I looked at Apple’s iTunes Store the other day as I was researching this post. I saw several albums that were priced at US$6.99 in the US store, which works out to NZ$10.52 each. But in the NZ store, the same albums were priced at $16.99-$17.99 (US$11.29 – US$11.95). Some weren’t available at all.

Next I looked at Amazon’s Music. Most of the albums I looked at on iTunes were available from Amazon, with an important caveat: NONE of the albums were available as digital albums for people in New Zealand. Physical CDs were mostly US$9.99 (NZ$9.49) or US$9.99 for digital version (in the USA). A notable exception was an album available as a digital download on iTunes for US$6.99 in the USA, and Amazon offered the physical CD for US$5.99 and the digital download was US$16.99 (again, not available in NZ). Another one was US$9.49 and ($16.99 for the USA-only digital downloads). Meanwhile, Amazon Music subscriptions are NZ$9.99 per month for an Individual, or $14.99 per month for a family. It is available for all platforms.

Google Play was developed for Android and Chrome operating systems, or for anyone on the web. It is the closest to the Apple iTunes store, and its digital downloads, at least on albums I checked, were available in New Zealand. They ranged from $9.99 to $13.99 which appears to be NZ dollars (I didn’t buy anything, so I can’t be sure). Subscriptions are $12.99 for an individual and $19.99 for a family. There is a free service, too. There is an iOS App, but reviews show it's had a mixed reception. Third-party developers have made players for the MacOS, though it can also be accessed on a Mac through the web.

Apple Music is $14.99 per month (the US rate is US$9.99, which today is $15.02, and that means that, unusually, pricing is quite similar). There is no free, ad-supported version. It reached 10 million subscribers in six months, something that took Spotify six years to achieve.

Spotify has a free, ad-supported service (which I have). Spotify Premium, which removes Spotify-added ads and also adds some features, is $14.99 per month for an individual, and a family version is $22.50 per month. There are iOS and Mac Apps available (I have both).

Stitcher Radio describes itself as “an on-demand Internet radio service” that’s also used for podcasts. It uses a mobile phone App and is not available on desktop machines. People can buy a Premium subscription for $4.99 per month (or billed annually for the equivalent of $2.92 per month). The “premium” version removes the Stitched-added ads, and provides access to “premium podcasts”.

Pandora Radio is only available in the USA, so I didn’t bother looking into it.

At this point I have no plans to subscribe to a streaming service, though I may revisit that. I don't listen to radio, so I'm not sure that streaming music would have any value to me. This is important to me because I only listen to music and podcasts when I'm using my desktop computer. Because neither any subscription I had nor the service itself will last forever. That means that, if "offline" songs are all deleted when the subscription ends, it’s theoretically possible that one could spend a lot more money to subscribe to music than to buy it outright. So, I think some caution is wise.

I plan on trying out at least some of these services in the months ahead, and, if I do, I’ll share what I find. One thing is certain, though: Later this year, everything will change for my digital music and podcast listening, whether I do anything or not. Times have changed.

Related: “Apple Music vs. Spotify” By Time Hardwick, MacRumors

The graph comparing streaming and downloads of music and movies at the top is of this post is from Statista, as is the chart in the middle of this post on paid digital music consumption.

Put the record on

This morning, I saw that Roger Green had posted “The Compact Disc and me”, about his slow adoption of CDs and some of the issues around that. I identified with much of what he said, though, my tale heads off in an odd direction.

Like Roger, my first CD was given to me, though I’ve forgotten if that was the only one before I bought my first one, or whether there were others. In any case, it was quite awhile later that I bought a CD player.

Also like Roger, I had quite a few vinyl LPs, though, unlike Roger, only maybe a couple hundred, including several 12-inch singles (what they once called “disco singles”), records with extended mixes of songs played in dance clubs.

I also had a stereo cassette deck, but bought only a couple recorded tapes, and only because the alternative was a CD, which I couldn’t play. Instead, I used it to make mixtapes of songs I liked, to match moods, etc.

Some time in the early 1990s, I finally got a CD player, but I only bought a couple dozen CDs before I moved to New Zealand, and I brought them all with me (unlike my LPs, most of which I left behind; all my 12-inch singles came with me, though).

