HP teaming with Dr. Dre for new 'Beats' line, music ecosystem in the works
By Paul Miller 
posted August 15th 2009 5:39PM
posted August 15th 2009 5:39PM
[Via BusinessWeek]
posted August 15th 2009 5:39PM
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Chronic is just what everyone needs. oh and FIRST
Will their computers come with a little green bag, if so "f@#$ Samsung"
Legalizing marijuana will generate almost 900 billion in tax revenue, and that's just in southern california.
@ iJames White.
The Jonas Bromance is ghey. That's not music. That's Hanson 2.0 trash.
@iJames
Youre calling other people gay and then saying the Jonas Brothers are better than rap music? I cant stand either but i can sure as hell say that the Jonas brothers are 100x more gay than most rappers.
I'd like to take this opportunity to steer this thread back to the actual subject of the article by saying:
Ya think those pencil necks at HP Corporate actually knew that "chronic" was slang for marijuana? I can just see the board meeting after this hits the media:
"You guys spent $4 million in advertising to market a huge HP logo with the word 'chronic' under it, and didn't even bother to check Urban Dictionary to FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANT first?"
@Smart People Play Tuba: can you really not tell that the HP/Chronic logo is a crude photoshop done by engadget for our entertainment, and does not actually reflect HP's position on the deal in any way?
oh wow.. you thought that.... he thought that was actuall hp logo? i guess SPPT doesnt play the tuba. lol
did someone say chronic?
Okay, not being familiar with Dre album covers, I missed that one. Sorry. Score one for the smart asses at Engadget.
I need to go practice my pedal tones.
@Smart People
Maybe you need to spend less time playing tuba? Or more...I'm not sure
I can't even begin to express how lame this is.
what does chronic have to do with drug "sniffing" idiot, yes this is lame but apperently you are just as lame
yea ok i'm a noob, grow up fool, and i'm not a fan of recent dre stuff so say what you will, this whole dre's beats thing is stupid, my comment was referring to your complete lack of knowledge about what you were talking about.
SNIFF CHRONIC FOOL
@Blizz
maybe because chronic is a drug?
I believe Chronic refers exclusively to marijuana, which means, you can't sniff it. You smoke it.
As well as sniffing marihuana, you can also "not inhale" it.
The HP Chronic album cover is hilarious!
Wow, I am not bashing Beats by Dr. Dre but there are much better phones for the price (ie Grado). I can only imagine what HP is actually going to come up with will be mediocre unless they utilize the flat speaker technology or something similar. I for one question how good a choice it is to dilute your brand especially when you are trying to retain the image of quality in your headphones.
What would Dre have to contibute technology wise? Is he an acoustical engineer?
Oh wait, he's only contributing his name and his affiliation will do nothing to improve actual sound quality. Hey HP, spend money on making better tech, not celebrity endorsements.
i def agree
Beats headphones are all show and no substance, because produce very tinny midrange and treble, but lots of bass. The genera consensus among headphone afficanodos is they suck. You can get a better pair of AKG K601 or K702's for the same price.
@Barcode I heard the same thing and it disappoints me that they'd market that crap as studio headphones, because even us rap producers know that you need to hear all the frequencies at high quality to mix down/master. I just hope that maybe the HP/Dre collab will come out with some quality DAW preloaded or something to give people what they expect.
"When your laptop sales wasn't doing too good
Who's the Doctor they told you to go see?
@Marshall - Good point. However, it's not like they're endorsed by Lance Armstrong - Dre's testimonial on an audio product is actually relevant. Whether it's worth the whatever premium they'll be asking, we'll have to see.
Dre's endorsement is not very relevant if you actually listen to them and compare them to better sounding and lower priced Sennheisers. For $300 you can get a nice pair of HIGH END Sennheiser HD650 or HD600.
But what does HP have to do with music?
It's not like they own a record label and production studios so that they can stop the loudness war and dynamic compression shit going on.
Enough of the word "ecosystem"...it's annoying.
I don't understand this new geek fascination to throw it around anywhere.
WHAT?
-cles of Narnia!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKSIaeQHV94
Who gives a shit unless they come out with a good product that isn't insanely overpriced, unlike Dre's last outing with Monster Cable...
*yawn. Just another weak attempt for HP to look hip and cool. In the end, we'll probably just see some overpriced Logitech headphones/speakers/headsets with Dr. Dre branding.
If HP wants to be cool, they can start by shipping a real OS installation DVD with their PCs (that buyers already paid for) instead of a restore partition (HP is so cheap that users have to make their own restore CD/DVDs).
I like Dr. Dre as a producer, rapper, and entrepreneur, so I get why he's doing this. In fact, good thing it's Dre doing this, he's a lot more respectable than most rappers. Can you imagine an "OKAAAY" line of products by 'Lil Jon?
BTW, Engadget, they're still using that "in which to drop the beat" quote as an endorsement on the Monster Beats site. Scroll down below the Flash, you're right between Time and CNN.
No they're not.
Disable Javascript or check the page source to see it. The endorsement on beatsbydre.com is also the first hit for a Google search of the quote, since Google's spiders read noscript tags.
http://www.google.com/search?q=there+are+no+better+headphones+in+which+to+drop+the+beat
its true, check the page source code, it's hidden visually.
"I heard you wanna f**k with Dre...you picked the wrong muthafu**kin day" - Nate Dogg
is it wise to use a rapper who, despite name cachet, sang about drugs and hoes?
not any different than most music Rock/Disco/Rap...
Probably not, but I doubt Will Smith would go along with something like this. And aside from him I don't know of any rappers with national celebrity who DON'T sing about drugs and hoes. Do you ?
Aside from Wierd Al of course, who come to think of it makes more sense as a rapper mascot for HP...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky-JTAPhmUo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsfVw9xxoNY
Since when was rap considered music?
compared to all the rapers sang about rainbows and butterflies?
Dr. inst really a rapper, well he is, but hes a producer first.
He makes amazing music, weather you like rap or not, there is no denying hes an artist. He has one of the best ears for music. He just makes a rap album once in a while by popular demand. He doesn't write his lyrics most of the time. He just makes amazing beats.
O and don't get me wrong, i'm not getting his laptop, or his headphones, cause there a waste of money. But on the music side hes a very talented artist.
Agreed, I have a lot of respect for Dre as an artist and still listen to Chronic 2001 often. But, I don't really like that he's doing this and the Dr. Pepper thing. Sort of ruins his image for me. IMO he needs to stick to producing amazing stuff and promoting great rappers and not peddling gear with mega corps.
It'd make more sense to use an actually musician, and well if these are suppose to be good headphones go with a popular DJ like Armin van Buuren or Tiesto, even Paul van Dyk or Paul Oakenfold...
"The Chronic?", now that is a risky name.
If Dre's teaming with HP, he's officially incool, at this point.
uncool.
@Smart People Play Tuba
are you for real?
its satire