Steve Jobs knows S.E.X. sells (and smashing pumpkins)

Whisper "IT Blogwatch" in your lover's ear, or else Steve Jobs will utter an unfortunate sexual allegory. Not to mention an utterly manic Terry Gilliam-esque Halloween web game...

Paul Julius Reuter has the story: [you're fired -Ed.]

Apple Computer Inc. doesn't expect the iPod media player to be hurt by Microsoft Corp.'s Zune ... a potential threat to the dominant iPod because of its ability to share music wirelessly. "It takes forever," Jobs told Newsweek in an interview posted on the magazine's Web site on Sunday. "By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left." Jobs was equally unconcerned about the prospect of the iPod losing its cool factor as it becomes increasingly ubiquitous. "That's like saying you don't want to kiss your lover's lips because everyone has lips. It doesn't make any sense."

Brian Lam 'fesses up:

That kind of crass, unprotected earbud action ... is fast and raw. But the Zune's wireless, sterile, faceless interaction seems like an easier way to play grab ass with a stranger's playlists without the awkward social interaction we use gadgets to get away from in the first place. (And with less chance for picking up ear-borne infections.) Girls are scary, so I just twiddle my thumbs and listen to music instead of talking to them.

Big Pimpin' JC tells Brian how it is:

If I wanted to pick up some chick I don't think sticking an earbud in her ear is such a great idea.  Not only will she dislike that but she may kick your ass. On a side note, that is what apple is trying to do, be sexy by sticking things into people; while microsoft is trying to be nerdy. But when has technology and sexiness ever gone well with each other? Face it, if you have a zune, you may be called nerdy.

Cyrus Farivar has déjà vu:

Any wild guesses as to which big tech exec isn't a fan of the new Zune? If you guessed Steve Jobs, you'd be completely correct ... You make a good point, Steve, but we've heard you sing this tune before, like when the original Mac didn't have networking capabilities and you basically told people to resort to sneakernet -- of course, eventually Macs were able to connect with one another. So, we'll agree with you that the wireless capabilities on the Zune kinda suck out of the box, but we'll also bet that you're already at work on some wireless action for a future iPod, no matter how hard you might deny it now.

AKAImBatman is not a Redmond fanboi:

[Apple is] a company trying to deliver the best product possible at a price the market can afford. You won't find that sort of business done at Microsoft. Their strategy is:
1. Announce a competing product with limitless fanfare. Doesn't matter if it sucks.
2. Slowly improve it until the market finds it semi-acceptable.
3. Leverage the Windows monopoly to CRUSH the competition.

Mr. Underbridge sighs:

Another victim of the Reality Distortion Field ... Steve's just a little *too* slick for me. It makes me not trust anything he says, whether he's right or wrong, simply because if you let yourself get caught up in his spin, you *will* believe whatever he says.
...
You know damned well that when (not if) iPod comes out with wireless, his tune on that will change in a hurry ... Of course, he'll have an answer about how impersonal wireless was until Apple did it. And he'll be partly right. But for now, wireless is a Zuma advantage.

shashi agrees, kinda:

That's basically what Jobs has done all along. He's shown that he's never one to completely disregard in the future what doesn't work today. He's just a perfectionist ... That's one thing that Microsoft doesn't get—they want the most features possible and so they end up releasing a lot of stuff, that while it sounds cool, often doesn't work as advertised.

But ptomblin is worried:

Do you know what Microsoft have done? They've invented a new kind of spam. Companies will hack the standard and create a box which will automatically find every Zune in the vicinity and send their (audio/video) adverts to them.

Slurms agrees:

Wireless sharing for the Zune is not about sharing songs with a girl in a bar. It is entirely about giving Starbucks a means for sending you commercials disguised as "zune-casts" when you walk into their shop.

Buffer overflow:

Around the Net

• Joe,Techdirt: Could Investigating Sexual Predators Be Automated?
• Good Morning Silicon Valley: Wal-Marting Across America: a guide to the low road
• Alan Calder: Take up of ISO 27001 Accelerates
• David Ferris: ECM in MS Office 2007
• Om Malik: Gigabit DSL: Yes, it will happen
• Realtime-ITCompliance: Non-Technical Privacy Breach Example & Possible HIPAA Violation
• Network Security Blog: Vista Licensing explained.
• Techboard: Toshiba sue Sony!
• Eric Bangeman: Laptop makers may ask Sony for damages

Around Computerworld

• Jerri Ledford: Can you take the IT department out of BI?
• Robin Harris: Two Minute Guide to Electronic Data Discovery
• Preston Gralla: Cisco: All your networks belong to us
• Shark Tank: Not the Answers We Needed
• Martin McKeay: Why is public image is more important than customers?
• Douglas Schweitzer: Malware gets to the point!

And finally... Terry Gilliam meets the Smashing Pumpkins

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.