The current iTunes business model is that you pay $0.99 per song.  It’s been that way for quite some time, in fact. 

But according to news reports, Apple is negotiating with record labels for a new model that would be music to the ears of iTunes fans:  free music access. 

That’s right.  Free.  Apple is trying to get the labels to consent to an iTunes where users gain access to any and all music they desire.  The catch–there’s always a catch, isn’t there?–is that Apple would then charge more for their digital music devices, and pass that extra revenue on to the record companies as payment. 

So your new iPod might cost $500 or $600, but then you’d have free music access to download all the free songs your device can hold.  Well, there’s also a rumor that Apple may include a sort of “membership” or “download subscription” fee–and I can’t tell if that’s in conjunction with the added cost to the mp3 player or as an alternative pricing model.  Either way… free music is probably on its way to iTunes soon. 

Pretty sweet, eh?  Just look at the guy in that picture; that dude is loving this news. 

Theoretically, you’d never have to pay for music again… only for mp3 players.  Granted, those mp3 players might end up costing as much as a gently used motorcycle, but hey… unlimited free music downloads, right? 

Unfortunately, if you own a Zune, you’re out of luck.  Sounds like the only folks who will be able to take advantage of this new model will be people who own or buy Apple products like the iPhone and the iPod.  Of course, if you own a Zune, you’re probably already used to being in the minority. 

The change in revenue model will be huge news if it goes through, and will further cement iTunes’ status as the top destination for digital music downloads.  Check back frequently for updates as news of this development becomes more readily available. 

This post is not for the seasoned Googler.  If you are an SEO or a web designer, if you use Google on a daily basis, or–heck–if you’re under the age of 25… chances are that you already know most of what I’m going to talk about here.  But we have a lot of clients that are still novices in the world of the web.  So this post is for them.  

So….”Why can’t I ever find what I’m looking for on Google?”  I get that question a lot.  More than you know.  And it used to puzzle me to no end, because I am able to very consistently find what I’m looking for on Google. 

I used to think that maybe the people who say they can’t were just searching for different things than I am.  But I guess I spend more time working with search engines than the average person, and that might be giving me an unfair advantage.  Perhaps the biggest reason you might not be able to find what you want is that you’re doing it wrong. 

Sorry, let me back up.  Google’s search algorithm is the most sophisticated of all the engines.  It’s very, very smart.  But we still need to help it along now and then by better describing what we’re searching for. 

1. Drill Down

Let’s talk first about how many words you’re including in your search.  As we discussed in this previous post, one-word searches are a thing of the past.  If you’re only using one word in your Google query, then chances are you’re going to struggle mightily to find what you need.  Here’s a good rule of thumb:  The more information you give Google on what you need, the better the odds are that they’ll return a result that helps you. 

If what you’re really searching for is a how-to guide on setting up your surround sound home theater system, you wouldn’t want to search for just the word “sound”.  Go ahead and try it… I’ll wait.  See, what you get for that search on Google isn’t helpful for your true need.  You get some definitions of “sound,” some official sites for radio stations or company’s with “sound” in their name, some free sound effects sites, and more stuff that won’t actually help you install that new killer sound system in your living room. 

So we need to drill down.  How about typing “surround sound system?”  This query is more specific, so Google returns results that are a bit more pertinent… but still not helpful for what you ultimately need.  You get sites that want to sell you a “surround sound system,” you get sites that explain how surround sound works, you get some buying guides, and one site that claims to tell you “how to buy and set up” a surround sound system. 

Good.  We’re getting closer. 

But we don’t want to buy one–we already bought the thing.  We don’t need to know how surround sound works (the science behind it)… we just want to hear it. 

So let’s just tell Google what we want to do, in as specific a way as possible.  Type “how to set up surround sound home theater system.”  Viola!  Like magic Google returns 10 listings on the first page of results that offer assistance in setting up a home theater system.  Awesome.  Great job, Google! 

But you see how we had to help them get there, right?  We were too vague at first.  So the first rule of finding what you want on Google is to be as specific as possible. 

Helpful Tip:  Another great way to drill down is to type a location name, particularly if you’re searching for a local service such as a CPA, mechanic, or dentist.  Typing “dentist” won’t help you find one nearby, but typing “dentist Nashville” will–assuming you live in Nashville, obviously.  So use place-names.  They are terribly helpful for getting accurate results.

2. Operators

Google’s search engine can take special commands.  Operators are commands in your query that tell Google to only return a certain kind of result.  A lot of them you probably know already. 

