Profil de xavierUniversitätsleben | Uni ...PhotosBlogListesPlus Outils Aide

Blog


1 décembre

Steve Jobs的魔力

Steve Jobs的魔力
The Power of Steve Jobs
这位魅力十足的苹果创始人开创了诸多领域,实现了无与伦比的归返,并树立了一个无限创新的品牌。这使他荣登Fortune杂志2007年威力25之榜首。
 
原文作者 / Brent Schlender, Fortune杂志编辑 Fortune
翻译 / Xavier Yang
 
steve_jobs_power.gi.03
 
管理大师曾称赞Steve Jobs为“企业界的贝多芬”。他为这苹果创始人的能力所折服——一次又一次,把芯片、磁盘、塑料和软件魔法般神秘得混合,变成数码设备,并用自己出名的充满诱惑力的表演艺术宣传它们。不过说Jobs犹如马基雅弗利大概也毫不夸张——操纵原始供应商、合作伙伴甚至整个产业符合他的意志。
 
他浴火重生的脑力劳动之子(brainchild),苹果公司,在Fortune 500排名第121,远落后于诸如Dell(第34名)和HP(第14名)。然而,苹果的多产(fecundity)——在它领域中的每一个角度充满持续不断、艺术气息十足的创新——不仅深刻得改变了信息技术领域,更影响了众多相关产业。
 
想想吧。在不同寻常的30年职业生涯里,Jobs两次更改了计算机产业的发展方向。1977年Apple II宣告了个人电脑时代的到来,1984年Macintosh引入的图形用户界面更被从那以后的任何一台电脑所模仿。
 
一路上Jobs提出了“桌面印刷”的构想,为世界带来了激光打印机,并开辟了个人电脑网络。他还不经意随手资助了Pixar,而正是Pixar孕育了电脑动画电影的制作技术以及全新的企业模式。
 
自从1997年回到重病不起的苹果公司, Jobs像柔术名家般行使他日渐增长的力量。他用iPod折服了大众对Sony的崇拜,成为了消费电子领域的动力之源。
 
他一手说服了唱片公司、电视台和好萊屋,用iTunes Music Store教会了它们在数字时代如何销售商品。他以获得极大成功的Apple Store来给传统零售商孩子们传授了活生生的一课,如何经营高利润、高影响力的零售业。
 
今年,在他登上创意及宣传能量之巅,Jobs挥舞指挥棒,如同演奏交响乐般以前所未有的高度,成功得将iPhone打入手机产业。这是一个由玻璃和铝包裹的止咳糖外形的全能数字设备。
 
这就是Jobs颠覆的五个领域——计算机、好萊屋、音乐、零售和手机。他甚至还显著的影响了所有产业创意部门的工作方式,因为苹果为电影制作、声音合成与图像编辑领域创造软件工具。
 
不仅如此,他的艺术品位持续引领电视和平面广告。如果这还不够,在今年前期卖出Pixar后,他现在是迪士尼公司最大的股东。此时此刻,没有人能比Jobs在如此多领域拥有这样巨大的影响力了。
 
“我们不认为这是力量,”Jobs说,“我们只想制造创意十足的新产品,令我们的消费者感到惊喜与激动。是快乐、忠诚的客户使苹果具有了它的力量。然而,创造这一切的原始动力是,我们只是尝试研究我们自己想拥有的伟大产品,同时希望消费者们能与我们同样爱它。我觉得,在这么多年后,我们已经十分擅长这点了。”
 
Jobs也有搬弄是非、设置圈套的能力——对竞争对手萌生恨意,与不乐意接受他个人指定的对自己、以及对方的合作条款的商业伙伴、产业同盟产生摩擦。
 
NBC最近宣布它会从iTunes Music Store撤出它的电视节目并建立自己的视频下载服务,有一些唱片公司希望歌曲及专集定价更加灵活。倔强的Jobs还引来了SEC对苹果及Pixar公司backdating options问题中他的角色的调查。
 
是什么令Jobs名声响亮?甚至他的亲密朋友也坦白他们并不知道,这些人大部分为了种种原因不愿讨论他。然而,再没有一个高科技产业经理人,能够在踏入其最激烈的竞争对手的年度销售会议时赢得全体成员起立并热烈鼓掌喝彩的了。这正是2002年发生的事实,当Andy Grove邀请Jobs谈谈创新。
 
直到两年多以后苹果才同意开始在它的电脑中使用Intel的芯片。但是Intel的销售人员喜悦溢于言表。
 
明星的魔力:他毫不匮乏。
 

匆匆翻译滴 大家多多提意见建议

26 novembre

我的好友测试~

Good'ol 测试,不过我还是还头一回
 
有空去做做啦 看看你有多了解我~~ Open-mouthed
 
 
Unter steht das Ergebnis!
5 septembre

A few links

  • 13 dumbest driver in the world (pic)

    here

    Hilarious.

