While I was out buying hurricane supplies…

Whole Foods banana department, NYC

Apple pulled the plug on iTunes TV show rentals. Apple says it’s because people overwhelmingly preferred buying the shows when both options were available. Perhaps that’s true. But it’s not like the studios made that many shows available for rental or loved the idea. Let’s see if Apple can ever cobble together a subscription product…

Apple CEO Tim Cook was granted 1 million restricted stock units. Half vest in 5 years, the other half in 10 years. Today, that’s worth almost $400 million. It wouldn’t take much for them to be worth $1 billion by the time 10 years are up. Beyond giving Cook an incentive to stay at Apple, work his butt off, and keep the stock price up, it’s also a big, public sign to would-be poachers that they can’t afford Cook.

Facebook killed its Groupon clone. For now. Facebook seems to have a low success rate when it’s copying other companies’ ideas (at least beyond the original Friendster clone). Anyway, the big reason Groupon is successful is because it has a massive salesforce around the world, connecting with local merchants. Facebook doesn’t have that, and seems like it isn’t ready to build one.

Amazon will sell a tablet for “hundreds less” than the iPad, according to the N.Y. Post. That’s plausible — the Nook Color is $249, and Amazon can further reduce prices with its ad-supported “Special Offers” subsidy. As I’ve been saying for months, Amazon may be the only company that can really compete with the iPad right now.

Here in Brooklyn, we’re right in the path of Hurricane Irene, so I’m not sure if I’ll be posting anything this weekend. But normal posting should resume Monday morning. Take care!