Tales of Hoffman

I wanna be in a GarageBand

Ok, so now I'm seriously "jonse-ing" for Apple's new iLife suite and GarageBand specifically. It looks like it's alot like a bunch of other looping programs out there so maybe someone can answer this question...

I play the saxophone. What if I want to create a "music minus one" type of situation and play over a set of chord changes (anything from a basic blues to classic jazz tunes)? Is there a way to set the rhythm section and then have the piano, guitar and bass loops actually follow a set of chord changes? Can I do this with Apple's GarageBand? I've read everything I can find so far, but not the answer to this question. Any ideas out there?

Reactions to Apple's Juice

Russell Beattie is disappointed with Steve Job's Keynote from yesterday. I have to admit that I was hoping for a cheaper iPod as well, but when all is said and done, the price will drop, it's just not time yet.

As for Russell's point that the Mini is more like a marketing move than a true product innovation, I agree, but I don't see that as a negative! As in my post from yesterday, Apple finally owns a market. If the market leader doesn't make these "marketing" moves then someone else will....it's been the story of Apple's life and I for one am glad that they are finally making strategic moves that are meant to support the innovation/customer experience moves for which they are rightfully famous.

Oh, and Garage Band? Now THAT'S cool. I've been looking at Soundtrack for some time with envy but couldn't get myself to spring 200 bucks for it. Now, I'm showing up at an Apple store the day iLife comes out so I can try this thing out. Today's synths/sequencers/digital recorders are far beyond my abilities and interests (speaking as an old saxophone player here), but if it works as promised, Garage Band will let me use a computer to create music like no program since "Dr. T's Sequencer" on my old Commodore 64 (anyone else remember that?). All my iMovies will heretofore feature original soundtracks. Like I said...cool.

We've Come a Long Way, Baby

Via Anil Dash...this WMP clip from the CBC archives originally broadcast in 1993 is like a snapshot of Internet-past. All the wonder, ambiguity and goofiness that is today's Net was all there over 10 years ago.

Happy Birthday, Mini-Pod?

Well, today is supposed to be the day that Apple hits the mass market with it's $100 ($119?, $150?) "mini-Pod." A smaller, colorful counterpart to the full-fledged iPod. I've had an original 5MB iPod for a few years now and I have to say that it's changed the way I listen to music on the go. I put the thing on "shuffle," and everywhere I go, I have my own private radio station that only plays music that I like.

If this rumored new product comes into being, it'll be interesting to see what happens. As far as I know, this is the first time that Apple has come out with a (much) cheaper alternative to one of its traditional, upscale, high-margin products with the intent of owning the whole market. Can Apple finally make the transition from niche marketer to mass marketer? I'm not sure of the answer to that, but having some of Apple's attention to user experience finally make it into a highly affordable product will certainly be a desireable side effect.

The Tyranny of RSS

Happy New Year! As you know, I'm the first one to praise the power of RSS, but try coming back to an aggregator that hasn't been checked for two weeks....It's an ugly sight (site? ;-) ). Anyway, I deleted all entries and am starting fresh for 2004, so if you wrote anything earth shattering over the last two weeks, you'll have to write it again in order for me to notice.