CultCast #231 - Age of wonder!

This week: Apple aims to end music downloads; you can now live stream your aerial drone flights to iDevices worldwide;  staggering facts about who’s making money in the app store; creators of Siri demo an even smarter AI; the ridiculous resale value of old Apple tech; and we reveal our Lust List of the gadgets we currently coveting.   This episode supported by   Freshbooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster.  And I can vouch for this from experience, it also makes tax time a cinch.  Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast, and please enter “CultCast” in the “How did you hear about us?” section!   TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.   We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.   On the show this week @erfon / @lkahney / “At” David Pierini   Intro - Introducing, iPod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfOciT044zE   All the maidens shall be mine! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhbuEUoxntQ   Periscope takes to the skies with live drone streaming http://www.cultofmac.com/427494/periscope-takes-to-the-skies-with-live-drone-streaming/

• 1903: Wright Brothers. 1907: Model T
• Now you can stream live from your drone when you take to the skies with Periscope, Twitter’s service that lets you broadcast live video, provided you have the app on iOS and a DJI drone.
• You’ll be able to narrate the broadcast from your iPhone, and even Sketch right on the broadcast itself to annotate your flight.

  Apple Aiming to End iTunes Music Downloads in Two Years [Update: Apple Says 'Not True'] http://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/11/apple-ending-itunes-music-downloads/

• Citing sources with "close and active business relationships" with Apple, Digital Music News says Apple allegedly has an aggressive plan to "terminate" music downloads from iTunes within two years
• their sources say, "keeping [iTunes music downloads] running forever isn't really on the table anymore." 
• Apple rep Tom Neumayr contacted Recode and said the report that Apple would stop iTunes music downloads in two years is "not true."
• Apple's iTunes business continues to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but it is on the decline due to the rise of streaming music services

  94% of App Store revenue goes to just 1% of publishers http://www.cultofmac.com/427759/94-of-app-store-revenue-goes-to-just-1-of-publishers/

• 94 percent of App Store revenue generated in the U.S. went to just the top 1 percent of app publishers, according to SensorTower
• SensorTower found that around $1.34 billion of the estimated $1.43 billion in net revenue generated went to just 623 publishers.
• That means the other 61,677 publishers had to share the remaining 6 percent of the revenue, which was approximately approximately $85.8 million. If it was divided equally, they’d have made less than $1,400 each.

  Siri’s sequel beats the heck out of Apple’s AI assistant http://www.cultofmac.com/427517/siris-sequel-beats-the-heck-out-of-apples-ai-assistant/   The value of old iPods could be music to your ears http://www.cultofmac.com/427460/the-value-of-old-ipods-could-be-music-to-your-ears/