Comments on: microsoft likes fripp and eno. apple likes bono. do the math.

By: Hucasys

Hucasys — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 20:06:23 +0000

Hi, I’ve been following your site for sometime and enjoy very much the clever creative mood here
As a musician, and 7 year web designer, having been a RF student, and being a permanent windows critic, though tied to it for professional reasons…THIS IS SHOCK!!
I’ve even met Steve Ball!!, and no…I really don’t know what to think of the world now…(giggles).
But being logic, it’s most likely to have a sort of feeling as “Apple paid for Bono’s services, Microsoft for Fripp and Eno’s.”
And I would say it is JUST AS difficult to compose a long piece of music than a short one, very very subjective, time may always be subdivided so…
Cheers

By: Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:19:54 +0000

Not sure you can conclusively say how long it takes to write a four note motif, even if you were the guy who wrote it. It depends how you define what is and isn’t part of the process, which can range all the way from “his whole life up to that point” at one extreme, to “within the two seconds it took him to first fart it out while improvising” at the other.
How long did it take you to come up with your “the market for something to believe in is infinite” cartoon? Same answer: your whole life, or a few minutes, depending where you draw the line between creating something and not creating something. There’s no right or wrong answer there, unless you want to see blood on the floor.

By: Rodrigo Dauster

Rodrigo Dauster — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 17:23:52 +0000

Hugh,
Creating sound icons (aka jewels or splashes) is very hard. I worked on the team that produced 19 sound icons for a mobile operator. It took us 4 months. At that rate 2,000 in 18 months is a sprint.
The shorter the duration of the sound the more difficult it is. Hey, you should be familiar with this. It’s a lot harder to write a 4-word banner than a number of paragraphs.
Cheers

By: Mike Peter Reed

Mike Peter Reed — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 07:12:15 +0000

As to the story behind Beethoven’s 5th, the story I heard goes something along the lines of Beethoven saying to his housekeeper:
“You are the inspiration for all my music” to which she laughs “Ha-ha ha ha”.
As to Microsoft being “nice”, it’s very difficult to change people’s minds. There’s also a factor of credibility. Deeds not words, thanks.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:15:07 +0000

Yup, Brian Eno designed the Windows 95 sound...on a Mac. He still uses a Mac. http://www.apple.com/uk/pro/profiles/eno/ What was your point?

By: Sheamus

Sheamus — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:27:43 +0000

Way cool and fun post Hugh!
And… I LOVE your art here!!
There is much seriousness and feelings of heaviness in this world at times, and this version of one ethos includes certain people taking very mean whacks at Microsoft.
Your drawing and post wonderfully make the point that there are wonderful people within Microsoft with love and passion, and that they work hard (and thoughtfully) about doing some really special and magical stuff!
Rock on you creative dude!

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:59:38 +0000

Kaltiki, that would not surprise me: http://www.searls.com/tsg/think.html Read the part where Doc talks about "Art".

By: Kaltiki

Kaltiki — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:44:59 +0000

And who does Brian Eno like? Apple, of course. And the Mac. http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/eno/

By: rafalski

rafalski — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:33:06 +0000

Correction: it's "Mea Culpa", not "America is Waiting", that seems to be the 1981 prototype of 1992's "Numb". Both can be found on this terrific album http://bushofghosts.wmg.com/

By: rafalski

rafalski — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:23:10 +0000

I believe Brian Eno is responsible for U2's success to an extent very few realize. I always saw him as a genius alien parasite who needed a charismatic host band he could express himself through. He produced those of their albums which were considered milestones the day they were released. "Zooropa" is nothing like pre-eno U2 and so much like Eno's earlier experiments. To me, Zooropa's "Numb" is a neatly repackaged "America is Waiting" from Eno's "My life in the Bush of Ghosts". It is worth noting, that an attempt to make Eno a member of the band, rebranded "Passengers", didn't really work out, and they split up. U2 never released a decent album since, even when Eno returned to produce some material in recent years.

By: Mike Abundo

Mike Abundo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:41:29 +0000

It's an improvement over the previous version, I'll give them that. Would've preferred this one, though. I like some edge to start my day.

By: Dot

Dot — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:23:57 +0000

http://www.whatislovestories.com

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:02:09 +0000

Holy Spin Hugh,
“Apple likes Bono, Microsoft likes Fripp and Eno.” Really? I doubt that would play out in a survey of either their employee or user base. How about “Apple paid for Bono’s services, Microsoft for Fripp and Eno’s.”
Apple is seen as a niche player, and chooses a popular/populist artist to expand their reach; Microsoft seeks respect/substance, and chooses a more substantive, intellectual pair of artists.
Being kind is transformative, sure. But loose talk…
Hope you continue to get on with MS though. I’m sure you could shake things up there.