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- iTunes Accounts for 28% of U.S. Music Sales
Apple’s iTunes now accounts for 28 percent of all music sales within the U.S., according to recently released NPD group data.
This four percent gain since Q1 2009 detail that Apple’s digital store still holds the top spot as the number one music retailer within the U.S. Apple has been in this pole-position for some time now, first passing retail giant Walmart in 2008.
For more information on using iTunes, see our iTunes 101 screencast on TechUniversity (subscription required).
The NPD findings added that digital music sales now account for a 40 percent share of all U.S. industry sales, a trend which has benefited online retailer Amazon. Amazon, who benefits from sales of both digital and physical music, has risen to second place in the NPD rankings. The firm now ties with Walmart with each holding 12 percent of sales.
Amazon’s MP3 business has attributed largely to its rise to second place, in addition to scaling down of physical CD sales at stores like Walmart. Analyst Russ Crupnick commented on the sales shift:
Online shopping offers consumers who still want CDs more variety than they would get in a brick-and-mortar store; plus, recommendations, and other interactive features that raise the overall value proposition for music buyers.
The battle for digital music sales is no-doubt bound to heat up over the next few years, as sales tactics get more fierce and the popularity of portable devices, including the likes of the iPad, Kindle, Dell’s upcoming Streak and many more, rise.
Related TechUniversity Screencast: Smart Playlists in iTunes (sub req’d)
Переслать - Dell Streak: iPad Competition or Design Blunder?
While some of the earliest contenders to the iPad’s throne seem like they won’t be contending at all (the HP Slate, Microsoft’s Courier), other major personal electronics players are stepping forward to challenge Apple on the tablet front. Including Dell, who recently unveiled the Streak, an Android-based touchscreen device.
But there are number of things off about the Dell Streak. First, it’s quite a small device. With a screen only half the size of the iPad’s, and only slightly bigger than most modern smartphones at 5-inches, it seems somewhat awkwardly sized. Second, it can act as a smartphone, making calls, texting, etc. It doesn’t really blur the line between smartphone and tablet so much as sit completely on the smartphone side of said line.
While both the Streak and the iPad run operating systems designed originally for smartphones, the iPad clearly isn’t one. It’s too large to comfortably hold up to your face, and, more importantly, it lacks the internals and software necessary to process phone calls. The iPad’s role in the digital ecosystem may not be entirely clear, but it knows what it isn’t, and that’s a phone.
The Dell Streak is a phone, whatever its marketing department may want you to believe. And that may be its strongest aspect in terms of going toe to toe with the iPad, in that it only does so in a broad sense, fighting generally for consumer electronic dollars without really encroaching on the super-specific niche Apple has carved out.
Dell’s Streak seems like the punchline to an old joke about the iPad: It’s like the iPad except it fits in your pocket, has a camera and makes phone calls. And it stands a chance of competing with the device in terms of sales, but not with the iPhone, the next revision of which will undoubtedly blow it out of the water. But saying you’re making an iPhone killer is so passé at this point, and it’s a claim many smartphone makers have found themselves regretting. Pitting the Streak against the iPad instead avoids both of those pitfalls.
Bottom line, it may be a clever marketing maneuver, but it isn’t a tablet. I doubt very much the Streak will be leeching any customers away from Apple’s devices, be they tablets or the next generation iPhone. Dell’s effort makes the mistake of trying to be everything to everybody and missing the mark entirely. A larger tablet dubbed the Looking Glass seems to be in the cards for the near future from Dell, though, so we’ll see if it learns any lessons for that effort.
Related GigaOM Pro Research: Can Anyone Compete With the iPad?
Переслать - 5 iPad Presentation Tips
After getting frustrated working with Keynote on the iPad for the last month, and giving and planning a few talks, I’ve come up with some presentation tips I want to share with you. Used properly, and in a situation that allows it to play its strengths, the iPad can be an effective presentation tool.
To learn more about using Keynote and other iWork apps, check out our iWork screencasts on TechUniversity (subscription required).
1. Make sure the iPad is the right tool for the job
That line I just used, about properly and in a place that allows it to play its strengths? Make sure where, and what you’re presenting, is ideal for the iPad. Remember, you won’t be able to use a remote, or have any sort of presenters view. So, if you’re giving a talk in a small conference room where you’ll be sitting at a table with the iPad hooked up to the projector, that’s a perfect use of the tool. Giving a Steve Jobs-style presentation in front of 5,000 people and a large stage? Not so good. I’m giving a talk in a month about e-books on the iPad (self plug: June 9 at the Boston Mac User Group) in a lecture-style room with a table in a convenient place to allow me to walk around and tap the screen, so I might use the iPad there.
2. Do the dirty work on the desktop, but think of the iPad
My presentation tool of choice is Keynote, but PowerPoint will do OK. Keep in mind the screen on the iPad is 1024×768. Make sure your presentation is that size when you design it. Also, don’t resize any graphics in the program. Do all your work in a graphics program and import the image at the size you want. If you want an image to take up the whole slide, resize it in a graphics program.
The iPad handles editing poorly. Any object groupings will be lost when you import it. I’d recommend only light edits on the iPad, like when you realize right before the talk that you misspelled the CEO’s name.
Fall in love with iPhoto. I have an album in iPhoto named “Presentation Images” and all my images for talks go there. That library also syncs to the iPad, so I can add an image if I need to.
3. Keep it simple
Transitions — which you should avoid anyway — can cause some problems on the iPad. Some are supported, some are not. Rather than risk it, use minimal transitions and only when needed. Don’t get fancy with line spacing, either, as that nice, tight, and finely kerned type you have on the desktop will likely be reset to default spacing.
Also, keep in mind if your talk is going to end up on a widescreen projector as pie charts might get distorted. Unfortunately, if you create a widescreen presentation, it’ll come into the iPad full screen and still get distorted on a widescreen monitor.
4. If on a Mac, use the Padlicious services to render custom fonts as images
For informal or fun presentations, I love Comiccraft’s Comic Book Fonts. However, I can’t use them on the iPad. Padlicous’s Text to Render services are a lifesaver. Select the text in Keynote and use the service to create an image of the selected text. Delete the text block and replace it with the image. Now, when you present you’ll be free of the default fonts.
5. Do several test runs before presenting
I know, you’re rehearsing the talk constantly, but make sure you’re rehearsing it on the iPad and in a similar situation. Just in case you ignored tip #1, now is when you find out any issues with the import, or if having to tap the iPad screen to advance to advance the slides really is a hassle. You’re going to want to have your rehearsal environment be as close to your venue as possible. If it’s a new enviroment, plan for the worst case scenario you can.
Honorable Mention Tip
Bring a backup of the talk on a USB drive in all possible formats — if you’re a Keynote user, have an exported (and checked) file in PowerPoint and PDF. This way, if for some reason the iPad doesn’t play nice with the projector, you’ve got a fall back plan.
Related TechUniversity Screencasts: Keynote Transitions & Effects
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