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iPod used to steal $100 million (in a movie)
The iPod is being turned into everything from Halloween costumes to stethoscope training tools, and now it apparently is being used to help steal hundreds of millions of dollars - in Hollywood movies, that is (don't worry, this won't be a spoiler).Apparently Harrison Ford uses an iPod to permanently borrow $100 million from his bank in the new Firewall flick. Rick Warner, over at Bloomberg, already critiqued it quite nicely: "I don't doubt that computerized banking is ripe for theft, but the way Ford does it [sic] seems as far-fetched as James Frey's resume."While I think it's great that the iPod and Apple are receiving all this fantastic buzz, I'm having a hard time understanding how silly product placement like this benefits anyone, let alone who instigated it. How far is stuff like this going to go? Are we going to see exploding iPods hurled down hallways to destroy genetically modified monsters in a forthcoming sequel to Doom? Here's hoping Harrison doesn't have to decode an ancient culture's chant with nothing more than his 'trusty' iPod in Indiana Jones 4.[via iLounge]http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=a4uL2l7YM5G8&refer=culture
HD-DVD gets exclusive support from The Weinstein Company
Former Miramax heads Harvey and Bob Weinstein have decided to join Universal in exclusively supporting Toshiba's HD-DVD format. Our friend Warren Lieberfarb (he of the "Sony is using tactics from the Art of War" statement) is a consultant to their distribution company, Genius, so this is not entirely surprising. No word on what titles to expect or exactly when, but apparently they will probably release in summer rather than spring with the launch of the first HD-DVD players. Also, Studio Canal has pledged to release 30 titles in europe, while Toshiba is expecting more than 200 HD-DVD discs available before the 2006 holiday season. Will that be enough to stave off the Blu-ray/PS3 behemoth bearing down on them?The Passion of the Clerks, Sin City 2, Scary Movie 4, Michael Moore's "Sicko", all on HD-DVD only apparently.