  • EVOL

    here

    Tasteful.

  • 19 juillet

    Gadget Update: Nokia N76

    To put it clear & brief:
     
    Where it rocks:
     
    • FAST. This thing is fast. Messaging flies, and so is Web surfing. But where it really shines is when I do multi-tasking. IE, do web surfing while listening to radio (ironically. iPod for music~), at the same time answer a call, during the call go check up a number in Contacts, maybe even send a message.(Browser and radio all running in background) Then hung up the phone and go on Internet. It never slows down. Just as fast as running a single program (or even faster) on my previous phones.
    • I can move icons around. I can create folders, and folders within folders. I can organize the main menu any way I want(sans Renaming). It feels just like a regular folder on a computer. 
    • YES, the Symbian system IS like (a simplified) Computer.
    • Again, kudos to the multi-tasking mechanism.
    • The screen is HUGE! That monster is able to display 20 lines of text when web browsing.
    • The Home screen is great. It shows my daily schedule set in Calender. And there are 8 customizable icons to access to apps within few presses away.

    Where it stinks:

    • N76 crashes A LOT. 2-3 times a day. And that's after a reset(even more before). Reminds me of (you guess?) WINDOWS! WTH.
    • The UI font is not so elegant.

    Overall, the N76 is a great phone. Except for the crashes, everything (mostly) works.

    Rating: /

    Update: After applying the firmware 20.0.041, the phone NEVER crashes again. Dank Gott!

    16 mai

    Quotes on Change and Modesty.

    Just a partial.
     
    • "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."  -- James Dean
    • "Don't belittle!"  -- OD Consultant, on the essence of a well-functioning human community
    • "It was much later that I realized Dad's secret. He gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a college president. He was seriously intrested in who you were and what you had to say."  -- Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
    • "The most successful people are those who are good at plan B."  -- James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist
    • "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."  --Oscar Wilde
    • "It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."  -- Charles Darwin.
    • "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  -- Gandhi
    • "If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough."  -- Mario Andretti
    • "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."  -- Steve Jobs, Apple
    • "The best thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their greatness."  -- Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
    • "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."  -- John Quincy Adams
    • "A year from now you may wish you had started today."  -- Karen Lamb
     
     
    7 mai

    书摘《留学美国》

    妈妈让读的一本书。刚开始有些反感。不过越读觉得越有读下去的欲望。
    读完后觉得挺不错的。
     
    不是要去美国。美国作为一种文化系统的代表,可以算一个泛称吧。
     
    书是写在上个世纪的。
    作者成长在北京,记者。在80年代末到美国采访写作。
    成书于80年代末90年代初。出版于90年代中叶。大家知道什么背景吧。
     
    摘录些字句。有些可能偏激。可能落伍。但you get the idea.
     
     
    p.138
    我们的思维不自觉地被自己的社会存在所局限。并进一步被自己的文化传统所局限。
    就像人类的思维无法摆脱人类自身存在的局限一样。
    我们也很难真正超越这种社会和文化的局限。我们很容易自然而然地认为,
    自己社会所代表的一切,无论好坏,都是正常的,并毫无怀疑地予以接受。
     
     
    p.140~141
    而在中国社会,这种“对错”意识则主要还体现在“统一思想”的认同。
    “思想”的“统一”总是以对某种“思想”的绝对正确性的承认为前提的。
    这种对“统一思想”的认同,对中国人来说,几乎成为一种潜意识。
    一个美国的政治学教授曾在中国做过一个调查,发现大多数中国人都说相信民主,
    但同时又都赞同“思想统一”。几乎没有人意识到这中间的内在矛盾。
     
    当这种基于“对”和“错”观念的辨别而“统一”了的“思想”进一步变成信仰、
    主义或是“明天的理想”——某种要求人类为之作出巨大牺牲才能实现的抽象原则时,
    人类社会便会进入悲剧时期。历史上,人类被推向灾难的边缘,常常不是因为某些人
    有意要将大家引向地狱,而是因为一些人坚信只有他们才知道通往天堂的唯一道路。
    ...
     