Fast forward to 2001, and the first iPod was introduced. However, in New Zealand at that time, there was no legal way to put music on them. The iTunes Store didn't open until 2003—not that it mattered, because it didn't expand to New Zealand until 2005.

The lack of a way to buy digital music mattered because at that time "format shifting" (like, converting a music CD to MP3 format) was illegal under NZ copyright law. So, only musicians who wrote and recorded their own music had a legal way to put music on an iPod until 2005, and even then, people couldn’t legally digitise music they owned on CD.

Obviously, everyone ignored (or, more likely, didn't even know about) the law and converted their CDs. In fact, I’d been converting my CDs for years by that point so I could listen to them on my computer or to make CD versions of my old mixtapes. Some people also used illegal download sites like Napster, too, but that was mainly because there was no legal alternative.

New Zealand copyright law was changed in 2008 to allow format shifting of music CDs, but people are required to keep the actual CD and, theoretically, have them available for inspection by representatives of the copyright holder (not that it was likely to ever happen). The idea was to prevent people from buying (or borrowing…) CDs, ripping them to MP3 then selling (or returning…) the CD. Fair enough, but it means people have to store the CDs forever—theoretically, anyway, and we all know that people will ignore that and get rid of their CDs (for the record, yes, we still have all the CDs we’ve ripped to MP3).

Nowadays, I buy all my music as digital downloads, mostly through iTunes Store, which certainly isn’t perfect. For example, often music released in other countries isn’t available here, or is released much later. This mostly affects back catalogue items or things from less popular artists; content from big artists is usually released globally at the same time.

The other thing that’s wrong with iTunes NZ Store is that we pay more per song and album than US customers do. Mind you, we’re used to that, since we usually pay more for Apple-branded products, too.

The reality is, there’s not much alternative any more. All our CD chain stores are gone, and CDs are now mainly available from a few larger retailers. One of them, Australian chain JB HiFi, also sells vinyl LP records, which kind of brings it all full circle.

One of the main advantages of LPs over CDs, and CDs over digital downloads, is something that Roger touched on in his post: The liner notes. I’d add cover artwork to that, because, in my opinion, artwork has suffered in the digital age. Visuals just aren’t as necessary to snag sales, so while some of it is still quite good, much of it now is pretty bland and unimaginative. I could also count on one hand, I think, all the digital albums I’ve bought that came with what they call a “Digital Booklet”—basically, liner notes. None of that is really a complaint, more a sort of sad realisation; I just think that good artwork and liner notes add to the experience.

What’s the next form music will take? Personally, I think it’ll be some form of streaming, but that’s a topic for another day. Right now, I’m going to go put some MP3s on—that just doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

Give control to media consumers

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey recently gave the keynote address at the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival. In it, he challenged broadcasters to give control to viewers, as his own example has done. He points out that if people are able to access content when and where they want, and at a reasonable price, they will pay for the content rather than stealing it. Numerous studies back him up on that, as does real-world experience with services like iTunes Store.

However, despite the success of iTunes and other services, the music industry is still fighting change. How much more likely is it that television and films will adapt to the new realities? I think they’ll be somewhat less likely to do so. But adapting to the new realities isn’t optional: If they don’t, they will whither and die.

Podcasts, YouTube, streaming video and ebooks all give control to consumers of content, and much of it is quite profitable, thank you very much. It’s also highly democratic: Modern technology lets anyone with an idea, a computer and a bit of know-how the ability to produce and sell their own publications, music, films, shows, broadcasts, etc. This is the new reality in the world.

Old media companies must adapt. Kevin Spacey’s remarks provide a spirited explanation of why that is.

Tip o' the Hat to my nephew, who posted this video to Facebook.

Mourning a visionary

I don’t think I’ve ever mourned a captain of industry before, but I’m truly sad about the death of Steve Jobs. I can’t think of any other businesses person who has had as profound an effect on my daily life as Jobs did; I doubt it will happen again.

The first personal computer I ever used was an Apple II. I say “used”, but it was really just kind of playing, because I’d never seen a computer before and I didn’t know what to do with it.

