Monday, June 7, 2004 |
11:39 - AirTunes
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
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Gadzooks! Apple keeps filling in whatever holes in its lineup look remotely thin. And once even a one-word statement, like the word AirTunes, is out of their mouth... you wonder how it could have been any more obvious a step.
AirPort Express works with iTunes to make listening to your iTunes music library through your home stereo or powered speakers not only a possibility but a snap.(1) Whether your stereo or powered speakers are located in your living room, bedroom or basement, just plug it or them into the audio port on the AirPort Express Base Station using an audio cable. iTunes automatically detects the connection. When you open iTunes on your AirPort-equipped Mac or Wi-Fi-compliant PC, you’ll see a popup list at the bottom right of the iTunes window showing your remote speakers. Select it, click play and your stereo becomes the world’s greatest digital jukebox.
Think of the possibilities — not only when you’re alone, but when you’re entertaining guests. No more wading through a sea of CDs to find the one you want only to have to change it when you’re ready to hear a different song by a different artist. Even if you have a CD changer, your options are limited. With iTunes, on the other hand, you can create playlists and include all the songs you want from your music collection and have them play exactly in the order you want. Using the Party Shuffle feature in iTunes, you can even add and delete songs to your playlist on the fly. Or if you prefer an element of surprise, you can have iTunes just shuffle through your entire music library. With iTunes, it’s your music, your way. And now you can have it in any room of your house.
Buy more than one AirPort Express Base Station and connect one to every stereo or set of powered speakers in your house — for example, you can connect one to your stereo in your bedroom, one to your stereo in your living room and still another to a pair of powered speakers in your kitchen. Its small size and affordability make it perfect for having more than one. Imagine being able to play your iTunes music on whichever speakers in your house you prefer.
This is what iTunes 4.5's "Party Shuffle" feature was made for.
I once dreamed of building a wall nook for an iPod that would control the house's ambient music, with power from the embedded Romex and everything. But hell—this is what I meant all along.
Must... not... buy... ...just... paid for... kitchen...
UPDATE: AirPort Express is also designed to be mobile, which is purported to be a first; it's tiny, and the setup utility lets you set up profiles for various locations, so you can set up in a friend's dorm room or in a favorite hotel or wherever, and everybody in the room gets wireless access. Spooky, man...
UPDATE: As CapLion aptly says, "I wish Apple would just hurry up and go out of business so I wouldn't have to keep buying all this cool stuff they build."
Really, who can be so hard-hearted as to scoff at something like this?
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