    正像英国哲学家缪勒(John Mill)在《论自由》一书中曾说过的那样:
    “认为人类的生存建立在某种或某些方式上是没有道理的。
    如果一个人具有相当多的常识和经验,他那能显示自我存在的方式就是最好的。
    不是因为就其方式本身来说是最好的,而是因为那是他自己的方式。”
     
    我不知道有多少中国留学生具有和我相近的感觉,但我相信,那几十万足迹遍布
    全世界70多个国家和地区的中国留学生,从各自不同的经历中学到和带回的许许多多
    东西中,将包括一种基于人类社会多样性的认识而产生的更为宽容的社会生存意识。
     
     
    p.174
    一位朋友从日本写信来,说我们这代人,在大学时,“嘻嘻哈哈”;
    到了社会上,“哼哼唧唧”;而如今到了国外,便都“唉唉呦呦”了。
     
     
    p.194
    有意思的是,不少当年一心向往“蔚蓝色”的知识界精英,出国后都不同程度地
    对西方社会产生了幻灭。不过,这种思想情绪的转变,与其说是认识境界的提高,
    不如说是对西方社会的冷酷一面有所感受。而且,这当年的向往和如今的幻灭,
    都是中国知识分子自己的事情,与实际的西方社会几乎无关。
     
    “国外有许多自由,”一个在缅因州一所大学硕士毕业后一时没能找到工作的33岁留学生说,
    “其中一个自由就是饿死的自由。”
     
    这不完全是一句牢骚话,其中包含着对另一种社会的真正认识。
     
     
    p.298
    容宏说过,一个人要想做成一些事,必须是一个梦想者。但作为一个梦想着,
    在实现自己梦想的过程中,容闳同时又是一个现实主义者。……
     
    ……
     
    而且,容闳深知梦想并不可能仍以梦想的方式实现。
     
     
    Biblography:
    留学美国
    ——一个时代的故事
    作者/钱宁
    江苏文艺出版社

    五月的线条

    /* 本来是语文作业来着...看来得重写了...这篇留个纪念吧 */
    /* 写得比较屎~ 表介意 */
     

    五月的线条

    ——“文以言人”书法比赛

     

    那是在上个世纪90年代初了。五月份,正当丝般顺华的柔风精心书写“春”字最后一笔时,
    令人感动的蓝天白云与骄阳已凸现在这座城市上空,快速开始书写夏日第一章;
    虽是相同的一“横”。夏只是想尽快取代春。
     
    而在可爱的某校园中,这一横要表现得格外热烈。
    因为对于很多人,此笔之意,不仅重于整个字,更胜过几十个“春夏秋冬”。
     
    一场以“文以言人”为主题的当代书法联赛正轰轰烈烈列在各大校园展开。
     
    为强调集体,奖项以学校为单位设立。专家到时随机抽查。故所有人都要准备。
    因此全校上下空前团结。
     

    离比赛还一个月,准备工作细致而详尽,以体现对比赛的重视。
     
    平头眼镜的学生干部进入F号楼,跑上C层,在左边U好房间的右边K柜中取出盒子。
    打开封条,拿掉未上锁的锁,取出墨块、砚台、毡子。
    走出房间进入C房,对右边C柜中盒子如法炮制,取出毛笔与宣纸;
    只是这个盒子前夜忘贴封条了。
    回到楼下,发现刚才的路线呈P字型。恰似被拧弯的直线,美丽。
     
     
    这是这段非常时期每日第一仪式,虽工具第二天仍要用。原因是上级指示这样做“好”。
    一席灰装的大家都明白,除了其中有些显眼的雏同学,细究的蓝色牛仔裤,白衬衫。
    “为什么就好啊?”
     
