Tuesday

Tuesday 29/04/2003

The new iPod is here! Or it will be in the next couple of weeks. It's much like the old one, except it's shrunk a little and grown a couple of games. Apple hasn't added recording, an FM tuner, wireless networking or video capabilities, but if it's not broken, why fix it?

One thing that did get fixed lately -- up to a point -- was Apple's dispute over terms of its contracts with some of its retailers. It had got to the point that Dell pulled all iPods from its system, and it wasn't alone. Exactly why relations had deteriorated to that state remains obscure, but the rumour was that Apple had got fed up with retailers complaining about things it should or should not have done. The company had slapped in some truly draconian clauses to the effect that Apple would be the final arbiter in any dispute. Even going to court was off the menu. Once the news broke, however, things rapidly changed: about a week after it became public knowledge that things were sour, sugar was added, feathers smoothed, rifts healed and other soothing clich