• For instance, the “+” character.  This operator forces words to be coupled together in a query.  So if you’re searching for chocolate animals, and you put the “+” character between the two words, your results will consist only of sites that have both those words on the page. 
• You can also use the “+” sign to have Google calculate basic arithmetic for you.  Typing 3654 + 7557 yields the actual sum of 11211–click here to see it yourself. Replace the plus sign with an “x” and you’ll get the total of those two numbers multiplied together–it’s 27,613,278 if you’re too lazy to click the link. 
• The minus character (”-”) eliminates certain words from results.  So if you want to know about bass–the fish–and want to filter out any results related to the musical version of the word “bass”, you could type “bass -music” into Google and get a list of results for pages containing the word “bass” but not the word “music.” 
• How about quotes?  Do you use quotes when you search?  You should, particularly if you want to find a site that has the exact phrase you type verbatim.  A great example of this is finding the name for a song you know only a partial lyric for.  I do this all the time.  Maybe you remember those commercials a few months back for the Apple Video iPod Nano, where the singer in the video sang, “1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more?”  So type in “1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more” into Google and guess what?  Every result is related to that song, the singer, or the commercial.  I was able to find out right away what the song was called (it’s called “1 2 3 4″) and who sang it (a new artist named Feist) in a matter of seconds.  And lots of people did this, by the way.  That song was the number one iTunes download in a matter of a week or so after the commercial started airing. 
• Use the “or” operator to cover multiple versions of the same word or phrase.  This is especially helpful when a word has more than one spelling (like “donut” or “doughnut”) or when someone or something has multiple names (like “Puff Daddy” or “P Diddy“). 

3. Advanced Operators

Google will give you all kinds of information if you just know how to ask for it. 

• Want to see how many websites link to yours?  Type “link:yourwebsitedomain.com” (obviously, you’ll want to replace “yourwebsitedomain” with your actual website domain).  Here, let’s try it with our official company website.  Typing “link:www.kbsweb.com” in the Google search box returns only sites that link to ours.  Looks like there are 502 websites linking to ours.  Hey–that’s more than I would have guessed. Want to see something neat?  Try the link command with Google’s website, typing “link:www.google.com” and see what you get.  Yup.  Over 3 million pages that link to Google’s home page.  Boy have we got some catching up to do, eh?
• What if you want to search only on one specific website.  For instance, Yahoo.  You can use the “site:” operator to restrict the Google results to a specific root URL.  So typing “sports site:www.yahoo.com” will only return results that are Yahoo pages that deal with sports. 
• Use Google as a dictionary, and find definitions for new words in a snap.  Maybe you need to know the definition of “hypothyroidism.”  If so, type “define: hypothyroidism” into Google and you’ll get a list of multiple definitions. 
• The “related” operator is handy for finding sites that are similar to one you already know.  So, you know Google is a search engine.  Say you want to find some more search engines, maybe some you’ve never heard of.  Just type “related:www.google.com” and you’ll get a whole list.  So nice of Google to provide a list of their competitors, don’t you think?
• Do you trade in the stock market?  The “stocks:” operator will treat everything that follows it as stock ticker symbols.  So typing “stock:yhoo” yields all sorts of information about Yahoo’s stock. 
• Find movie reviews and show-times with the “movie:” operator.  Type “movie:cloverfield” as an example, or just click here. 
• How about weather?  Yup.  Just type the word “weather” and add a city name or a zip code to see the latest forecast. 
• You can use Google for currency conversions.  Want to know how many U.S. Dollars you can get for your 500 Euros?  You can.  Just type “500 Euros to Dollars” into the search box and you’ll have your answer.  ($739.80 if you don’t feel like clicking). 

There are tons of operators other than the ones I mention here.  In fact, here’s a very handy site that has a huge list of all the various ways you can search for information on Google.  Or you can go to Google’s own official help center.

I hope this article helps you feel empowered to be a better Googler.  I hope that these tips will help you get more accurate results so that you never again have to say “Why can’t I ever find what I’m looking for on Google?”  Perhaps instead you’ll be saying, “Why am I so awesome at finding whatever I need on Google?”  I know I ask myself that question every morning when I look in the mirror.  Now, you can be just as awesome. 

So go.  Spread the news.  Google is a powerful tool, standing by night and day to assist in connecting you with the very information you need.  Sometimes we just need to provide better information up front to help it along.  Your training is complete, grasshopper. 

So if you’re a Mac fan, today is like Christmas.  Or New Years Eve.  Or some other gift-giving, partying holiday. 

Why?  Because it’s MacWorld day.  What is MacWorld?  I’ll let their website tell you in their own words:

Macworld is the premier source for news, reviews, help and how-to, videos, and podcasts for the Apple market, including the Mac, Mac software, Mac OS X, the iPod and iTunes, and the iPhone. Along with reviews of Mac-compatible hardware such as printers, digital cameras, and displays, Macworld reviews iPod cases, headphones, speakers, and accessories, and iPhone-related products.