    在无数双或惊讶或鄙视或呆滞的眼神中,他低下了头。

     
    八点,响铃,长发飘逸的书法老师到教室,上课了。一反常态。
    “我们在这段时间有些新规定。1)不要迟到;2)课前起立;3)我带领大家关手机。
    有些过于苛刻,但望支持。”
     
    大家会心的笑声有些震撼。——“这段时间以后呢?”雏同学立而言。
     
    笑声戛然而止。
     
    许久,“你丫有病啊!”打破死寂。老师很满意。课堂空前和谐。
     
    此后便一如往前。只是老师一向流畅的字迹中却有些颤抖,有时多写、少写一笔。
    弗洛伊德曾说:“过失是因潜意识中不快之事对显意识的抑制而生。”
     

    6月初某日,操场,决赛。
     
    在一天完美演出后,顶有油光锃亮、如军帽般黑头发的专家很满意。临行前:
    “感谢大家,我们尤其喜欢这幅作品:‘一’。仅一个字,刚劲有力,却柔情万种,
    奔放而含蓄,神采飞扬;书法之美尽显其中。一气呵成,整齐的政权,同一的文化,
    世界大同,一往直前;千年历史汇聚其中!我喜欢。”
     
    雷鸣般掌声。
     
    雏同学默默走向主席台,把那宣纸翻到了背面。
     
    全场寂静。
     
    薄弱而清晰的声音,
    “可是这字角角落落是描过的,墨迹深浅不一,尽是起笔、收笔的痕迹。‘一’出来的!”
     
    一秒。
    两秒。
    三秒……
     
    突然,“闭嘴!人家是专家!你懂什么!”——半秒后,“你懂什么!”“你懂什么!”……
     
     
    次日,“一”字精神流淌在城市每个细胞之中。雏同学又好奇了。
    “为什么一种思想可以一夜间被所有人无条件的接受呢?”

     
    只是这次,雏同学聪明了。在说出这句话前,有个声音回荡在耳畔。
     
    “闭嘴!”
     
     
    十多年了,书法比赛经久不衰。
     
    1 avril

    Recommending a video clip

    点我

    iRack introduction video. Watch it closely. It's very meaningful. It has more to convey.

    Hint: iRack, iRan, aren't they sound familiar?

    10 mars

    Redone the layout and modules.

    长年不变也不是特好 要善于观察奶酪的变化, 提前主动做好奶酪消失后的准备.
    发现最近新兴了些sharing (books, movies, etc)的indie Web 2.0 sites, 我也与时俱进一下
     
    重新调整了一下layout,
    添加了俩板块, Book list & (广义的)Gadget list,
    现在要加入的contents有了, 但是感觉不是特好
    接下来还要继续tweak minor details
     
    另外BS一下尾软的monopoly和proprietary.
    总搞拿来主义, 把别人好的创意修改一下当自己的, 还挺自豪的宣传, 就跟中国特色的社会主义似的.
    这一修改, 一renovate, 就全变成大部分尾软产品的特征了 -
    啥都有啥都不精, 没有重点与强调, 没有逻辑, 没有elegance, UGLY, very clutter, 用自己的标准故意与世界不兼容来妄图搞垄断
    去比较一下Microsoft.com与Apple.com, Vista与Tiger
    这大概就是企业文化之差吧
     
    "The problem with Microsoft is they have no taste. They have absolutely no taste." - Steve Jobs.
    25 février

    Happy Birthday Steve Jobs!

    Well it's a few hours late here in Beijing time, but it's the right time in your own time zone - February 24th. It marks the Steve Jobs' 52nd birthday.

    So, just cut to the chase. To the great Steve, here is my most sincere wish: Happy 52th Birthday! You know 52 years ago you came to this human world and demonstrated why it was no longer the same. You have changed the world around us so much, since the Mac in 1984 and the iPod in 2001. In addition, I am sure you will continue to do so with your iPhone.

    The world has been a better place. Without you and your Apple ][, the PC industry would not have taken off as is, at least not so elegantly. Without you and your Macintosh (perhaps plus Xerox Parc), we would still stuck in the command line user interface, no window, no mouse, and with clunky in-consistent keyboard shortcuts (aka "amazing UI" as in NeXTSTEP 3 Demo). Bill and Microsoft would have nowhere to copy Windows from, Ballmer would have no one to shout "Developers Developers..". Though the big brother is still watching almost everyone, and the revolution has not succeeded, there are more and more Switchers just as the 12 Disciples following Jesus and Washington and Jefferson, who "switched" and led others switching to the American belief. The Macintosh is a dream and a belief. A dream where computers are easy to use, great to look at and elegantly to feel. A dream where there were not no hassle dealing with Viruses, Malwares, BSoDs, DLLs and Registries. A belief where no IT person and Encyclopedia-like thick User Manuals (plus, after sale support calls to India) are needed. We Evangelists swear to slowly take people back from confuses and panics and unneccessary pains. We live in this Windows world and we ought to be good citizens, but time will prove why this Troy will forever alter the Windows world, because "Once you switched to Mac, you never look back."

