Apple launches iTunes for Windows

TalkBack 40 of 48:: Next »; « Previous

Thread View
Flat View

re: Why Didn't Apple Just Create an iTunes Web Site?: >wouldn?t it have been simpler for Apple to have created a web site that allowed it to reach all Internet users at once?

It's hard to say. I know initially one of the reasons they got the go ahead with this back in April was that they were rolling it out to smaller market (Mac users in US with OSX) and that allowed the labels to test the idea without as much risk of loss if they didn't like the way it was working. There's also the integration with the iPod that was a key concern.

>but as usual Apple seems to have limited its own opportunities

I don't see that. Apple has the number 1 MP3 player on the market right now. (Don't they own like 31% of the entire market and recent sales see the iPod accounting for up to 70% of all new MP3 players sold?) Considering iTunes' tight integration with the iPod, I can't see this as a limiting move by Apple.

>accessing services such as BuyMusic.com is a lot more flexible and straightforward

That's joke right? You can only access BuyMusic.com with a Windows PC using Internet Explorer. I don't see that being any better at all than iTunes. In fact, I'd say iTunes is a step ahead currently by offering access to both Macs and PCs. Plus there's the whole WMA thing... not good. The more proprietary you get, the worse you get. AAC (MP4 audio) is open.

>the terms of use downloaded music are usually more generous (in many cases you can copy your music file to 3 computers, burn up to 10 CDs, and place it on an unlimited amount of devices)

iTunes Terms for ANY song:

copy your music files to an unlimited number of computers, though only 3 can be authorized to play the song at any given time

burn any track to unlimited numbers of CDs, though any specific playlist of purchased tracks can only be burned 10 times (at which point any simple edit to the play list, like reordering the tracks, will allow another 10 full burns)

place it on an ulimited number of devices

Seems to me that the iTunes terms are more flexible than BuyMusic.com. In fact, it looks like BuyMusic was trying damned hard to copy Apple as closely as possible. Unfortunately if you read the terms on BuyMusic a little closer, you'll notice that those terms you mentioned only apply to certain tracks. Terms for other tracks are way more strict.

>and you get a decent amount of tracks to choose from (now about 315,000)

iTunes = 400,000 this month.

While first reading your post I thought it posed a couple good questions until I got the poart about BuyMusic being better...; Posted by: JakAttak Posted on: 10/17/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use