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   ExtraBITS for 4 August 2014

   TidBITS Staff

   Apple has launched its content delivery network with the participation
   of leading ISPs, which should lead to faster streaming and downloads
   for users. Also, Apple's 'Stickers' ad has lead to a surprising boon
   for makers of MacBook stickers and decals.

   [1]Apple's 'Stickers' Ad a Boon for Decal Makers -- Apple's
   '[2]Stickers' ad was surprising because it actually encouraged owners
   to customize the sleek aluminum MacBook Air. According to a piece in
   MacStories, the ad also led to a happy, if unintended side effect:
   sales of MacBook stickers and decals are soaring. Benjamin Clark of The
   Decal Guru said they saw a quadrupling of orders after the ad, and Etsy
   sellers also reported similar gains.

   [3]Read/post comments

   [4]Apple's CDN Is Live -- Apple has completed the CDN, or content
   delivery network, it began building last year. A CDN distributes
   content among multiple servers and data centers in order to spread out
   the load and better serve demand. Dan Rayburn of StreamingMediaBlog.com
   has spoken to ISPs and discovered that Apple's CDN is capable of
   handling ten times the capacity the company currently uses, which will
   come in handy for the releases of iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 Yosemite, plus
   upcoming features like iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and any
   possible expansions to its streaming media services. To ensure smooth
   traffic flow, Apple has secured interconnect deals with ISPs like
   Comcast 'which may explain in part why Apple has been so quiet
   regarding net neutrality.

   [5]Read/post comments

References

   1. http://www.macstories.net/news/yep-apples-stickers-ad-gave-macbook-sticker-sellers-a-huge-boost/
   2. http://www.apple.com/macbook-air/stickers/index.html#video-stickers
   3. http://tidbits.com/article/14961#comments
   4. http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2014/07/apples-cdn-now-live.html
   5. http://tidbits.com/article/14958#comments