Celine Dion Kills iMacs!

May 10, 2002 4:26 PM

Celine Dion Kills iMacs! Apparently, this isn't actually a new development, but someone's come foward to confirm it's happening.
This is almost too easy. Have at it, guys.
posted by Su (34 comments total)

Yeah, but Big Macs are safe around her.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:32 PM on May 10, 2002

People buy Celine Dion CDs?

Mac users might, I guess....
posted by signal at 4:34 PM on May 10, 2002

I want to know about the burner in my stereo. Hypothetically (because god forbid I'd buy a Celine Dion CD), would trying to copy one of these destroy my stereo?
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 4:35 PM on May 10, 2002

Incidentally, you should follow the links in the article, particularly to the CDR site. They point to several other articles that have popped up about this.

Yelling: According to the CDR, it's suspected that more advanced CD devices(like your burner, for example), might have varying problems, yes.
posted by Su at 4:37 PM on May 10, 2002

I was under the impression that Philips had already stated publicly that they would do not condone copy protected cd's. Am I wrong in this assumption...off to check.
posted by bittennails at 5:00 PM on May 10, 2002

Dear Sony,

Just for the record, my PC has 4.1 Dolby surround speakers with a fairly expensive soundcard. It also has two cd players (one CDR, one DVD-R). It is the only place in my home that has this kind of quality sound equipment. I use my computer for work and therefore do not feel the need to purchase another seperate stereo system to listen to in my office. This is just a warning. There are hundres of thousands of people like me who listen to music at home or at work on their computers. I can't speak for all of them, but I can speak for myself and say I will never buy a cd that can't be played on my PC. Ever. I don't care who it is. I don't care if you signed the damned Pixies for a reunion record. I won't buy it.

Thank you for your time.

If I thought Sony gave a rat's ass, I would send it to them. I'd rather just watch their sales slide even farther down when this crap becomes widespread.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:10 PM on May 10, 2002

They have publicly stated that they are against this practice. Straightforward google search results in quite a bit of stuuf on their opinion in this regard.
posted by bittennails at 5:11 PM on May 10, 2002

Sorry, "stuff".
posted by bittennails at 5:12 PM on May 10, 2002

Pixies, huh ... well ... ahhh ...

But, yeah, NO Celine Dion!
posted by yhbc at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2002

On a side note, 4-AD is releasing some old Pixies demo tapes or something this summer. They're calling it "The Purple Tapes" or some shit like that. Really, really old stuff.
posted by SweetJesus at 5:18 PM on May 10, 2002

Apple's web site has this to say:

You may be unable to eject certain copy-protected audio discs, which resemble Compact Discs (CD) but technically are not.

kinda funny, it then goes on to list other copy protected disks, so you don't accidentally buy them, and names sony as a company that makes these. go apple.

as someone else joked:

The following discs are known to use the copy protection:
Shakira: "Laundry Service"
Jennifer Lopez: "J To Tha L-O!"
Celine Dion: "A New Day Has Come"

"These people resemble musicians but technically are not."
posted by rhyax at 5:47 PM on May 10, 2002

First they came for the Celine Dion fans, and I did nothing because I was not a Celine Dion fan...
posted by Jeff Howard at 5:52 PM on May 10, 2002

Man, that "news" is over a month old!

Fark Sony and all their record industry cartel cohorts... get KazaaLite, all the file-sharing and none of the scumware!
posted by clevershark at 6:27 PM on May 10, 2002

Something else, while I think about it. Because CDs and DVDs are such an established standard, if these "CrapDs" are not clearly and prominently identified as such, legally they could be considered trojan horses. If they cause damage to even one computer they could be considered an instrument of electronic terrorism, in PATRIOT parlance. Therefore Sony Music could, through their own greed, find themselves accused of being a terrorist organization.

I wonder if the CDR has considered that aspect of it. Not that Johnny "I'll bend right over for corporations" Ashcroft's DOJ has any intention of getting tough on them...
posted by clevershark at 6:32 PM on May 10, 2002

Uh...Clevershark. The month old news is at the URL I specifically linked to the phrase "isn't actually a new development." The actual focus of my post, the first link, is dated noon-ish today.

