Amazon Music Store vs. iTMS

Comment from: Mr. Peabody

Some of things this guy says are true, but not with regard to music purchased at iTMS, that’s what really amazes me about the article. If he were talking buying TV episodes and movies I’d be slightly more with him, but he’s not talking about video he’s talking about music. I can tell you that for me the shopping experience at iTMS is far superior to Amazon, (I bought an album of music on Amazon yesterday), and since playing music on two, and occasionally three devices is all I ever need to do, (as opposed to buying music and then giving it away to all of my best buds), all this continued hoopla about how restrictive it is to buy music at iTMS, combined with the facts that he just got plain wrong – is bogus, simply bogus.

If Apple could twist the networks collective arms and allow us consumer-types to be able to burn at least one DVD of shows that would be playable on any standard component DVD player I think iTMS would do even better than it alreay is with videos. That’s my biggest beef with iTMS – and it is a big one. I buy episodes from one or two shows that I can’t seem to live without, and I refuse to buy movies for the already stated reason. If Amazon wants to really get in the game they should offer TV shows (and include Mac users dammit) with no DRM, now that would be an iTMS killer.

I’m glad for both of these commercial outlets for music, and for their support of my favorite platform, and I will undoubtedly shop at both – even though I much prefer the real-world experience of iTMS.

IN RESPONSE TO:

Thursday, September 27, 2007 – 11:46 AM EDT  —  Apple Stock Quote: 153.61 (+0.84, +0.55%)

Salon: Amazon MP3 store vs. Apple iTunes Store

Thursday, September 27, 2007 – 09:23 AM EDT

“I love the iTunes Music Store. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the shop in the spring of 2003, I called it revolutionary, and who can argue that it’s been anything but?” Farhad Manjoo writes for Salon.

Manjoo writes, “Still, iTunes has always seemed like a stopgap measure, something to tolerate until the music industry got its act together. I think of it, now, as a place to buy music that I like, but not a place to get music I love. If you love something you want a permanent copy, and music from iTunes is fundamentally ephemeral: Nearly everything you purchase from the store will never work on any device not made by Apple.”

MacDailyNews Take: iTunes Store-purchased content work on Mac or Windows PC desktops and notebooks, can be burned onto music CDs and played on any CD player and – by ripping said CD – played on any MP3 player on Earth. It’s quite simple. Known to just about anyone who’s ever used iTunes. Yet, it’s amazing how many people get this wrong either by lazily repeating ignorance or intentionally spreading disinformation, isn’t it?

[And, as MacDailyNews reader "kenpet" notes below: You can also use iTunes to convert your non DRM music files to mp3 which is playable anywhere. Just set your iTunes Preferences: Advanced: Import Using to "MP3 Encoder" and you can then convert any track to MP3 under iTunes' "Advanced" menu.] 

Manjoo continues, “This week, Amazon launched a beta version of a music store that breaks this lock-in.”

MacDailyNews Take: You know, the “lock-in” that doesn’t exist. iPods do not require iTunes Store purchases. The iTunes Store does not require iPods. Is that simple enough for you, Farhad?

Manjoo continues, “All of Amazon’s tracks are sold as unrestricted MP3s, free of Digital Rights Management, or DRM — they will work on just about any music player in the world, including an iPod. The store marks iTunes’ first real competition. In fact, I think it kicks iTunes’ buttons.”

MacDailyNews Take: And we’re supposed to care about what you think because so far you’ve gotten extremely simple facts completely wrong? M’kay, Farhad.

Manjoo continues, “Here’s the main way Amazon runs circles around iTunes: I kid you not, shopping for digital music at Amazon simply feels better than shopping on iTunes. That’s because everything is unrestricted. You don’t have to consider where you’re going to play the songs or if you plan to keep them for the long run… Most of the tracks on iTunes, meanwhile, are gummed up by Apple’s copy-protection scheme, called FairPlay. Under these restrictions, you can put your songs on just five computers at a time; make only seven CD copies of a particular playlist; and, if you want to go mobile, the iPod and iPhone are your only option.”

MacDailyNews Take: Quick, alert the manufacturers! Mac and Windows PC notebooks are not “mobile.” Although, for some reason, we see people – on planes, for example – listening to something with white earbuds plugged into their notebooks. Must not be music. Oh, “only” seven CDs (until you change the order of a song and can burn seven more). Regardless, all you need is one CD and – Boom! – unrestricted Psychic well-being out the yin-yang.

Manjoo continues, “As wonderful as it has been to see Apple change the music business — and make no mistake, that’s what it did; Amazon’s store is only possible because Apple paved the way — nobody benefits from a digital-music monopoly.”

MacDailyNews Take: Farhad really screwed up here; he got something right.

