Two movie studios slowly embrace the future, Apple’s new campus inches closer to takeoff, and one customer has angry words for Siri. The remainders for Monday, March 12, 2012 are going to be off the hook.
Hollywood Studios Warm To Apple’s iCloud Effort (Wall Street Journal)
While last week’s news that customers would be able to re-download previously purchased iTunes movies was a welcome addition, the change didn’t immediately impact movies from Universal and 20th Century Fox—those studios are beholden to an exclusive availability window with HBO. The premium cable channel and the two companies are reportedly in negotiations to allow relaxation of those restrictions to facilitate customers re-downloading movies. Wait, I think that was actually the plot to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy—I don’t know, I didn’t understand either of them.
Apple Campus 2 Project Update (City of Cupertino)
Apple is still hard at work on its new Cupertino spaceship/campus; the company recently submitted its revised plans for the massive undertaking to the city of Cupertino. Don’t worry, they left plenty of room for the warp drive.
Apple WALT sold on eBay: Never-released gadget goes for $8,000 (Yahoo News)
Before there was the iPhone, Apple developed what it dubbed the Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone. A prototype—which works “sporadically”—was sold on eBay for $8000 this week. The device, which features an LCD touchscreen, stylus, fax machine, address book, and caller ID, was introduced at Macworld Boston in 1993, but never went on sale—and for good reason. I mean, can you imagine holding this thing up to your ear?
So Sirious: iPhone User Sues Apple over Voice-Activated Assistant (Wall Street Journal)
One iPhone 4S user is suing Apple because he claims the company’s ads overstate the utility of Siri; the suit describes Siri as “at best, a work-in-progress.” If only there were some sort of technical term for that.
Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh (London Evening Standard)
Apple’s design chief, Sir Jonathan Ive, gives a rare interview with a British paper. I was most surprised to hear that he planned to make the next iPhone entirely out of butter. Totally didn’t see that coming.
11 Peculiar Meetings Between Famous People (World’s Strangest)
Did you know Steve Jobs met Andy Warhol in 1984, at a birthday for John Lennon’s son? It was awkward, because they were both wearing black turtlenecks.