Why is Apple's advertising so successful? Because, one could argue, it doesn't let its engineers design its advertising. Apple is running new iPhone ads which apparently puzzle nerdly sorts like TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington. The ads feature "regular people" talking about how their lives have been improved by the iPhone. Of the three ads, the phone itself makes just one two-second appearance, when a businessman touts its "visual voicemail" feature. The rest of the time, it's just some guy telling a story about how the iPhone makes his life better. Arrington doesn't like the ads, asking "where's the phone?" Michael, don't quit your day job. These ads are brilliant. After the jump, an analysis of why — and a clip so you can judge for yourself.

On Friday we wrote about Facebook launching a possible iTunes competitor. We've now found a new, more compelling rumor from Rafat Ali of PaidContent. Instead of a music store, Facebook is said to be launching an artist platform to compete with MySpace's musician-friendly profile pages — a feature that has been a huge part of the social network's growth. Ali says that the platform includes iTunes integration for buying music through Apple's store, special profiles for bands, and unique widgets for music promotion, tour dates, and more, all within the clean Facebook interface.

It's been a banner day for Apple, Google, and Research In Motion, as shares of all three companies hit all-time highs.

Anyone recall Rick Rubin's rant about digital music and how we need to sign up for a subscription service powered by cable providers — similar to the mumbo jumbo Bill Gates proposes for the Zune? Well, surprisingly, Time Warner Cable has taken Rubin's bait and jumped straight into the fray with Road Runner Music. For $9.95 a month, you get unlimited access to streaming music. It also will sell digital downloads through its store, and allow you to transfer files onto portables for an additional fee. With all these new entries into digital music distribution — real and rumored — it'll be interesting to see if Apple caves to market pressure and either allows flexible pricing on iTunes, as the labels have asked for, or a subscription plan, to stay competitive.

Apparently college kids are warming up to Macs again. While Apple's share of the overall computer market is about 5.6 percent, lots of students are picking up Mac notebooks. 40 percent of Princeton students have Macs, up from 10 percent four years ago. 55 percent of Dartmouth freshmen are using them, up from 30 percent two years ago. The study also mentions that The University of Virginia and Cornell are seeing upticks in student Mac users. This is a complete turnabout from the situation a decade ago, when Yale told incoming freshmen not to buy a Mac. Why the dramatic comeback?

Another rabid Apple fanboy has put down his Jonathan Ive-designed pom-poms. His complaints? Wholly predictable and tiresome. He's upset over a software update which can disable iPhones and prevent third-party applications from running. Actually, the "goodbye cruel world" post has some pretty good analysis on the whole situation, though it's a little — ok, a lot — heavy on the melodrama. His rant about Apple CEO Steve Jobs, after the jump.

Why, in this age of lightning-fast publishing, do members of prestigious national publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal still agree to embargoes? Microsoft, it seems, has placed an embargo on its new Zune models, but Gizmodo already has photos, and the Silicon Alley Insider, too, has already scooped its much-larger business-news rivals, with reports that Microsoft will introduce new Zunes with flash-memory storage, competing with Apple's iPod Nano line. Jay Greene from BusinessWeek, Jeff Leeds, music reporter at the Times, and Nick Wingfield of the Journal, we hear, were among the reporters scribbling away at the Microsoft launch event in the Seattle area today. And what did they get in exchange for agreeing to sit on the news?

Are iPhone owners like a battered wife who thinks that her husband knocks her around for her own good? "Apple users are still blinded sheep. The common teen or geek wannabe will still yearn for the iPhone. Besides, I'd venture that the overwhelming majority of iPhone users DIDN'T tinker with their phone and therefore won't be affected by the bricking issue. And, after shelling out $400 for a phone, they're psychologically locked into defending the product." [AdAge]

When all else fails, bring in a motivational speaker. For last Friday's management meeting, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker went all out, bringing in Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Glossed over in Kara Swisher's otherwise excellent report was the question: Why would Jobs rally the troops at Yahoo? Swisher treats it as an obvious choice, likening Jobs to Oprah Winfrey. But I think there's more to it than that.

Comedienne Kathy Griffin describes her post-Emmy Awards date with Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak: "He downloaded my private parts."