Manjoo continues, “From now on when I look for music, I’m going to go to Amazon first. Only if I don’t find something there will I think about buying from iTunes. If you value your freedom, I recommend you do the same.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Kevin" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: You go to Amazon first if you’re interested in saving some money, not because of some ignorant dope scribbling about the value of “freedom.” People who are looking at Amazon forget that prices are not static. These could be introductory prices for all we know. If the labels are giving better pricing to Amazon, and artificially manipulating the market, then Apple – and perhaps Apple’s lawyers – are going to have something serious to say about it.

Competition is good. Don’t forget that it was Apple’s Steve Jobs who called for the end of music DRM, prompting just such competition. So, use the store that offers what you want, whether it be cross-platform support, file formats, bit-rates, selection, and/or prices. We plan to check out both Amazon and iTunes Store when buying music – because they both support Macs and iPods. We’ll probably buy from whichever store has the best price (even though we prefer AAC over the old dino MP3 format). Competition is good. Let it work its magic.

People who look at this as “Amazon takes on iTunes Store” completely miss the real story. Jobs’ call for the removal of DRM was designed to totally marginalize Microsoft, once and for all. It’s the final nail in MS’s coffin. Redmond will not control digital music formats. Apple won. Meanwhile, iPod sales continue unabated as iTunes Store does not and never did drive iPod purchases (which we know because 97% of music on the average iPod is not from the iTunes Store). And, believe it or not, despite recent hyperbole, Apple’s iTunes Store will be just fine.

iPhone LawSuits for Sale – Get Your iPhone LawSuit

Comment from: Mr. Peabody

@M.T. MacPhee – Nice try though.

@darknight – Precisely my point. Whether they had five minutes or five years ahead of time, it’s just too convenient to wait until almost all of the dust is settled and then try and squeek one in.

And while we’re on Japanese culture, lets not forget that they’ve almost always been able to take “western” ways and do them more efficiently with higher productivity. I guess this includes being the litigious piss ants that we’ve become here in the grand ole U.S. of A. No matter how you size it up, it looks frivilous from and end user stand point. They produce intercoms, Apple produces iPhones – whatta ya gonna do…

IN RESPONSE TO:

MacDailyNews – Japan intercom maker ‘Aiphone’ in talks with Apple over ‘iPhone’ trademark

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 – 05:35 PM EDT  —  Apple Stock Quote: 127.57 (+5.35, +4.38%)

Japan intercom maker ‘Aiphone’ in talks with Apple over ‘iPhone’ trademark

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 – 01:38 PM EDT
“Japan’s largest intercom maker, Aiphone Co., said Monday it is talking with Apple Inc. of the United States about the possibility that Apple’s ‘iPhone’ may violate its ‘Aiphone’ trademark,” Kyodo World Service reports.

”Aiphone, listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, claims that Apple’s iPhone mobile phone with the functions of the iPod digital audio player, which hit U.S. store shelves in June, may infringe its trademark,” Kyodo World Service reports.

Kyodo World Service reports, “An official at Apple Japan Inc. said, ‘We cannot comment on this at this stage.’”

Full article here.

I Want My, I Want My, I Want My D-R-M

MacDailyNews | Recording Industry Association of America wants their DRM, calls for Apple to license FairPlay

Response to Apple DRM:

@triplehead

great post. AlanAudio is on the track too. Zachcube and Synthmeister have contributed other pieces of the puzzle.

To summarise:

- Apple Inc is now a music company
- Apple Inc is starting to look like Sony
- Apple Inc has the best music distribution operation in the business, by far
- The music companies cannot make money at 99c a song, but Apple can
- The letter from SJ is an opening salvo in a realignment of the music industry
- DRM is dead: Apple will launch a new paradigm

I would take this a bit further. Apple will pull this industry apart and rebuild it from the ground up. The music industry will never be the same again. The new model will pay artists very well – and they will flock to Apple, bypassing the old recording studios. Especially up and coming artists.

The abolition of DRM will allow the music companies to offer their music to lots of retailers. But Apple will continue to dominate. Because they have the best distribution platform and the best players.

Sell your shares in EMI.

Ralph’s Response:

SydneyStephen,

Nice synopsis, the only issue I see in your conclusions is a slightly scary underestimation of the power of MS to buy it’s way into just about anything it wants. Still – Apple has steared an interesting course. With Apple clearly taking the lead in selling music online, MS has got to be ringing it’s hands becuase they realize as much as we do that this could, if it hasn’t already, begun to sink it’s teeth into the non-enterprise desktop market.

While we all wonder, more and more, if Apple will even be selling computers in ten years, I have little doubt in my mind that the answer to that question is, YES. Since SJ has been back running Apple it has been a kind of now-or-never drive that he’s kicked Apple in the butt with, and all of this side marketing and focus on non-enterprise product lines, is about building an economic water shed for Apple. Sealing in brand awareness and brand expectations (quality, innovation, etc.), make no mistake, is all about coming back with the Macintosh, and with a vengence, and I believe, with an eye and strategy for the enterprise market place as well. What SJ has been doing since the mid 90’s is basically building up momentum, a momentum that has never been seen before but is already very obvious to everyone. Clearly Apple is on a roll, and while some are desparate to make it look like a fluke, it obviously isn’t, as Apple has shown overall steady growth for the last ten years now.

