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I experienced my second MacWorld event today through bloggers and text messages. I had actually forgotten all about it until Nick Parsons sent me a text letting me know that iPhone update 1.1.3 would be coming out later in the day, which sent the rest of the day into some kind of computerized chaos.

I spent the next hour watching Wired, CrunchGear and http://www.macrumors.com for updates on the MacWorld keynote, and got pretty excited when the new MacBook Air was introduced.

Nick and I texted back and forth, as did two of my friends who work at the Apple Store on campus, which was broadcasting the entire keynote. Later, I would come home and hurriedly install the iPhone update so I could make it to class on time. When I commented on the new firmware update's features at CrunchGear and was asked to post pictures, I obliged. CrunchGear's editor, John Biggs, later asked for me to do an iChat interview that now lives here.

But it was later that I realized how much of an impact today's updates had on my friends. A bunch of people changed their away messages to "1.1.3" or something to do with the MacBook Air. One conversation online was interrupted by a, "hold on, iTunes needs a reboot". It's the first time I've really seen how one company can affect so many people all at one time. It's pretty cool.

Posted by Jameson at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Right before Thanksgiving break, Charlie called to tell me that Music Biz would be going out of business. From the sounds of it, the company that owns the chain and the small record label that produces cheap country b-sides had a bit of a vendetta with the Alton store, thus the untimely closing of the city's remaining music haven (Slacker's doesn't count).

Since Music Biz was such a big part of my life for so long, it's hard to see it go. It was one of those jobs that I'll tell my kids about, and probably a job that they'll never have the pleasure of experiencing. The people at the indie stores like Music Biz end up being like a second family, and with the exception of Krannert (and even then, just barely) I've never actually felt happy to go to work every day.

So I swung by last week to exchange the Nickelback CD that Greg bought me as a joke and to say hello to Charlie and Laura. The bins are starting to clear out, and even though they joke about it, everyone there is bumming. For Charlie, I'm sure it's like a little part of him is dying, but he won't admit it. The guy's been there longer than I've been in school.

It's hard to rationalize why a store closing affects people so strongly, but for me, at least, Music Biz was always more than just a store.

Posted by Jameson at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)