    Without you and your iPod+iTunes, Rock and Roll would not have reborn and we will not be listening to music this easy and as like. Without your struggle and continued efforts with the Big Five, no one would be able to own the music. Windows Media DRM plus the greedy Record Labels would have forever locked people out from the world of justice and right and jail everyone in this new digital music world. Tortured UI would have ruled every single Music Player out there, with tiny screens and awkward nipple-like buttons. "128MB with 30 songs in your pocket" would have been our wildest dream. Moreover, no one wants more because merely those 30 songs would have taken well over an hour to "sync" to the players without Firewire (Intel would never invent USB2.0 were there not have been Firewire). But it could and were even worse because the success rate of a sync were well below 50% (remember that Yepp?), and after which or halfway thru the battery died out and you had to buy some new AAAs and let out some more Leads the environment to even begin listening to these 30 songs.

    Without you and your Pixar (Now assets of Disney), CG and computer animation would not be seen in movies and less laugh could have been observed in the cinema. Toy Story? Finding Nemo? The Incredibles? Cars? Why would “serious people” even want it!

    Without you and your Apple (Now Apple Inc.), beige boxes would still be the symbol of a computer with cords and wires dangling around like . Industrial design and elegance would never be relevance to a machine. Passion, Stevenote, RDM, Wow factor, "Boom", "blow away", "amazing", "mere mortal", and rock concert would be far away from the computer industry. No one around the world would camp out the night before in a cold winter day, fly to or across America, or stay up until 2 o'clock late in the morning (in other countries of other continents) just for a better seat for the next day's keynote of a CEO or simply to watch it. No multi-hundred people would line up stretching out a few blocks just to wait for the opening of a Computer Store; no one would cut, shave, or paint his hair to mimic a company logo. No one would create a community with countless rumor sites having various "sources" claiming a new tech products were on the horizon, and thousands of people follow up immediately to piping up their dreams. No one would…

    We are seen as the crazy ones from time to time, but we like the umbrella. Since the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. It is 2007 and the first 30 years were just the beginning. For Apple, and for us all.

    Happy Birthday, Steve. From Beijing.

    *reposted on March 11th, corrected lots of grammar mistakes.

    18 février

    Gadget Update

    I have some good news and some bad news; Contradiction is what life is all about..
     
    The good news is, i just bought an new iPod for my 2007~! haha that is the state-of-the-art Oranshuf, so i called. the ORANGE iPod shuffle!
    loved it so much that finally failed to hold up and opened my arms to embrace him. And it never fails to impress me either, the hard anodized colored alumnium feels solid in hand and the glossy colored metal looks Ueber-shinning! and it includes the newly designed earbuds. Jonny Ive you ROCK!
     
    which brings me to, the bad one. When i took it back to home from school i left it inside my bag while listened to my videoPod. Well that's fine. however, i also put a small pack of perfume alongside my shuffle; a thin plastic tube container. The container died halfway. And scattered the broken glass everywhere which, scratched my shinny new shuffle.
     
    Gonna think of some ways to remedy it.
     
     
     
    15 février

    生日快乐

    最近看了古天乐和刘若英等演的生日快乐
     
    很喜欢 好久没这么感动了 受不了... 刘若英细腻而敏感的内心世界让我有一种很deep + subtle的触动
    很淡 却很强烈
     
    强烈推荐大家去看(准备好Kleenex)
     
    引用自 生日快乐的BLOG 生日快乐 小米的幸福
    "我想每个喜欢<生日快乐>这部电影的人,都是另外一个小米,每个小米心中都有一个小南,一个永远都不会忘记的小南,一个永远放在心底的小南,一个永远挂念的小南,一个想永远依靠的小南.但是这个小南可能只能让你怀念,默默的怀念."
     
    Indeed. 
     