So that’s basically a fancy way to say “it’s an annual conference where we historically have announced new products that make all the fanboys go crazy.”  And today’s new product is rumored to be the Mac Book Air, or as some are calling it, the Mac AirBook.

What is the Mac Book Air?  Well, it’s a super-thin notebook computer.  As you can see in the picture, it would be, well, super thin.  So thin and lightweight that you might say it was “lighter than air.” 

That’s the rumor anyway.  The photo we’re showing you is something Wired put on their blog, and purports to be a mock-up of the Mac AirBook.  But there is lots and lots and lots of coverage on the various details of this Mac Book Air rumor.

Now, I’m not really an Apple guy.  I’ve got nothing against them, I just haven’t really ended up as one of the Apple disciples.  But nearly everything they put out looks amazing, and the Mac Airbook is no exception.  I want one, even though it’s just a rumor and might not exist, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to cost darn near $3000. 

Anyway, we’ll keep our eye on the upcoming keynote presentation and come back to update this post with all the juicy info we learn about the Mac-Book AirBook super-thin whatever it is…. so check back. 

UPDATE:  Okay, so it’s real.  The MacBook Air will be available in two weeks.  It’s $1799, and weighs 3 pounds!  It also has no CD drive–hey, that would make the thing too thick to be called Air.  All the Mac fiends I know are going gaga about it.  Gizmodo has a nice hands-on write up, with pictures.  I’m sure we’ll have plenty of news related to this product in the coming days, especially after customers start buying them and reporting in.  We’ll try our best to keep you posted.

I guess I’d better write something about the Netflix/LG television set-top box. The whole free world (wide web) is gushing and oohing and aahing over this new development.

Here’s the scoop: Netflix, which already lets you download content to your PC, would like you to start downloading movies straight to your television. But apparently that’s only possible with another piece of hardware. So they’ve partnered with LG to create a box. This box–once you pay for it–will sit atop your television or entertainment center and will basically be a liaison between your Internet connected Netflix download service and your TV.

I’m sure Netflix is supposing that you’ll then be much more inclined to use the download service, and that helps them make more money. And believe me, if I paid a few hundred dollars for this set-top box, I’d sure as heck be more inclined to use it… just to get my money’s worth.

Problem is, for Netflix, that I’m not going to be buying that box.

First of all, isn’t this the exact same thing as the Apple TV? And isn’t the Apple TV being called one of the biggest failures of 2007, meaning, that hardly anybody bought it?

Secondly, can someone tell me why this box is necessary? I download content to my laptop all the time, and I’m able to watch it on my TV without any kind of magic box. I use a magic cable instead; it’s called a VGA cable. I plug my computer into my TV and just like that my TV becomes my computer monitor, and I’m able to watch my content on it.

I guess that some people don’t have laptops, and if their PC isn’t sitting right next to the TV, they’d have a problem running aVGA cable between the two. Okay, fair enough. But is this seriously the only way we can do this? We have to have an expensive box to make this work? Come on, people, we cracked the gene code! We’re going to send astronauts to Mars for Pete’s sake! We can’t come up with an easier and cheaper way to get our content from the PC to the TV?

Everyone keeps telling me that in the future, the TV and the computer will both be rolled into one piece of equipment. Why don’t we skip this set-top box step and just go straight to that, huh?

Remember those hacked iPhones that became expensive paperweights when Apple sent out an update?  And tons of users who had installed unofficial software on their iPhones found the gadgets useless?  That’s going to be a non-issue soon.  In fact, Apple appears to have done a complete about face on their stance that no one should “hack” the product, announcing that they will open the iPhone to third party developers. 

In February, the company will release a “software development kit” to third party developers that will allow for the creation of applications that will work on the iPhone.  Apple, who had been heavily criticized for keeping the phone locked to outside developers, believes the move will only encourage a more vibrant iPhone community and help them sell more of them. 

Another major gripe users have had–that the iPhone is only able to be used with AT&T’s wireless service–goes unanswered:  the iPhone will continue to be AT&T-only…for now. 

Did you hack your iPhone so that you could use it on a non-AT&T carrier?  Yeah, well…it probably stopped working yesterday, didn’t it? 

Apple released an update for the iPhone yesterday that apparently included the company’s response to those users who decided to hack, basically making those hacked iPhones little more than a paper weight.  Those phones now receive an error message telling them they need an authentic SIM (Subscriber Identity Module). 

Now, in fairness to Apple, they warned users a week or so ago that this would happen, but most hacked iPhone fans thought it was just a bullying scare tactic.  Umm…not so much.  Moral of the story?  Don’t mess with Apple, they’re not kidding around.