Fast forward a few years, and the Macintosh was released. At the time, I was using the personal computers of the day, none of which could do what the Mac did. I was part of a group that had a person who used a Mac to do the newsletter, being able to create pages ready to print in a fraction of the time I could using traditional methods.

I was working at a printing company by that time, using expensive proprietary computer equipment, an X-Acto knife, hot wax and a light table to create page layouts that could be done in a fraction of the time on a Mac. My boss recognised that, and when laser printers hit the 600dpi range, we converted to Macintosh and that was the end of the old phototypsetters.

Later, we added scanning and replaced the old film cameras for making photostats or halftones of photos for our layouts. All of this, in turn, led me to newspaper production and eventually to my first job in New Zealand—and all my work since.

In the weeks before I moved to New Zealand, Nigel and I even chatted using Apple’s “eWorld” online service. Yep, even that aspect of my life was helped by Apple.

When Steve Jobs returned to lead Apple, we saw the dawn of the iPod and the iTunes Store, which led to the birth of podcasts, my main hobby. My work in video, such as it has been and hopefully will become, is a direct result of my use of Macintosh. So, too, with my photography and other graphics work.

Not all of the things that affected my life came about when Steve Jobs was head of the company, but the biggest effects have been because of Jobs: Desktop publishing happened because of Macintosh, and even Windows machines eventually adopted the Macintosh idiom. My hobby exists because of the iPod. Every single day I use my iPad for basic connectivity anywhere in the house, and I use that or my iPhone away from the home, or my Macbook if I need a full computer. I’m writing this post using a Mac Pro.

There are equivalent products and software to do all these things, sometimes even with similar ease of use. Had they been there first, I wouldn’t be writing this post. But the inescapable fact is that whether it was for work or play, my use and adoption of computing technology was driven by Apple, and Apple was driven by Steve Jobs.

So, thank you, Steve Jobs—for everything. R.I.P.

The picture at the top of this post is a screen capture of Apple’s main web page. I made the capture on a Mac, of course.

Weekend Diversion: Boy George ‘Turn 2 Dust’

This week’s Weekend Diversion is the official video for Boy George’s “Turn 2 Dust”, released in advance of a second album of remixes of the song, due out in November. The first volume of remixes was released in NZ September 5, and another version was originally on the album Ordinary Alien (The Kinky Roland Files), released in Northern Hemisphere autumn 2010 (but apparently only available in NZ since last January.) Neither of the albums released so far has the version of the song in this video, so maybe that means it’s on the new remix album.

By the time I got through my first listening, I liked the song (who can’t like a lyric that says “all hatred must turn to dust”?). I also like how in the background of the video the word “FREAK” appears. Nice touch, and typical of him confronting those who condemn him.

I haven’t been keeping up with Boy George much in recent years as he went through his, um, difficulties. That wasn’t why I wasn’t paying attention, but it didn’t help. He’s been busy DJ-ing, writing books and recording some music, too. Culture Club is celebrating its 30th anniversary (thirty years?!) and apparently they’ll have a new album next year.

In any case, the March of the 80s musicians continues, which is, of course, just fine with me. And, I have to admit, I’m pleased to see that one of us old fellas (50+) can still be part of pop culture, and pop music in particular, creating new works. Personally, I prefer to see older artists doing that, contributing new works, and not just performing in nostalgia tours, though there’s certainly a place for both.

Touring New Zealand by phone

I was checking Twitter today, and I saw a Tweet from nzhistory.net about a new, free iPhone app, Roadside Stories, from the Ministry for Culture and Hertiage.

Sounded interesting, so I followed the link to the site where I found they described it as:

“…a series of audio guides that follow major road trips in New Zealand. The stories cover the places you’ll pass along the way – their people, their history, their cultural and natural significance.”

I was intrigued by now, and then red of the app itself:

“The Roadside Stories app contains 11 tours of New Zealand, featuring over 100 stops, each with a four-minute audio file and photos. You can download the tours before heading out on the road so you don't have to worry about paying for mobile data. Each tour includes a map to help you find the locations.”

I downloaded and installed the app on my iPhone and tried downloading the tour of Auckland to Hamilton. The app suggests downloading the tour beforehand so in can be used without an Internet connection. Very wise advice, because my home wifi connection is faster and cheaper than using data connection on the phone.

But there’s more to it than just an app.