    PS. 也看了男才女貌 结尾很温馨很幸福 让人终于能轻松的结束一部电影
    阿乐还是一如既往得帅到流口水~ 高圆圆很innocent, 而新发现铃木仁也很靓仔哦~

     
    8 février

    Get a Mac - Security

    Well it's a tech-savvy ad, but very well done. Made me laughed hard.
    As you may know, Windows Vista is the next big thing from Microsoft. Frankly, the Aero UI looks pretty stunning, with the glossy glass look&feel. However, like Bertrand Serlet, Apple's VP of Software Engineering, said in WWDC06, pointing to Vista's logo, "It's like get a Windows logo, and add a nice aqua bulb atop it. ... But underneath it all, it's still windows." Vista did look good at first sight, but it all ends there. It's nothing more a pretty face bolted on top of Windows XP. Even worse, in order to achieve better security, vista introduced what Microsoft called "UAP", directly copied from the Mac OS X but got it so intense that whenever you do anything, it pops up and ask for permission. It kind of solved the security problem, hmm, at the sacrifice of usability. UAP is annoying. And it's one of the major issues that had me dump Vista in favor of, uh, XP, on my Windows Box (cuz there's no choice of OS X)
    "Get a Mac" is a series of ads promoting the Mac platform. While you may not quite understand what this particular ad means, you could get a rough idea of what's it all about. And when you did try Vista, be it on your fresh PC, or in shops, you may feel it deeper.
    Vista, sucks. Period.
    Watch it here.

    [ZT] Thoughts on Music - Steve Jobs

    Thoughs on Music
    Steve Jobs
    February 6, 2007
     
     
    With the stunning global success of Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to “open” the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future.

    To begin, it is useful to remember that all iPods play music that is free of any DRM and encoded in “open” licensable formats such as MP3 and AAC. iPod users can and do acquire their music from many sources, including CDs they own. Music on CDs can be easily imported into the freely-downloadable iTunes jukebox software which runs on both Macs and Windows PCs, and is automatically encoded into the open AAC or MP3 formats without any DRM. This music can be played on iPods or any other music players that play these open formats.

    The rub comes from the music Apple sells on its online iTunes Store. Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices.

    Apple was able to negotiate landmark usage rights at the time, which include allowing users to play their DRM protected music on up to 5 computers and on an unlimited number of iPods. Obtaining such rights from the music companies was unprecedented at the time, and even today is unmatched by most other digital music services. However, a key provision of our agreements with the music companies is that if our DRM system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to fix the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store.

    To prevent illegal copies, DRM systems must allow only authorized devices to play the protected music. If a copy of a DRM protected song is posted on the Internet, it should not be able to play on a downloader’s computer or portable music device. To achieve this, a DRM system employs secrets. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses the most sophisticated cryptographic locks to protect the actual music, one must still “hide” the keys which unlock the music on the user’s computer or portable music player. No one has ever implemented a DRM system that does not depend on such secrets for its operation.

    The problem, of course, is that there are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music. They are often successful in doing just that, so any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets. It is a cat-and-mouse game. Apple’s DRM system is called FairPlay. While we have had a few breaches in FairPlay, we have been able to successfully repair them through updating the iTunes store software, the iTunes jukebox software and software in the iPods themselves. So far we have met our commitments to the music companies to protect their music, and we have given users the most liberal usage rights available in the industry for legally downloaded music.

    With this background, let’s now explore three different alternatives for the future.

    The first alternative is to continue on the current course, with each manufacturer competing freely with their own “top to bottom” proprietary systems for selling, playing and protecting music. It is a very competitive market, with major global companies making large investments to develop new music players and online music stores. Apple, Microsoft and Sony all compete with proprietary systems. Music purchased from Microsoft’s Zune store will only play on Zune players; music purchased from Sony’s Connect store will only play on Sony’s players; and music purchased from Apple’s iTunes store will only play on iPods. This is the current state of affairs in the industry, and customers are being well served with a continuing stream of innovative products and a wide variety of choices.

    Some have argued that once a consumer purchases a body of music from one of the proprietary music stores, they are forever locked into only using music players from that one company. Or, if they buy a specific player, they are locked into buying music only from that company’s music store. Is this true? Let’s look at the data for iPods and the iTunes store – they are the industry’s most popular products and we have accurate data for them. Through the end of 2006, customers purchased a total of 90 million iPods and 2 billion songs from the iTunes store. On average, that’s 22 songs purchased from the iTunes store for each iPod ever sold.

