Spotify Comes to America

I awoke this morning eager to start the today because I knew that around 8 am Spotify was finally going live in the US.  Our European friends have had it for some time and they have bragged about it incessantly.  They have done so for good reason.  I decided to register for a Premium account without even trying the free version because everything I have heard about Spotify indicated that it is an excellent service.  I have not regretted the decision.  The native Mac client is superb and fast - faster than iTunes.  The iPhone app is equally good. The service streams reliably over my home broadband or my AT&T 3G connection.  Pricing seems fair: free for ad supported streaming, $4.95/month for ulimited streaming with no ads but limits on mobile access, and $9.95/month for unlimited access with no ads - including mobile access and device caching for offline access. The free service is invite only for now but you can access the service without an invite if you sign up for a paid plan as I did.

The convenience of having millions of songs at my fingertips for less than $10 a month is a welcome thing for a music lover on a budget who enjoys listening to lots of different kinds of music and exploring new artists. Spotify is going to revolutionize the way I locate, listen to and purchase music.  For example, I was out at lunch with some friends when a couple of songs I liked came across the restaurant's music speakers. Seconds later they were added to appropriate playlists on my iPhone Spotify app and were waiting for me in the Mac client when I returned home. 

By all accounts it took a lot of work and negotiation with record labels for Spotify to bring their excellent service to our shores.  I am thankful for all their hard work.  I think you will be too if you give it a chance.

Apple App Store Tops 15 Billion Downloads

Today my Twitter timeline was full of news stories on Apple's press release announcing that the App Store had reached 15 billion downloads. What I found really interesting in all this was the news that iOS users average 75 apps apiece. That seems to square with what I know of other iOS users. Based on my conversations with them regarding apps and how many they have installed on their device I knew that I was well above that. I currently have 376 apps installed on my iPhone with many more archived on my Mac. Prior to this news I could dismiss the apparent evidence of my app addiction with the idea that it was based on a rather limited data set - the people I know. Now I know that my usage pattern is higher than the stats that Apple has gathered and I am worried. That said, I am not worried enough to stop downloading apps - at least for now. There are way too many amazing apps coded by talented and hard-working developers to quit now. I would hate to see all their work go to waste. Plus these incredibly addictive bits of downloaded code make my phone ever more useful and my daily life easier. Now how's that for a rationalization?

First Thoughts on iCloud

I will probably write more about Apple's iCloud as it becomes available in the fall but a few elements are accessible to users right now and I could not resist the urge to start playing with them.  Being an Apple fanboy, I turned on the iCloud features that are now available in iOS and downloaded iTunes 10.3 to my Macs so I could try out the new cloud goodness.  On an iOS device running 4.3.3 you get some new options in iTunes and the App Store that allow you to access music and iOS apps that you have previously purchased but have either deleted or not downloaded to the device in question.  I was able to view a list of my previously purchased iTunes music (with some helpful search options) and then download tracks and whole albums to my iPhone and iPad.  I also tried accessing apps in the App Store that I had purchased for my iPhone and then deleted due to space constraints. This also worked as expected and I was soon downloading several games that I own but had forgotten about. For me all this is pure gold as I hate connecting my iPhone or iPad to my computer to load content.  I use Mobile Me for calendar, contacts and email so I have little reason other than loading new media to do so. With these media features of iCloud I won't have to do that unless I need to load an OS update or want to back up me device.  When iCloud goes completely live in the fall even those two tasks won't require a wire and a computer.  This is only the tip of the iceberg of what iCloud has to offer.  I can't wait to get ahold of the final product.