The tours are on YouTube, grouped into playlists. The tours are also integrated with Google Maps, and you can subscribe to the tours as podcasts through iTunes—all of them or just the tours you’re interested in. All 110 MP3s are available as a single 550MB download, too.

I think all of this is fantastic—and a great idea. My only criticism is that there’s no mention of an Android app, and I think there should be one. Still the availability of the tours on YouTube and as podcasts does help make tours accessible to those without iPhones. It just could be better.

Anything that encourages people to tour New Zealand is a good thing, and things that make that touring easier is better still. So far, this seems to be a both. It’s also nice to see government using technology in new ways.

Reading through electrons

I’ve written various posts about e-reading—the devices, software and even the paradigm itself. Now that I’ve been doing it for awhile, I thought I’d share my thoughts.

Back in August of last year, I downloaded the Kindle Reader software from Amazon for both my iPod Touch (this was before the iPad and iPhone) and my desktop Mac. Kindle edition books are significantly cheaper than the dead tree versions, and more importantly, they’re downloaded in minutes and there are no shipping charges, sales taxes/GST, etc. It’s a pretty good deal.

However, it’s not easy to get non-Kindle books into the software. It’s supposedly possible, but I haven’t actually done it. Still, any books I buy and download are available on my iPad, iPhone and desktop Mac, and they sync with each other so no matter what device I’m using, my book is always on the same page and my notes/annotations, if any, are shared. Those are all good things.

I also tried Stanza, and while I like it, getting books from my desktop Mac to my iPad or iPhone was so difficult that I never did figure it out. On the other hand, it’s simple software, works well and is fast.

Finally, once the Apple’s iBooks software was available in New Zealand, I decided to try that. I already buy nearly all my music and Mac software through Apple’s stores, so why not? Well, for one thing, when it was introduced, there were no books apart from some public domain old books. While good to have, here was nothing current to buy.

Turns out, there’s still nothing to buy: All 16,000+ books available in New Zealand are free, as near as I could tell. Many are classics, all free and in the public domain. On the other hand, iBooks is for me by far the easiest of the three to add ebooks from elsewhere: Simply drag and drop it (in epub or pdf format) into the Books window on iTunes and you’re done (when synching you may need to tell your device to synch the book). I subscribe to the digital edition of a magazine and can drag the PDFs into iBooks to read on my iPad.

I also downloaded the free app for The Nation magazine. It comes with one free issue and after that you can subscribe or buy individual issues. They’re cheaper than buying the printed versions in the store—which are imported, of course—and can be bought in Kiwi dollars, which is a plus. I also downloaded the app for The Hill, which covers political news in the US. Newspapers have similar apps, some better than others.

So after trying all this, I’ve reached some conclusions. First, I think these devices are good for most magazines, since we tend not to keep them, anyway; I think that magazines where photography is important might be better on paper, even though the iPad screen is good. I also think it’s good for some books that date quickly, like software books—especially because they tend to be expensive in printed form.

I’m more dubious about them for books I want to keep around, and that includes classic books. I think it could be good for classics we’ve never managed to get around to reading, and we can always buy a printed version later. It could be good for new books that we don’t know will stand the test of time, too.

However, for me there’s nothing better than the feel of a real book, the smell of ink and paper, the look of them when they’re all lined up on bookshelves. No e-reader can match that look, feel or feeling, even with their page-turn animations. So I think that e-readers like the iPad are really good and useful, especially for certain types of books, magazines and other publications, but I certainly won’t be abandoning real books any time soon, nor as fast as I did CDs.

Like a record, baby

I used to buy a lot of records, then CDs, but now I buy neither: I buy songs through iTunes Store. This includes replacing records.

As long time readers may remember, when I went to the US in late 2007 to dispose of the last of my stuff I had stored there, I had to leave behind nearly all of my records. In the three years since, I’ve bought a few albums through the iTunes Store, found some as cheap CDs, some I’ll still eventually buy and the rest, well, I probably don’t want them anymore, anyway.

To answer an obvious question, these electronic files have multiple redundant backups, so I’m not worried about losing them except in the same ways I once could’ve lost records/CDs: Theft, fire, natural disaster. But there are strategies to remove even that risk.

