Magazine Resources

FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog

March 8, 2004

Did You Say Google, iPod? Hot Topics, Luke-warm News

When the media buzz-saw is spinning, any news will make the cut. Two non-news tidbits about Google and iPod culled from the ether:

If you're waiting for a radical revamp of Google's interface, sorry, this isn't it. But in an IPO-hungry media environment starving for any news related to the ubiquitous search engine, here's the latest blip on the radar. Google is apparently toying with a slightly modified look for it's homepage (and I mean slightly; I had to toggle a couple times to see the difference). According to this site, which lets you take a look, the facelift is being tested with a limited number of Google users...

In other "news," Dr Michael Bull, an "academic" spotlighted recently by the BBC, has experienced a blinding glimpse of the obvious: people like music. Preaching the transcendent properties of the iPod, Bull calls Apple's MP3 players, "multi-faceted transformative devices," and a "tool whereby users manage space, time and the boundaries around the self." Why he attributed this ancient truth to Apple's Johnny-come-lately - and not simply portable music players in general (invented circa 1979, 25 years ago) - one can only guess.