On 1st birthday, iTunes unwraps new features

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Missing the point of the store

---I'm suggesting that in Apple's case it will be cheaper price +
DRM restrictions abandoned---

I'd love to see it happen, but I don't think it will. Remember that
the big difference here is that Apple does not manufacture the
music it's selling. They have no control over the price they have
to sell it for. The RIAA is already talking about jacking the price
up to $2.99 per song. Even if, as you say, the iPod becomes a
cheap commodity product, you still have to convince the RIAA to
accept less money for their product. And since cd prices haven't
come down over the last 20 years, that's a tough sell.

---I disagree, its part of iPods marketing buzz, e.g. see the
Fidelity section on the iPod page---

Do you really think the 12 year old girls buying pink iPod minis
are reading the fidelity page at apple.com?

---For Apple the 'missing features' premium is the DRM
limitations - no support for MP3 players, authentification
required etc....Try playing them on an MP3 player, play them on
a car MP3 player and your stuck with a 10 track regular CD---

Let's look at each of these. "No support for MP3 players/Try
playing them on an MP3 player". Okay, Apple has already said
they can't make much of a profit off of the iTMS, it's only there
to drive iPod sales, where they make a nice profit. What would
be the point of supporting other company's hardware in a store
where you don't make any money? The point of the iTMS is to
sell iPods. Period. Other MP3 player companies can start their
own freakin' stores, as many have.

"Authentification required"--you get to use it on 5 computers,
and the computer does not have to be connected to the internet
when you're using the file. How intrusive is that, really? Do you
have 6 computers? Plus, once you burn it to a cd, you can use it
anywhere, on any device with no authentification whatsoever.

"play them on a car MP3 player"--again, Apple does not
manufacture a car MP3 player. Why should they spend their
money providing you with songs that will only help a different
company's product?

" your stuck with a 10 track regular CD"--where do you get this
one? Once you burn to an audio cd, you can put as many tracks
as will fit in 80 minutes. There's no limit to the number of
tracks on a burned cd, just space limits.

So as you evaluate the iTMS, remember the reason it exists. It's
not perfect, but it does serve a certain purpose. I personally
really like it. I like being able to get single tracks without buying
a whole cd (particularly compilation albums where there's one or
two songs by artists I like, and the rest is garbage). Take it for
what it is.

Posted by: tic swayback   Posted on: 04/28/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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