This is one of those paradigm shifts I often talk about, where successful technology is evolutionary, seldom truly revolutionary. What that means is that new technologies actually use an existing paradigm that people are familiar with. Microwave ovens, for example, work in many of the same ways as traditional ovens, only faster and through a different method. Cassettes and CDs and now MP3 music are extensions of the record that people were already familiar with (though the introduction of records arguably was revolutionary).

Still, it’s all a matter of perspective, really. Today I saw a Tweet: “Before iPods we’d go to places that were like in-person iTunes Stores to get circles made of mirrors that made music if spinning in a gizmo.” This is cute, but I couldn’t help thinking it was a young person’s perspective, someone who’s aping being a sage remembering the near past.

I remember browsing through the bins of a record store, or looking at a big wall filled with the Top 20 albums. Then, once I brought my new record home, opening the shrink-wrap and smelling the ink-on-cardboard scent of the jacket, combined with the smell of the vinyl record within. Neither iTunes nor CD stores gave the same sensations, but I don’t really miss them.

Records took a lot of space to store, were VERY heavy to move, and weren’t portable. CDs were portable, but took a lot of space to store and a LOT of boxes to move (when it seemed one or more plastic jewel cases were always broken). Electronic music, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily take any physical space to store, is completely transportable and easy to move. To me, all this trumps the few drawbacks (although I do miss the extensive artwork in the jacket, inner sleeve and sometimes the label, too).

I get why people are nostalgic about the technology before—CDs or records—but I’m not one of them. I want the music, and the specific delivery medium isn’t that important to me as long as I have the file in my possession, not on some company’s computers somewhere else. Some paradigm shifts take longer than others. But the music will keep playing in the meantime.

AmeriNZ 99 - Just Me

Episode 99 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post here, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

Today’s episode is just me: I tell you about something I got in the mail, something about the new home of my podcast (amerinzpodcast.com), then it’s on to the comments I haven’t had time for lately.

Today’s episode starts with another country’s national anthem; what country is it? This will be my feature for July. And speaking of July features, today I also continue a shorter episode on Tuesday.

Please leave a comment at http://amerinzpodcast.com/, send an email to arthur{at]amerinzpodcast.com, or ring my US listener line on 206-339-8413.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes


Note to blog readers: This is the last time I'll post complete shownotes here. From now on, complete shownotes will only be posted to the new site, with a short announcement here.

Update 09 July 2008: My Podomatic account has reached its bandwidth limit and won't re-set until 15 July. If you want to receive episodes between now and then, you'll need to get them through the new feed. To subscribe to the new feed, just click the iTunes badge above, or click on the badge at the top of this post to go the new home of the AmeriNZ Podcast to download this episode manually.

Why it’s called inevitable

When some event is called “inevitable”, it’s usually because, well, it is. That means, of course, it’s true if the word is used accurately, and not as hyperbole.

Back in January, my AmeriNZ Podcast made the featured Personal Journals podcast page on iTunes USA. I knew that it inevitably would fall off, but I had no idea how long that would take.

On July Fourth, not quite six months later, it dropped off the featured page (just) and onto the regular page one.

There are two reasons for this. First, Oprah has a “podcast” that’s inappropriately categorised as a “personal journal” when it’s anything but. The other reason is my recent feed change, which I knew would cause all kinds of havoc. I was right.

However, my new podcast feed (by “Arthur the AmeriNZ”) is on page two, and is now in the main “New and Notable” section, so my album art is still visible to anyone who gets to that section (it’s also on the main “New and Notable” section for the parent “Society & Culture” category).

All of that's happened because of people subscribing to my new feed, and because so far 11 new 5-star reviews have been left for me. To help anyone who wants to do either—and both help me greatly—I’ve included the link below.

Will I get back on the featured page of iTunes USA? I have no idea. But I’ll be recording this coming week. That much is inevitable.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

AmeriNZ 97 - We're Number One

Episode 97 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post here, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

July 1 is Canada Day, the country’s birthday, so first I salute my fellow Commonwealth Citizens.

Then, I tell you how New Zealand is number one in something unusual. The NZ political party that’s currently polling in first place was revealed to be using a shady PR agency. And I also tell you how the AmeriNZ Podcast was Number One.