Eyeball: I'm just about in the same position you are. While I've got a couple of components for a stereo system, I don't have that slightly important receiver/speaker part of it; don't ask. So I listen to music exclusively on my PC, and have for a while. I would be highly pissed if some crap CD trashed my system.
As for your letter, it's one of those things where maybe you have to keep it around until someone throws together a relatively concerted campaign to bomb Sony with these complaints. Let's see what happens.
posted by Su at 6:49 PM on May 10, 2002

i'm going to send the riaa an anonymous email with a screenshot of my 14GB mp3 collection...
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 6:54 PM on May 10, 2002

Hell, Su and Eyeball: I've got a full stereo, CD player, tuner, speakers, etc. and I still listen to CD's exclusively on my computer. I only use the stereo for NPR and vinyl. Aaaaah....vinyl!
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:09 PM on May 10, 2002

Ashcroft's DOJ has any intention of getting tough on them...

no need for ashcroft, just sue the jerks. if they're doing it intentionally, you could potentially get millions in punitive damages.
posted by boltman at 8:35 PM on May 10, 2002

Celine Dion didn't kill the iMac. The iMac commited suicide. I mean, what iMac in the right mind would subject itself to Celine Dion?
posted by ncurley at 8:52 PM on May 10, 2002

Sixtwenty3dc: Heh. I should send them my CD catalogue program's database: 130(currently) discs of MP3 files. I've got about 14G of them just sitting on the hard drive itself at any given time.
posted by Su at 1:35 AM on May 11, 2002

This is all the more reason not to buy CDs from RIAA supporting labels. Support independent music. Small bands and unsigned artists can't afford to copyprotect their CDs. They can barely afford to burn enough of them to sell at their gigs.

This will just speed up the process of killing the RIAA once and for all, and I for one look forward to that day.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:56 AM on May 11, 2002

i finally found the Celine thread. i have a nightmare where someone, someone like dion ruins my harddrive. it was not the computers demise. it was how....
posted by clavdivs at 6:07 AM on May 11, 2002

Ok all - anyone with a site, let's do a googlebomb. Use this code:

<A HREF="http://www.macuser.co.uk/macsurfer/php3/openframe.php3?page=/newnews/newsarticle.php3?id=1990">Sony</A>
posted by password at 8:45 AM on May 11, 2002

Wait, sorry, don't use that one, use this one:

<A HREF="http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/17117.html">Sony</A>

I didn't realize that the first link isn't anti-Sony like the second (does it even mention Sony at all?).

Sorry 'bout that.
posted by password at 8:52 AM on May 11, 2002

From Article: ...as once the CD is inserted into a new iMac it cannot be removed and the machine cannot be restarted.

I might be mac illiterate, but the ol' paperclip method doesn't work on iMacs? (su: I have 74Gb of mp3s on a IBM deskstar HD so, phffpt! Also had to install RIS on the drive just because I'm too lazy to weed out the duplicates)
posted by samsara at 10:20 AM on May 11, 2002

Who want to burn a Celine Dion CD. I would want her on my computer as much as "that no talent ass clown,Michael Bolton."
posted by sahrens428 at 10:39 AM on May 11, 2002

eyeballkid....right there with ya. I'll burn a mix CD one in a while to listen to in my car, but other than that, I don't even own a CD player.

And yup, I have a mac.
posted by Windigo at 12:54 PM on May 11, 2002

I might be mac illiterate, but the ol' paperclip method doesn't work on iMacs?

yea, it does. maybe it sounded scarier that way though :P
posted by rhyax at 3:39 PM on May 11, 2002

Heya samsara.. what's RIS? Some sort of duplicate search software? If you can give me the name/URL of the company that makes it, I would kindly appreciate it as I am a lazy bastard myself. Thanks :)
posted by spidre at 4:39 PM on May 11, 2002

I might be mac illiterate, but the ol' paperclip method doesn't work on iMacs?

Apparently, there's no panic hole on the new iMacs or Titanium G4s. They probably started taking them out about the same time as audio inputs.
posted by password at 7:20 AM on May 12, 2002

There has to be a panic hole somewhere. Probably on the inside of the case, not viewable externally. Just unplug it, and grab a screwdriver. You'll find it eventually.
posted by schlaager at 10:06 AM on May 12, 2002

There has to be a panic hole somewhere.

By then it's too late. You fail to realize that you mistakenly placed a Celine Dion CD in the drive, and must send in the machine for repairs. Trained experts will exorcize the CD from the tray for a "fee" using ancient prayer rituals only known to the Jobians (Mac elite...)

spidre, RIS (Remote Installation Service) is for Win2k AS. It creates a single instance storage database on the drive to store the contents of duplicate files...Pretty spiffy I might add since it's actual purpose is to lessen the size of remote OS installs.
posted by samsara at 12:15 PM on May 12, 2002

Just a couple of followups on this issue.

Apple advises on ejecting copy-protected audio CDs from MacCentral

Mac OS: Cannot Eject Copy Protected Audio Disc, Computer Starts Up to Gray Screen, Apple Kbase Note
posted by lampshade at 7:17 AM on May 13, 2002

Recent news coverage points out that Apple will not cover under its warranties any damage inflicted on your computer by a copy-protected CD. My reading of the entrails here is that by doing this Apple is pointing the finger at the CD manufacturers, saying, if this CD causes problems, go after them for the cost of repairs — it's not our fault they're manufacturing non-standard CDs designed to bollix up computers.
posted by mcwetboy at 7:58 AM on May 14, 2002