I’ve written about the movie industry in the past. Like the TV industry, these guys are living in the 1990s, when it became immensely profitable to sell slightly different types of physical media every few years. It was like a bath of money they could roll around in, safe in the knowledge warm, new money would continue to flow. As long as some exciting ‘extras’ could be found to get idiots to rebuy the same material time and time again, obviously.

Now we have digital. Digital is great. Digital enables you to cut through the crap and get to the content. You get a movie. What you don’t get: a non-skippable ten-second studio logo; a non-skippable card saying that the opinions of the people banging on in the commentary don’t necessarily overlap with those of the studio’s idiot legal department; possible skippable adverts, to try and get you to buy barely relevant films the studio has also released; and tedious animated menus that take ages to run. If you’re really lucky, you’ll also get an anti-piracy warning, telling you in the most patronising manner possible that you shouldn’t copy the movie you’ve just paid good money for, you almost-thief, you.

With digital, you don’t get any of this, and, essentially, there are just two forms of digital:

• Stuff you pay for.
• Stuff you don’t pay for.

That’s it. There is nothing else. So it showcases the idiocy in the industry that Mike Lang, CEO at Miramax, is now suggesting Apple is a bigger threat to the movie industry than piracy. (Sources: Music Ally and Rapid TV News.) That would be the same Apple that’s managed to convince people to buy music rather than download it and, through iTunes Match, has even managed to monetise dodgy downloads. But, no, Apple isn’t smart: it’s a threat.

Apple is the strongest company in the music industry, and because there was not enough competition, and still to this day is not enough competition, as an industry it can’t then influence, packaging, merchandising… all the things that are vital

Packaging: vital? Really? Newsflash: very few people care about packaging. What people want is content, at an affordable price, and when they want it, preferably in several formats. Instead, you guys are withholding your content from certain services and cutting deals with others. You’re removing rentals after a few months, to force people to buy movies (whereupon many people just think “sod it” and download them from torrent sites instead). YOU are the guys creating the lock-in, not Apple. YOU are the ones screwing up competition, not Apple.

We want multiple players to be successful… It’s really important as an industry that we try to allow multiple players in markets around the world… Our goal as an industry should be to have as many as possible, and may the best service win.

The point isn’t that one service will ‘win’, but that by being more open with your content, every service will ‘win’, and so, too, will the consumers.

Still, Lang does at least acknowledge the industry’s biggest blunders:

Piracy really is not the bigger issue for our company or for our library. It’s been lack of exploitation, just not getting it out there.

Quite. But to then suggest Apple’s the main culprit in terms of restricting competition is absurd—it’s the studios. And the same goes for TV shows. Make your content available and affordable in a timely manner and for as long as people want it and they will buy it. That’s all you need to do, bar realising that the disc era of media consumption was a blip that you’re never, ever going to see again.

Update: Stuart Dredge provides a liveblog on the event, suggesting Lang does understand the arguments. A particularly good quote:

When consumers tell you what they want, figure out a way to give it to them, because they will figure out a way to get it.

But worrying about Apple in this industry is a hiding to nothing. Let Apple sell and rent your content and everyone else too. Don’t yoink movies because you can make more money from a shiny disc no-one wants.

Rory Cellan-Jones for the BBC:

Why rush out and buy the new, new thing if it looks just like that old phone that’s been around for more than a year?

Yes, why do that? You’d never, say, buy a new TV that looked much like the old one, because it had a better display or more features. You’d never buy a new amp and speakers, even if they looked like your existing ones, if they offered a much better audio experience. You’d certainly never buy a new electric guitar, ever, even if its sound was astonishing compared to the electric guitar-shaped object you already owned.

So, yes, the iPhone 4S is clearly a complete disaster. If we ignore digital assistant Siri, the A5 chip that’ll massively boost app (2x) and graphics (7x) performance, the improved camera (8 MP stills; 1080p video), and the revamped antenna, WHAT THE HELL WAS APPLE THINKING? It looks the same as an iPhone 4! How will tech geeks be able to show off now? They’ll have to actually speak to people and say “LOOK AT MY NEW SHINY THING” rather than nonchalantly point at a device with a new and exciting form! They’ll have to avoid chucking out all their accessories, because they’ll still work! The horror!

To sum up Apple’s announcement earlier today…

Apple:

We’ve released an update to the iPhone 4, called the iPhone 4S. It’s way faster, yet has a longer battery life. The graphics performance is stronger, for better gaming. Antenna problems have been fixed through a cunning dual-antenna system. It works worldwide (GSM and CDMA) but isn’t any bulkier. The camera’s 8MP, also with better video recording. There’s a new version of iOS, with loads of great features. And there’s iCloud to tie everything together.

Whiny internet bitches:

Wah wah! No iPhone 5! Wah wah wahhhhhhh!

Zune.net:

We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players.

iPod killer, killed!

So what does this mean for our current Zune users?

Well, it means they bought into yet another platform that’s been killed, in part due to the overwhelming hype and promises at the time, many of which weren’t met. Still:

 Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today.

No switch-off this time, at least.

Digitimes reports that Acer VP Scott Lin has continued his company’s special line of crazy:

Acer vice president Scott Lin pointed out that ultrabooks from notebook brand vendors will mostly be released in the fourth quarter and start mass shipping in early 2012

Only many months after the MacBook Air, but of course all these companies aren’t copying Apple’s every move—they are innovating!

therefore, estimates for ultrabooks to account for 30% of the global consumer notebook shipments by the end of 2012 are reasonable and tablet PCs will be the first products to be impacted by ultrabooks.

Because, as everyone knows, the iPad’s been selling really badly since Apple released the MacBook Air.

Lin pointed out that tablet PCs are mainly emphasizing light and thin features as well as entertainment capabilities, and once notebooks are capable of achieving the same features, while still maintaining battery longevity, consumer’s purchasing behavior will reverse as consumers would rather choose a machine that can satisfy their demand for both entertainment and work, instead of carrying a tablet PC and a notebook around.

Lin pointed out that he’s a dolt that doesn’t see what’s actually happening in the tech industry. He also pointed out that he doesn’t fully understand lots of people love the intimacy of a touchscreen interface over an old-fashioned clamshell, do plenty of work on iPads anyway (Penultimate! iA Writer! Brushes! Numbers! And so on!), and OH GOD WHAT IS THE POINT?

*picks self up off of ground, bracing self for further Acer idiocy*

Lin believes that consumers’ purchasing focus will return to notebooks in 2012.

Just like they did in 2011! Also, notice how those ‘laptop’ things were just a fad? I’m sure consumers’ purchasing focus will return to desktops in 2013. And CRT TVs. And horse-and-cart.