As the Apple Turns: Scene 4732: Just Call Us "Plate Captain" (6/2/04)

Just Call Us "Plate Captain" (6/2/04)

Heads up-- Euro iTMS check! Anything? No? Okay. It's just that it's, y'know, June now, and what with the repeated murmurs about Apple finally breaking off a piece of that iTunes Music Store goodness for Europe (you may know it as "Yurp") sometime in mid-June, we're starting to get a little antsy. In particular, we're a bit concerned about Napster's head start in the UK, which is where the whole download thing is really starting to heat up in that cozy little corner of the planet. For instance, Reuters notes that "Britain's fledgling market for legal music downloads broke the 500,000 mark for the year this week," compared to "virtually no legal downloads" a year ago.

"Only 500,000?" you scoff. Well, okay, it sounds low to you. But while the iTMS occasionally sells about that many songs to U.S. customers in a day, it's important to remember that: 1) the iTMS isn't available in the UK yet; 2) Napster just launched over there, so it didn't sell any of those half-million songs, either; 3) the only largish download service in the UK is apparently OD2, which powers several independently branded sites like the utterly inexplicable MyCokeMusic.com; and 4) compared to the U.S., the United Kingdom is relatively eentsy, with only a fifth of our population. (It's a "quality over quantity" thing, we're sure.) All told, half a mil for the year to date sounds pretty good to us.

Meanwhile, the real reason why we're half-suspecting the Euro iTMS to pop up any second now is because UK-dwelling faithful viewers Shaun Woods and Colin Partridge both note what they independently perceived as an anomaly in this week's iTMS "Just Added" list-- specifically, the addition of a disproportionately large number of new tracks by UK or UK-popular artists such as Dido, Mis-teeq, Duran Duran, Five, Will Young, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Annie Lennox, Bucks Fizz, Five Star, and lots more. Both Shaun and Colin theorize that Apple may be prepping the iTMS library for an imminent UK debut, especially since, for example, Will Young is reportedly practically unheard of to the iTMS's current U.S.-only market, but is a former "Pop Idol" winner and therefore the UK equivalent of that Ruben Studdard fella. (We're taking their word for it, since we have no clue what may or may not be popular with the kiddies these days in any country; as Zaphod Beeblebrox once said, we're so unhip it's a wonder our bums don't fall off.)

So, UK viewers (and hopefully those of you in the rest of Yurp), there's a decent chance that it won't be much longer now. And if you're looking for something to do while you wait, we might as well make this a catch-all UK scene and pass along what faithful viewer Slartibartfast told us: apparently the UK eNews issue that went out recently included a coupon for recent Apple UK customers, and it contained a bit of a slip-up. The £18-off voucher was supposed to be for purchases greater than £179, but was instead listed as good for any purchase over-- well, £18, meaning you could get US $33 worth of stuff essentially for free. And reportedly Apple is being a good sport (and presumably complying with UK law, we're guessing) and honoring the offer as printed. So check those inboxes, folks; pick up a free £18 Dr. Bott iPod Auto Charger for your car or something so you're ready once the iTMS opens.

Which will happen any second now.

Euro iTMS check!

Anything? No? Damn.

SceneLink (4732)

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From the writer/creator of AtAT, a Pandemic Dad Joke taken WAYYYYYY too far

The above scene was taken from the 6/2/04 episode:

June 2, 2004: Based on a 60 GB hard drive ship date from Toshiba, it seems that the fourth-generation iPod may not surface until September. Meanwhile, the Appleless Macworld Expo in Boston has only signed up 40 exhibitors with less than six weeks to go, and a sudden influx of UK-friendly material into the iTunes Music Store's library has some folks wondering whether the Euro iTMS is just around the bend...

Other scenes from that episode:

4730: Eh, What's 3 More Months? (6/2/04) Wuh-oh, time to stomp on the brakes, folks-- looks like there's a smattering of circumstantial evidence implying that a fourth-generation iPod won't be hurtling earthward anytime soon. Of course, that depends largely on your definition of "soon," but we know some people think the new devices must be slated for an intro any day now, what with thirteen months having passed since the third-gen models made their debut...
4731: "He Shoots He SCOOOORES!!!" (6/2/04) Attention, all viewers who are planning to attend Macworld Expo Boston next month (all six of you): any thoughts on how we can make the best use of all that extra space? Seeing as the show will be held in Boston's brand spankin' new and oh-so-spacious convention center, and considering that there'll probably only be maybe two dozen attendees who'll bother to show up at all, and taking into account a truly startling reduction in vendors so far, we're thinking we can probably set up some killer games of floor hockey...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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