    Today’s most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full.  This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats.  It’s hard to believe that just 3% of the music on the average iPod is enough to lock users into buying only iPods in the future.  And since 97% of the music on the average iPod was not purchased from the iTunes store, iPod users are clearly not locked into the iTunes store to acquire their music.

    The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company’s players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benefit by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM. However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players.

    An equally serious problem is how to quickly repair the damage caused by such a leak. A successful repair will likely involve enhancing the music store software, the music jukebox software, and the software in the players with new secrets, then transferring this updated software into the tens (or hundreds) of millions of Macs, Windows PCs and players already in use. This must all be done quickly and in a very coordinated way. Such an undertaking is very difficult when just one company controls all of the pieces. It is near impossible if multiple companies control separate pieces of the puzzle, and all of them must quickly act in concert to repair the damage from a leak.

    Apple has concluded that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses from the big four music companies. Perhaps this same conclusion contributed to Microsoft’s recent decision to switch their emphasis from an “open” model of licensing their DRM to others to a “closed” model of offering a proprietary music store, proprietary jukebox software and proprietary players.

    The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

    Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.

    In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free  and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves. The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system.

    So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none. If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies.

    Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries.  Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free.  For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard.  The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company.  EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company.  Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace.  Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.

    17 décembre

    Einige Fotos

    发点儿图片~
     
    有俩系 我们班合影
    有一个系 俺宿舍+班导师
     
    One more thing...
    猜猜剩下俩照片里是虾米 ~ ?
    21 novembre

    21.11

    Nr. 5 21.11
     
    Gestern ging ich zu Zhongguancun und Xidan. An Zhongguancun kaufte ich einen neuen SONY MDR-Q21 Kopfhörer und an Xidan eine Halskette mit Kreuz.
    Am Sonntagvormittag werde ich Mathematik Prüfung machen. Ich bin besorgt, weil meine Mathematik nicht so gut ist. Obwohl ich hart gearbeitet habe, ich fürchte, dass ich die Prüfung noch nicht bestehen konnte.
    Gott segnen mich.

    20.11

    Nr. 4 20.11

    Heute beginnt eine neue Woche. Es tut mir Glück, dass Shine mir verzieht hat und auf mir wieder Acht gibt.

    Ich habe mich gestern entschieden, dass ich nicht meine Haare mehr schwenzen möchte. Mit das Geld will ich jetzt Kopfhörer, die hinter Ohr aufhängt, kaufen, weil wenn ich laufe, regelmäßige Kopfhörer gewöhntlich Fall tut.

    16.11 Alles Schlecht

    Nr. 3 16.11 Alles Schlecht

    Heute ist Sguys Geburtstag. Ich sendete ihn um 0.03 SMS, aber er antwortete mich nicht. Tatsächlich fühle ich mich sehr schlecht, weil meiner Freund, Shine, auf mir böse ist. Er sagt mir nicht mehr. Ich weiß nicht, warum er so großer Zorn hat. Ich versuche ihn zu ignorieren, aber jetzt kann ich nicht. Ich bin deprimiert. Nur ein Tag hat so viele geändert. Es ist total unglaublich. 

    14.11

    14. Nov.

    Gestern habe ich viele Dinge erfolgreich gemacht. Ich fühle mich sehr glücklich. Zuerst hörte ich zwei Podcasts: 43Folders und Windows Weeklz. Danach schrieb ich den 2000 Charaktere Aufsatz, den chinesisch Hausaufgabe. Er war so lang dass ich mich sehr müde fuhl, wann ich den vertig schrieb. Zuletzt machte ich etwas Mathematik Hausaufgabe und wiederholte deutsche Wörter. Ich schlief um 11.30 ein.

    Ach! Ich habe vergessen, dass ich auch Aerobics tanzte. Das ist richtig ein schneller Tanz.

    Die Straße nach Deutschland - Nr. 1

    Für diese Kategorie, bitte korrigieren Sie mich, wo es Fehler hat!
     
    Nr.1 13., Nov.
    Ich möchte dieser Raum als meines deutsches Übung gebrauchen.
    Jeder wenigen Tage soll ich hier etwas schreiben, d.h., das Taschenkalender, um meines Deutsch besser zu bekommen.
    Ich habe jetzt die Untericht der Mathematik, aber ich habe gar nicht versteht. Heute ist yiemlich sonnig. Ich fühle mich warm.