Big Weekend for Steve Jobs

With the release of Apple iPhone and Pixar's Ratatouille, this is boiling up to be a massive weekend for Mr. Jobs. My sister, who overlooks the 5th Avenue Apple store from work and is steps away from the Soho location where she lives, said people were wrapped for a few city blocks around the buildings waiting to get inside to buy a maximum of 2 iPhones. The first person in line at the 5th Avenue store had been there since 5am on Monday

I can only imagine how Mr. Jobs deals with those two massive pies in the oven.

Amazon bites into Apple.

Today, Amazon did what the doctor said and took a bite out of Apple. iTunes fear not though. Amazon is looking to take on Apple in the music download service business that Apple has dominated with iTunes for years. Amazon will begin by selling tracks without the digital rights management restrictions (DRM). This is an inevitable step in the right direction for the selling of digital music and a smart move by Amazon even though it might not be a big advantage in its battle with iTunes, who will also start selling DRM-free tracks from EMI at the end of this month.

I think a positive side note to the events unfolding is that EMI, one of the major giants in the music business, is open to offering digital music without the built in restrictions, see DRM, that make it very hard for consumers, who legally buy the tracks, to make copies. When do you think the other biggies will follow suit?

I think this is a great step forward for the consumer and a smart decision by Amazon.