And wouldn’t you know it, the helpful folks at the Apple Store stayed up all night to create an email and then sent it out to remind me. You can order lots of stuff here, like engraved iPods. (Hint to whoever created the email- your hyperlinks embedded in the text go here, which have to do with “Apple Store For Education.”)

This article suggests a solar-powered iPod could be in the works.  Why not?

Great article here– the iPod is at the top of the list, imagine that.  And didja know, as we hit the year 2000, there were 1 billion cell phone subscriptions  out there.  Ten years later, we’re at 4.5 billion.

I can’t make this stuff up.

That’s exactly what their headline says. Some fellow at CNET named Donald Bell is happy to give out tips on how to make the switch from your elegant, perfectly designed iPod, to a clunky piece of goo called the Zune. I hadn’t heard of the Zune until now, so it must not be a hot item.

Look at all the stuff that’s just come out since the start of the decade.  Guess which gizmo is on top? (Didn’t see the Zune anywhere, curiously enough.)

Zune continues its spectactular ride to the top. Oh wait, the chart’s upside down.

One data point in The Borg’s awe-inspiring media player flameout: GameSpot’s dumped the device.

Our friends up north at the CBC report why, citing NPD and The Borg’s own numbers. Apparently, Microsoft admits that two million Zunes have shipped since the launch in 2006. That would be, let’s see, a four percent share of the market, says NPD.

Gee, I wonder how the iPod stacks up? Wait! Here it is: “Apple in its most recent quarter sold 10.6 million iPods. Wait for it … that’s “more than five times Microsoft’s cumulative total for a year and a half.”

Thanks for doing the math boys.

Much love and harmonious thoughts to commentard bobdmac for the CBC link (which has since evaporated) and this one.

for MacRumors. You guys are just adorable. Good for you for following our breadcrumbs to the patent office.

Solar-powered iPods, iPhones, laptops. What could be cleaner, more Zen? More Apple.

But, what’s with the spurious mention of Motorola? As if those phoniacs would have a clue.

Ok, the nice folks at the Register got this first. But it was too good to pass up. Air New Zealand is going to equip planes with iPod docks so you can watch movies and listen to music from your iPod. We’ve had this feature for years on the Jobs Jet, but I’m glad to see it making its way into commercial airlines, so the proles can get a taste of the good life too.

You’ve probably seen stories like this one in BusinessWeek claiming we’re trying to roll out a subscription music plan. Or this one from the Financial Times. The fact is it’s a great idea, at least for some people. And every study shows there’s an appetite for this kind of thing. But until we have it rolled out I’m going to keep saying it’s shit and that nobody wants it. And if you really want to know why we don’t have it, it’s not for lack of trying on our part. It’s the record labels. In case you hadn’t noticd, those guys friggin hate us. I mean hate us. Like, a lot. And they’re working overtime trying to weaken us by propping up new distrributors like Nokia. To do that, they’ll create innovative new plans and then feed those to the “ABA” (Anybody But Apple) companies. They’re praying that one of these moronic outfits actually gains some traction. Frankly I don’t see it happening. Simple reason. It’s hard to make a good music player. It’s hard to make good software for managing music. It’s hard to make a good online music store. And it’s really, really hard to make all those things work together in a seamless, holistic experience. The record labels don’t seem to understand this. They never have. They think what we’ve done is trivial and can be easily replicated. It’s not, and it can’t. But whatever, record label dudes. Keep pissing into the wind. We’ll still be here when you get tired of having pee all over your face.