Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iTunes, Apple
Apple: Microsoft of digital music
Another day, another article telling us that Apple's digital music reign will soon end. The old argument of 'platform independence' are trotted out in this article, referring to Microsoft's 'Plays for Sure' DRM program. Sure, you can play that DRMed music on different devices but you have to use Windows. How is that freedom? If Windows Media would work on my Mac I would give a little credence to this idea, but I seem to recall Microsoft having no interest in that (I wonder why?).Competition is good, and I'm glad to see that other purveyors of digital music are thinking of new ideas (which Apple will take and incorporate into iTunes I am sure) but until someone comes out with a player/store combo that is just as good as the iPod/iTunes Apple will retain the lead.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steve said 9:25AM on 5-31-2006
Yeah, same old stuff here. The "iSheep" and "iChimp" marketing reminds me of why Apple's Lemmings campaign failed - you don't insult the people you are trying to win over, otherwise you are just preaching to the choir.
As for Urge... when will marketers learn that people do not want music subscriptions? They want to own the music. The subscription model would be great for movies, TV shows, or even video games which only get played once or twice.
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iSheep said 10:00AM on 5-31-2006
I think this article raises some good points:
1) It appears that a subscription model is not as popular as a download model. But why not offer a Sub model as well, for those who want it, on iTunes?
2) Will Apple eventually be punished by the public if they insist on making their DRM unavailable to all other DAPs, and their iPods incompatible with other DRM systems?
3) MTV + MS = Hefty. Whatever your predispositions, this combination of heavyweights will pose a serious threat to Apple and iTunes.
4) One thing only touched upon in the article is the Urge concept of Feeds. This is something that Apple should really look into, it's a fabulous idea and is the only thing that interests me about subscription models. Imagine simply plugging in your player, and in minutes it being filled up intelligently with tracks you have never heard of - OK, the majority may be rubbish, but what if one of them changes your life?
Personally, I don't seen anything in MP11 and Urge that excite me apart from Feeds. I hate subscription models, there is no player better adapted to my needs than the iPod, and the price and availability at iTMS satisfies me.
But to dismiss the competition, in the guise of Urge and MP11 (which genuinely looks like competition for iTunes at last, and guess what those 90% of PC users would prefer to use?), seems foolhardy.
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iChimp said 10:13AM on 5-31-2006
How are you so sure that Apple will incorporate those ideas? They always seem to do things their own way. Look at how Steve Jobs outrightly dismissed subscriptions.
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kevin said 10:16AM on 5-31-2006
it is very foolhardy, and because 99.9999% of people out there use windows, it's insane to think that nothing can touch apple ever, at all.
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umijin said 10:28AM on 5-31-2006
My brother, the "Mac hater" expressed a similar opinion a while back -that iTunes was not anti-establishment, as Apple was. I posted it on my blog:
http://mackenchi.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-brother-mac-hater-pt-ii.html
My response to him was that despite the iPod's faults, it gives the best music player experience overall. I also reminded him that Mac folks have put up with the evil empire of the OS wars for a long time and it's nice to see the shoe on the other foot for a change. You can read that at:
http://mackenchi.blogspot.com/2006/04/response-to-mac-hater.html
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Babble said 10:44AM on 5-31-2006
...the screeds are getting a little ridiculous.
If you dislike Apple's business decisions, if you dislike Apple's DRM stance, there's a very, very easy solution: don't buy Apple's product.
Because the essential thing is this: UNLIKE Microsoft, Apple hasn't done anything to drive competitors out of business...
...except make a better product.
But that said, if you really have serious issues with the iPod or FairPlay, go buy a PlaysForSure player and use a different download service. Posting firebreathing rants attacking Apple is pointless.
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henrrrik said 11:09AM on 5-31-2006
Apple's system discriminates competing mp3 player manufacturers and Microsoft's system discriminates competing operating systems and mp3 player manufacturers that don't pony up for a PlaysForSure license.
How is Microsoft a champion of choice in this?
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Danh said 11:31AM on 5-31-2006
MTV + MS = 2 of the worst products ever together at last.
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David said 1:10PM on 5-31-2006
BTW, MTV still promotes iTunes in certain campaigns that I've seen. Go figure.
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jbelkin said 3:51PM on 5-31-2006
He gets part of it right - Apple has won because it delivers the best customer experience but then yet inexplicably draws the wrong conclusion that the itunes is the only store for the ipod (there are at least 15 not counting WMA stores - and never mind that thanks to Apple, only digital music can be LEGALLY converted to a DRM-free version).
Basically itunes/ipod delivers you Neiman Marcus service at JC Penney pricing - what isvreally wrong with that?
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waywardson said 5:22PM on 5-31-2006
amen to #6.
cheers to #8.
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