Leave a comment at amerinzpodcast.com, or ring my US listener line on (206) 339-8413. You can also email me at arthur{at]amerinzpodcast.com (or the old address at amerinz(at]yahoo.com).

P.S. This is my 700th post on this blog!


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One brief shining moment

This past Sunday, my AmeriNZ Podcast was the Number One personal journal podcast on the iTunes New Zealand Store. It’s been in the top 10 before, and it’s often been in the top 30, but never Number One.

This all happened because of all the people re-subscribing to my new feed, so it’s only a temporary thing. In fact, today it had dropped back to number 2, and it’ll continue to fall.

But I just enjoyed being Number One, for the first time in my life, I think. I also liked having both the new and old podcast visible on the Personal Journals main page in the iTunes New Zealand Store (the new one is by “Arthur the AmeriNZ”).

Mind you, you can help me have a high ranking simply by subscribing to my AmeriNZ Podcast by clicking the button below. And while you’re there, why not leave a 5-star review to help keep my podcast on the featured page?


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Let the re-subscribing begin!

Well, a little later than I would’ve liked, but I have a new iTunes link for my AmeriNZ Podcast. If you haven’t done so already, click “unsubscribe” to the old iTunes link. Then, click the link below and click “Subscribe”.

And while you’re there, why not leave a 5-star review? I know, I know, I’m not paying any attention to those anymore, but to be a featured podcast, apparently I need some reviews.

It may take awhile for it to show up if you do a search, but the way to tell if you have the new or old podcast is that the new one is by "Arthur the AmeriNZ", while the old one is just by "Arthur".

The good news is that you won’t have to subscribe again. Regardless of where my files are actually stored, this subscription will remain valid. Thanks for your support during this difficult transition—and thanks for listening!

Update: I've changed all the iTunes links in all the old shownotes, so clicking them will take you to the new page on the iTunes Store.

AmeriNZ 85 - Caveman talk

Episode 85 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post here, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

Today I tell you about an iconic Kiwi company that’s decided to ditch New Zealand for Asia. Then, underwear boy may be heading for France. Did cavemen say, “G’day mate?” The ANZAC Day Public Holiday is a week from today, and I may not be posting an episode that day. So, I may only have one episode next week.

Slap Upside The Head just celebrated a birthday—congratulations! Then, I tell you the truth about iTunes reviews. I mention a few emails, then go on to comments.

My outtro today is “Bearing Witness” by Kiwi performer Monique Rhodes from the Podsafe Music Network on music.podshow.com (complete links below).

Leave a comment. Or, you can ring my US listener line on 206-339-8413. Email me (won’t be read on the podcast) at arthur{at)amerinz.com. You can also still use my other address, amerinz[at) yahoo.com.

Running time: 32:15 (29.7 MB)

Links for this episode

Carter offered biggest contract in world rugby

“Neanderthals speak out after 30,000 years” from NewScientist

Slap Upside The Head

Monique Rhodes: Podsafe Music Network, Monique’s website or the Amplifier music site.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

AmeriNZ Podcast in NZ

Amid all the normal excitement lately, I forgot to mention my own bit of excitement: My AmeriNZ Podcast finally made it to the “Featured” page of the Personal Journal podcasts on the New Zealand iTunes Music Store.

This means that any Kiwi browsing that page will see my podcast and may, just maybe, investigate a little further. When I took the screenshot above, my podcast was also number 11 among today’s podcasts (it’s been in the top 5 in the past; it's also been far lower). My podcast is in a similar spot on the featured page of USA iTunes Music Store, but it’s seldom in the top 100 podcasts there.

In New Zealand, I have zero reviews, while in America I have twenty-eight 5-star reviews. New Zealand is a much smaller market, obviously, for iTunes generally and podcasts in particular. So, I don’t know what it is that ranks me so highly here—maybe it’s my USA reviews helping, or maybe a lot of local searches for my podcast, I don’t know.

This may not last long (though my place on the American featured page has continued for two months, far longer than I’d ever have guessed). Mainly, I just hope that some more Kiwis stumble across my podcast and give it a listen, because I’d love to have more listeners in New Zealand—and everywhere else, of course.