Apple fanboys, apparently, do need some education. And Steve Jobs is glad to supply it. A software update has, as promised, made hacked iPhones useless — "bricked" them, in the modern parlance. Worse yet, the new software has bricked some unmodified iPhones as well. And people are outraged. These are, of course, by and large the same saps who overpaid by $200 to buy their iPhones in June. And you know what? They're getting what they deserve.

Times wunderkind Sewell Chan looks at a recent Urban Institute report entitled "Is There an iCrime Wave?" which speculates that "the proliferation of iPods helps account for the nationwide rise in violent crime in 2005 and 2006." (In 2005, violent crime rose nationally for the first time in eleven years.) But why would thieves target iPods and their owners?

The innocent spin being put on top Apple lawyer Don Rosenberg's departure is that he got a better offer from Qualcomm. But Rosenberg, a decidedly gray figure who came to Apple from Big Blue, served as the company's general counsel for less than a year. He filled a post that had been empty for six months after Nancy Heinen left amid a stock-backdating scandal. And Rosenberg's replacement, Dan Cooperman, comes from Oracle, where he worked for Larry Ellison. Ellison, like Jobs, is a famously temperamental founder-CEO. He's also a close friend of Jobs, and used to serve on Apple's board of directors. This all seems quite cozy, and curiously timed. Anyone know the back story here — and why Apple keeps chewing through its top lawyers?

"I'm going to use my $100 rebate I get from the I-had-to-have-it-before-my-brother iPhone to get one! And I'll even have a dollar left over for a refreshing can of soda." — AllThingsD's Kara Swisher on the new, low-priced Palm Centro. Kara, you ignorant slut. Don't you know that you can only use your iPhone credit on Apple products? [AllThingsD]

Apple may have bent British cell company O2 over a barrel, having reportedly extorted a 40 percent cut of subscription revenue from iPhone customers, but it seems they aren't having as much success with their other European deals as previously thought. France Telecom's Orange was named as the French provider for the iPhone last week, but now the deal may be off. The sticking point is the percentage of subscription dough that Apple will get. Let's hope Steve Jobs hasn't pissed off his other "girlfriends" too badly; he might still need to crawl back to them. (Photo by mukluk)

Apple is continuing their retail expansion with a new store on Chestnut Street in San Francisco's Marina District. ifoAppleStore reports that Apple overcame neighborhood opposition to destroy a previously existing building with historical tiles. Please. Like a few historical preservationists are any match for Steve Jobs's retail designs. A mere 2.8 miles from the Stockton Street flagship, the store gives us another place to get iPhones repaired instead of having to wait in the chaos of the Stockton location. But there's another, smarter option for getting your Apple fix.

French wireless company Orange is sparring with Apple over the terms under which it will sell the iPhone in France, and the disagreements may not be resolved in time for the holiday shopping season. We suspect Apple CEO Steve Jobs is remembering, too late, why he once called wireless carriers "orifices." [Reuters]

Well, maybe not everyone. But the tide is certainly turning against Apple's music and video store, which has held a near-monopoly on digital media distribution. Vivendi says the contract between its Universal Music Group and Apple is "indecent." We like the sound of that, but somehow it doesn't sound like Vivendi meant it as a compliment. Like NBC Universal, in which it holds a minority stake, Vivendi wants more control over pricing — the option to charge more for new, in-demand content than old library tracks. While Apple has a few stalwart supporters, like Fox, at the moment, it's likely that many content providers are waiting for enough key players to take the plunge before determining whether to abandon ship or demand more flexibility. Particularly if they're getting a better deal from Apple's new competitor, AmazonMP3.

The Internet retailer has finally launched its long-awaited digital music store as a public beta, with prices that undercut Apple's iTunes by a dime. The music also comes free of digital-rights-management software, which raises the question: What will Boing Boing editor and anti-DRM crusader Cory Doctorow do with all his free time? [Amazon]

"Apple Inc. warned users that they can permanently damage their iPhones by modifying the cellular phones to work on unauthorized wireless network.... Any permanent disabling of iPhone that stems from the installation of unlocking software isn't covered on the product's warranty." [WSJ]