Antigoon wrote:Jut quoting a comment I read on another forum about the topic, I FULLY agree on all that this guy said about it
Lots of smoke and mirrors.
Jobs conveniently avoids mentioning that practically all music stores other than iTunes sell music in a non-Apple format, (a format available to Apple) and that those songs will play in practically all music players except iPods (by Apple's choice) and that Apple refuses to let anyone else build players that can play itune-bought music.
Apple has access to a very safe DRM format that had become the industry standard and was already in widespread use. The only reason to come up with their own format and keep it to themselves was to block competition, which they've accomplished quite definitely.
He also goes into mentioning Zune and Sony having proprietary formats, without mentioning that only Apple has a monopoly going in the downloaded music market, thus making it very difficult if not impossible for anyone else to market their own products because the monopoly-owner refuses to license their DRM format.
It wasn't cool when Microsoft "played Monopoly" with their OS, and it's no better when Apple does it with iTunes.
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What would happen if General Motors came up with a new fuel that would grant you 200 miles per gallon and cost the same as gas, but the fuel only worked in cars made by GM, and GM wouldn't let any other car companies make their cars run on it or let anyone else sell the fuel?
What would happen is everyone would buy GM cars and fill them with GM gas, and all the car companies and fuel companies would die away. No competition between companies mean prices never go down. GM wins and all the customers and all the other companies lose.
DRM SUCKS AND SHOULD BE MADE ILLEGAL!
So I guess he didn't read Jobs letter then.
To put a few things straight.
1) I don't have an iTunes account. I have an iPod. ALL of my music on my iPod did not come from iTunes.
2) "QUOTE:
Jobs conveniently avoids mentioning that practically all music stores other than iTunes sell music in a non-Apple format, (a format available to Apple) and that those songs will play in practically all music players except iPods (by Apple's choice) and that Apple refuses to let anyone else build players that can play itune-bought music."
Are we talking online stores here ? I have stuff from Napster, mp3.com and numerous other online places and that plays fine in my iPod.
Plus most music today is still sold in CD format and they work on my iPod.
3) iTunes Music Store dowwnloads are EASILY converted, so they can play in anything. Once converted to a CD format (WAV or AIFF) the discs can be re-encoded to mp3 AAC or whatever. With practically no signal degredation.
4) "QUOTE Steve Jobs:
The rub comes from the music Apple sells on its online iTunes Store. Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four†music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices."
So they wouldn't have been able to sell the music anyway.
5) "QUOTE Steve Jobs:
Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."
So there it is.
I have an iPod and I have no problems using any file on it or sharing those files with others (I don't) If I chose too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6337275.stm
