Kudos to Apple

There is no chance in hell than Denmark is going to follow suit. The Prime minister is as close to a personal friend of Bill Gates as a prime minister can.

I know apple and microsoft aren't exaclty friends. But if there's anything the current Danish government loves - it's DRM. They even implemented that shit in the libraries.

I think that this is JUST a public relations move. There is a much simpler way to keep kids from hurting their ears. Take the iPod away. It is not Apple's responsibility to "protect" the world from themselves. As a kid my Dad had a solution for us playing the music too loud, he cut the cord off. Guess what, when he fixed it a week or so later we were careful it didn't happen again. This is kind of like people suing McDonalds because they are fat. People need to take responsibility of their actions. As parents, your kids are your responsibility. They are not Apple's, Microsoft's, or even the governments, they are yours. If your kids can't be trusted with an iPod, then don't give them one.

Less rosy news flow? Seriously, Peter, you don't have to force yourself to point out the cloud within the silver lining, at least as far as these news items go:

iPod volume control: There were volume warnings in iPod boxes long before this -- complete non-issue. Well, if you want, you could take note of iPod shuffles inherently lacking this critically important feature.

France and Denmark: Not enough evidence to warrant any giant snowball/avalanche theory, IMHO. I doubt Apple would suffer much at all if they lost all of their France and Denmark business, iPod or otherwise. Though I'm sure poor Bertrand Serlet is anything but pleased about this as far as France is concerned.

Rubenstein and Tevanian: Both have done great things for Apple, no doubt. But I don't think their departures will have much impact. Rubenstein's departure will have the least impact in my mind. I mean, he was the one proclaiming the then-brand-new Power Mac G5 to be a "kick-#$$ machine" in the G5 kickoff video, and then we hear he's moved to the _iPod_ division? There's something of a disconnect there. And as far as OS X goes, Serlet certainly seems to be the one at center stage, since he's the one showing up in video iChats for various Steve Jobs keynotes. I think what John Gruber said about Tevanian's current post is right on for both Tevanian and Rubenstein -- they essentially got promoted to transitional positions right before transitioning out of the company. Sure they likely made important contributions in their final posts, but this has the look of a succession plan years in the making.

The Beatles: This has been going on for a while now, and Appl hasn't skipped a beat. Wait until the verdict to analyze the implications.

Bottom line: There may be many things for Apple to be worried about, but these items aren't those things.