Apple announced a new suite of iPods the other day, lovely machines with some great new features – typical of Apple. One of those in the range is the iPod touch, which has WiFi capability and a web browser built in as well as music, video and gaming facilities. Sort of like the iPhone without the phone.
They’ve also announced a collaboration with Starbucks, whereby Starbucks provide free WiFi hotspots and you provide your iTunes account details, at the touch of a button you can automatically purchase & download whatever they happen to be playing in the shop at that time. Not only that but everything on the iTunes Sore as well. This appears to be rolling out across the US in the months to come. It remains to be seen whether it’ll be popular with the iPod-toting, skinny-cappuccino-swilling lobby – I’m sure it will. As my boss says, it’ll probably wirelesly update their virtual loyalty cards too!
This is a great opportunity for excercising the online anagram server at wordsmith.org to see if the union of brand names comes up with anything interesting. I really like the first one – who knows? Maybe they’ll go into selling books together.
Don’t know where I stand on this yet, the liaison between Apple and Starbucks. Don’t suppose I’ll have to worry about it yet for a year or so (or maye never) until the service becomes available here in Ireland.
Too much lifestyle to swallow in one sitting?
My worry is that artists and labels with more clout will be able to influence the playlists in Starbucks and we’ll ultimately have a narrower choice. Those of us who enjoy the less commercial apsects of music aren’t going to have the opportunity to press the Starple button on our new iPod touches to download the particularly quiet and beautiful 4?33? by John Cage.
Of course I can’t back up any of this with fact, all I can do is relate my own experience of musical content in my local Mespil Rd S’Bucks which plays a dismal selection (to my taste anyway). And it’s probaby going to take a while for the service to be activated over here considering how long it took to have the Irish itms opened.