Three Things That Should Trouble Apple
The three problems relate to content. However, this particular paragraph sums up all my frustration with the current music/video/book situation:
Right now I’m still juggling a bunch of bullshit that I really shouldn’t need to. Basically, I’ll pay you money if you provide me content I’d like to enjoy. There’s so many weird and random restrictions on that simple deal that I still don’t know how it’ll ultimately play out.
One to Watch, my new iPhone application for noting down films you want to watch at lightening speed, is now available on the app store. Get it now for free, before I work out that it’d be good to make some money on this thing.
It’s been quiet here for the last couple of months. Something’s been brewing, as the more astute of you may have noticed. That something is another iPhone app, One to Watch.
Another app designed to scratch a particular itch I have. Recently I closed my Lovefilm account, which I used to use as a holding pen for films I wanted to see. I needed something to replace it, and a search of the app store came up lackluster.
Business Insider speaks to Keith Rabois from Square, who provide a neat little dongle you can plug into your iPhone and use to process credit cards. The interview’s not that interesting if you’ve been following any kind of Silicon Valley/Square stuff, but a feature of Square’s payment app jumped out at me:
KR: [With the Pay With Square app], when you have favorited a merchant, there is a geographic trigger — there are actually two. Within a certain proximity it alerts them on the register that so and so has walked into your store. Then when you’re within 10 meters, you’re ready to check out, so you authenticate the face, name, click, checkout. If you want more information about that person, it will show you their last visit and their visit frequency, as well as in the future what the most likely orders are.
If a £50,000 annual donation buys you a seat near David Cameron at “dinners, post-PMQ lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches”, I’m not clear how this isn’t buying influence vs. you and me who cannot afford the PM’s ear in such a way.
I couldn’t see a set of such overly influence-buying “clubs” on either Labour or the Lib Dem websites, though the Lib Dems have a special £25,000 rate for the “Leaders forum”. It would also be interested to see the access Trade Union leaders, and other large sources of funding, have to the Labour leadership.