So, back to the original point, its not about the self-obsorbed music industy, its about selling desktop computing. Do you really think MS really cares about selling music? MS does not need to sell music to survive and remain the Godzilla of personal computing, but because of Apple’s oblique marketing strategy, and the obvious element of surprise, MS has just recently awoken to the fact that Apple’s various product lines are already more than a potential threat to it’s own desktop OS products. Now, while Apple is swimming steadly and are pacing themselves for the long haul, MS is scrambling to get it’s life-jacket on and get in it’s lane to start the race. Apple is already way down the river and the implications are a lot less about who controls the music market and a lot more about selling desktops. MS still has the power to buy it’s way out of this predicament, but it doesn’t change the reality that Apple is way ahead in a technology and delivery service that MS is at best a johnny-come-lately in.

Now? Well, now it’s up to the consumer to continue to support non-MS product lines, it is ultimately our hard earned dollars and cents that have put Apple where it is now with iPod and iTunes on both Windows and Mac. Apple and SJ have deftly manouvered themselves into a place where the consumer can finally vote with their wallets, and IF we’re at the right point in this battle, no amount of money that MS throws at Apple’s enemies or allies is going to change the course that Apple is currently on. It’s not about the music…

Mac Mini – Buh Bye

Yeah!



Regarding the Macmini – The only Mac I never liked. People, notably a lot of switchers, moved to the mini because it was a “cheap” Mac, but over rated its performance and ended up being more disappointed than satisfied. I personally know people who were trying to run Final Cut Pro v5 and up on these things – Yes it’s possible, but… why? You’ll just end up being frustrated out of your mind.

Leave the cheap pcs to others.

IN RESPONSE TO:

MacDailyNews

Apple to shine spotlight back on Macintosh with Mac-centric event on Tuesday

Monday, August 06, 2007 – 03:55 PM EDT

“With the initial hoopla over the iPhone finally dying down, Apple Inc. will try to draw some attention back to its flagship Macintosh computer line this week, which has quietly been gaining share in the PC market,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch.

”Apple Inc. is scheduled to hold an event at its corporate headquarters on Tuesday (10am PDT), which it has described as a ‘Mac-centric’ event but has given no further details,” Crum reports.

”Despite all the attention for the iPhone and iPod, the Macintosh has recently reasserted its strength and made Apple a force in the PC market, at least in the U.S.,” Crum reports.

”Apple has already upgraded its MacBook, so the event will likely include new versions of the desktop Mac line, which Apple hasn’t fully upgraded since September of last year. However, there is some speculation that Apple could be on the verge of releasing a new notebook that runs on flash memory instead of a traditional hard-disk drive,” Crum reports.

”Whatever occurs, the moves comes at a fortuitous time for Apple, which is gearing up for the back-to-school and end-of-the-year holiday shopping seasons, which tend to be the company’s strongest business periods,” Crum reports. “The company may drum up more business with its upcoming October release of Leopard, the next upgrade to its Macintosh operating system.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Whither the withered Mac mini?

More Waiting for Non-Gasoline Powered Cars

Is It Going To be Yet Another Ten Years?

Reader post by: Mr. Peabody
Posted on: August 8, 2007, 6:44 AM PDT

Story: Tesla passes U.N. battery tests

“Because they can burst into flames, lithium ion batteries are 
classified as dangerous goods…”

Now I admit that I’m a bit simple minded but, can someone tell 
me exactly how gasoline passed the U.N. saftey test, or any 
safety test for that matter? By the quoted standard above any 
fuel required to mobilize an internal combustion engine should 
have already been banned.

Or am I missing something?

IN RESPONSE TO:

CNET Blogs

Tesla passes U.N. battery tests

Posted by Michael Kanellos
The lithium ion car battery created by Tesla Motors has passed a battery of certification tests that effectively remove another hurdle in the path toward selling products.
Because they can burst into flames, lithium ion batteries are classified as dangerous goods, according to Erik Toomre, Director of Manufacturing Programs. “Before we ship it to the public, we have to demonstrate that it is safe,” he said.
The United Nations has issued specifications on what tests lithium batteries have to pass and these regulations have been adopted and/or tweaked by various governments. In third party tests, both the individual lithium ion cells and the entire battery, which consists of 6,831 cells, passed the UN criteria.
It is something other electric car companies will have to do to.
What’s involved? The batteries are deliberately short-circuited and placed on shaking tables. The company also did some puncture testing. Even if one cell blows, the battery pack is designed so that it won’t burst into what the lithium ion industry quaintly calls “a runaway thermal reaction.” That exploding Dell notebook? That was a runaway reaction.
The entire battery pack weighs about 1,000 pounds, Toomre added.
The company will include the battery packs in its cars as well as ship them to third parties.