The New York
Times has a brief article profiling
Alex Ostrovsky, the billionth downloader
on iTunes. Turns out that he is 16 years old, doesn't buy things fro iTunes all that often (though with his new $10,000
iTunes card that is going to change), and he was in need of a new computer (but now has a 20 inch iMac).Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ralph said 10:48AM on 2-24-2006
Nice that it's a kid who can really use the computer. I bet he has 9 new best friends soon.
Reply
Ralph said 10:55AM on 2-24-2006
Wait a minute:
"I've downloaded maybe 50 songs, but I was always more likely to borrow CD's from my friends"
Do you think this kid realizes that he'll be sought by the RIAA soon? Do you think they will hesitate at the opportunity to do such a high-profile lawsuit?
Reply
unreal mccoy said 11:04AM on 2-24-2006
I thought that the winner would be some geek who wrote an Applescript to automatically download songs.
Reply
adreas said 11:04AM on 2-24-2006
This is a great story. I would love to be in his shoes right now, although mine are not too bad. The whole competition-thing was a smart move by Apple, it generates a lot of fantastic PR, and has sold a lot of songs i can imagine.
Reply
Mikey said 11:48AM on 2-24-2006
Is it Illegal to borrow a CD? What is the legal difference between listening to a song on the radio or the same song on a CD? The reason I don't buy from iTunes is because I prefere to have the CD, which I can lend to friends when I want.
I have loads of music on vinyl - however I download free copies of these albums from the web. I have already paid once for the music - so why should I pay again?
Reply
ChillyWilly said 11:50AM on 2-24-2006
"I've downloaded maybe 50 songs, but I was always more likely to borrow CD's from my friends"
As Ralph said above, RIAA will most likely use this to make themselves look like the total asses they are and leave another black mark on the record industry.
If I had to give advice to anyone from RIAA that may be reading this it would be: back off and let the kid enjoy his prize. He legally downloaded a song and will obviously be leaglly downloading a lot more.
Congrats again to the winner. I hope his friends and family will be grateful for whatever he gives away.
Reply
Ben said 12:25AM on 2-26-2006
As a side note, this kid may not have needed the 10 iPods and a new computer. West B.H. is where most of the Pistions, Lions, and Tigers live, not to mention many Big 3 executives. Luxist just did a write up on how the most expensive home in Michigan is in Bloomfeild Hills.
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