Podcast troubleshooting

As regular listeners of my podcast know, I’ve been having more and more trouble with the host site for my podcast, Podomatic. Problems include episodes being unavailable, downloads taking forever and episodes ending up being only partial.

I’m working on a permanent solution, but in the meantime, there are some steps you can take, and these may help you with other podcasts you’re having trouble accessing:

1) If you subscribe to a podcast through iTunes and you get a partial download, delete the partial download. Then, go to the iTunes Store and search for the podcast in the “Search iTunes Store” window (in my case, enter “AmeriNZ Podcast”). When you get to the podcast and the list of all the available episodes, click on “Get Episode” for the partial one. And it will start downloading. Sometimes, you may need to repeat this procedure, as I did with my Episode 81, where it took three tries to get the complete episode.

2) If you get the exclamation mark error (!) on iTunes, wait awhile and hit “Refresh” (lower right hand corner of iTunes window). Sometimes there’s just a problem with the host servers and they need time to correct. Wait hours or a day, but if the problem doesn’t clear, you may need to try a manual download as outlined above.

3) Almost all podcasts offer a manual download option. If the host site can’t communicate with iTunes, you may still be able to download it manually. In my case, the shownotes here always have a “right click” option, and you can go to my Podomatic site for direct access, too. That’s true for other podcast sites as well.

These suggestions may help you access my podcast or others you’re having trouble with. But I hope to get mine sorted out pretty soon that no one will have to mess with any of this. Details to follow.

The end of things

All technology ends sooner or later, whether through replacement or evolution. We don’t ride horses through the street anymore and we don’t crank up the Victrola. Or the Model T.

Today Nigel and I were in an electronics store. An older couple (mid-60s or so) were walking around and the man says to the woman, “How much were those VHS recorders?” He was talking about another store because the store we were in doesn’t sell VCRs anymore, unless you count the one model of DVD recorder/VCR combo machine: It’s nothing but HDD recorders and DVD recorders now.

The night before, I went to the iTunes store and downloaded an album I wanted (which I’d “requested”, btw). I realised that I can’t remember the last time I bought an actual CD; now, I mostly buy songs or complete albums on iTunes.

I’m one of those people who loves change, and technological change in particular. So for me, this is all good. But sometimes I think about the people who are left behind, the ones who are frightened by change, let alone technology. I wonder if there’s more that can be done to bring them along.

But right now, I gotta go cruise iTunes.

Addendum: I didn't buy anything on iTunes. I just browsed a bit. And that older couple I mentioned? When we left the store they were looking at DVD recorders and comparing various models.

AmeriNZ 75 – Big Bucks

Episode 75 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post here, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

On today’s episode, we have big money in New Zealand. That’s up first. Then, a German backpacker got in trouble and had to clean up. Another backpacker cleaned-up financially. Apple’s iPhone maybe illegal in Australia. It was the NZ Prime Minister’s birthday yesterday. The NZ election draws near, and that means some political talk, both about NZ and the US. Comments round out this episode.

Don’t forget to listen to or download my older episodes! My first anniversary of podcasting is at the end of March.

The New Zealand dollar today hit a new 23-year high against the US dollar. Experts are now predicting that the Kiwi dollar will hit 85 US cents, or higher.

Jan Philip Scharbert, a 28-year-old German backpacker from Munich was caught after he tagged (sprayed graffiti) a rock wall and the ice of Franz Josef Glacier in the South Island. They made him clean off his graffiti.

But another backpacker, probably from Australia, won $1 million in the NZ lottery on his second day in New Zealand. He bought the ticket on impulse, and now won’t be picking fruit to earn some money, as he’d planned.

Speaking of Australia, the Apple iPhone may be illegal in Australia. The problem is that it would normally be illegal to tie purchasers of the iPhone to only one service provider, as the company has done in other countries.

Yesterday was the birthday of Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She turned 58. The government she leads is now in its third term and faces an election later this year, probably October. The NZ Labour Party, which she leads, is currently trailing the conservative National Party in the polls, but it’s too early to count Labour out. Another lesbian is entering Parliament as an MP.

I don’t like Ralph Nader. I think that John McCain has credibility problems. Both give me a chance for a mini-rant.

Leave a comment. Or, you can email a comment to comment(at]amerinz.com, or send a personal email to me (won’t be read on the podcast) to arthur{at)amerinz.com. You can also still use my other address, amerinz[at) yahoo.com or ring my US listener line on 206-339-8413.

Links for this episode

Big Fatty Online

“I’m Sorry” by Roger Green


Blue Savannah by Erasure iTunes USA Store or iTunes NZ Store. You can also buy Blue Savannah through Amazon.com.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Climbing the iTunes page

Last month, when my AmeriNZ Podcast made the front page among featured Personal Journal podcasts on the iTunes Music Store (USA), I was pretty thrilled. I even blogged about it.

Since then, I’ve been saying that it was only a matter of time before I dropped off the featured page, because there are some podcasts coming along that will be far more popular than mine. I still think that. However, when I looked at the US version of the iTunes Music Store yesterday, I found my podcast had actually moved up (screenshot above). Who’d have guessed that?

I’m up to 21 5-star reviews at the moment, and they’re part of the reason I’ve moved up on the featured page. Thanks to that, I’ve also gained new listeners, and that also helps the positioning of my podcast. So, those people who have written me a review have helped my podcast’s audience to grow.

I can’t thank the reviewers enough for taking the time to leave 5-star reviews. They have all been generous and kind, and some have been downright surprising. I appreciate each and every one. Others have clicked “yes” to the question “Was this review helpful?” and that helps, too.

And, in case you want to leave a review of your own, just click here and you’ll be re-directed to the iTunes Music Store (you do have to have the iTunes player installed first). If that doesn't work, just type "AmeriNZ Podcast" in your iTunes search window, and it'll take your there. As I said last month, I’ll never ask for a donation or cash support of any kind—not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I do. So, if you want to support my podcast, this is a way you can do it.

Thanks again!

AmeriNZ 68 - John Ong is everywhere

Episode 68 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post here, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

New Zealand’s clean and green is a bit faded. A NZ website has a bout of homophobia, while an American comedian will go pink for New Zealand. If you’re happy and you know it, you’re probably not 44. I give you a chance to make fun of me. And, John Ong is everywhere.

The NZ government’s newest report on the environment, Environment New Zealand 2007, has found that things aren’t all that great with NZ’s environment (read the NZ Herald story or the Stuff story).

In NZ we have a press agency called the NZPA for news-sharing among New Zealand media, and sometimes overseas. The main news websites carry the reports—sometimes exactly the same.

There was an NZPA report that a man was sexually attacked at a public toilet in Christchurch. The NZ Herald website correctly headlined their story, “Man sexually attacked and robbed in toilet block”. But rival stuff.co.nz headlined their version, “Manhunt for toilet block gay sex attacker”.

I fired off a complaint to Stuff, pointing out that there’s no such thing as a "gay sex attack" (or even a "homosexual sex attack"); sex attacks are the actions of violent, depraved individuals who may or may not be heterosexual or homosexual. Sex attacks are crimes of violence, not sex. I said that by using the word "gay" they reinforced negative stereotypes of gay men generally, including the myth that they prey on "innocent victims".

On the brighter side, an American comedian will be turning pink for New Zealand.

Speaking of happiness, did you know there's a sort of universal path of happiness over a lifetime? Does it relate to my life?

Two new podcasts are starting up.

I'm going to put a link to my Frappr map, but take away the map widget because my blog is taking too long to load, so I'll be removing most of them. So, leave a pin while it's still easy to do! To round-out the tech talk, I give an iTunes update plus give two new email addresses you can use.

I’m recording a new political discussion via Skype on Thurday, February 7, at 7:30pm EST (US) time. You're welcome to join us.

Please leave a comment. Or, you can email a comment to comment(at]amerinz.com, or send a personal email to me (won’t be read on the podcast) to arthur{at)amerinz.com. You can also still use my other address, amerinz[at) yahoo.com or ring my US listener line on 206-339-8413.

Links for this episode

We're Mean Because You're Stupid

There Are Some Who Call Me Tim episode on Big Fatty's new podcast

Big Fatty Online

John Ong's Ongline Podcast


Blue Savannah by Erasure iTunes USA Store or iTunes NZ Store. You can also buy Blue Savannah through Amazon.com.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes