It’s looking like the rumored “Dell Music Store” is nothing more than a rebranded version of MusicMatch’s online music store to go along with its Dell DJ iPod knock-off in Michael Dell’s quest for an integrated approach to music like Apple’s. MusicMatch’s online music store? Hey, MusicMatch had to do something as they’re about to get kicked off the iPod bandwagon by Steve and Co. sooner than later. Now, this isn’t some weak BuyMusic.com deal, as it’ll be the “the first Windows-based service in the United States to have a song store built directly into the software used to play the music”
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Amazing. WMA. What a frickin’ joke.
Only when these services are no longer designed and run by geeks who are more concerned with control than quality will they be able to compete with iTMS.
WMA. What will those idiots think of next?
Let’s hope Windows iTunes has a user experience close to what we enjoy. Maybe Apple can show the WinDell world the user experience we enjoy every day and that maybe it’s time to switch and get the whole enchilada.
If QuickTime is any guide, MS will do everything it can to make iTunes suck eggs on Windoze. There’s only so much Apple can do here. I wonder if they will restrict iTunes for Windows to only Windows XP? The Dell DJ/MusicMatch thing won’t measure up to iPod/iTunes, but people buy Windows, so they’ll buy something else they think is “good enough.” Sad, but true. For me, life’s too short not to have the best.
I expect iMS will be XP-only: after all it doesn’t run on OS 9.
I’ve heard that QT on Windows isn’t as good as on Mac, although I don’t know the specific complaints. Is there reason to believe that QT’s problems are MS’s fault?
Quicktime on Windoze. Baffles the shit out of me. I have the latest computer with Win2000 Pro and I cannot view movies or previews that are strictly Quicktime 6 (Matrix Revolutions). I currently use Quicktime 5 (it works most of the time). Mind you I work for the City Government.
Eh. Emusic is still a better model than ITMS or any other service out there.
LOL
Apple will remain as the KING of your BUTT
Are you fu*king kidding me j/b Emusic is nice (the only reason why I’m saying this is because I feel sorry for artists) but don’t lie to your self…iTunes is the best thing out there.
WMA. What will those idiots think of next
There is no other format you can license that has DRM technologies. Plus it is most likely to be compatible with different music players. Besides, in tests WMA and AAC is pretty much close to eachother as far as quality goes. (and ogg/vorbis came out as the best)
Are you fu*king kidding me j/b Emusic is nice (the only reason why I’m saying this is because I feel sorry for artists) but don’t lie to your self…iTunes is the best thing out there.
He said the model of emusic is better. He is right, in emusic you can really do anything you want with the music. Use it on multiple computers, multiple platforms, multiple portable music players. emusic offers the most compatibility and freedom of all online music stores. Too bad they have less music.
“Apple seems to have the AAC market locked up”.
What do they mean by that ? AAC is an open standard. There would be nihing to stop them using AAC instead of WMA. The new Nokia mobile phone supports MP3 and AAC. No mention of WMA.
The model of eMusic is nice, I’ve been a subscriber but I’m afraid that’s what’s keeping the big 5 out of their reach.
I’ve cancelled my subscribition and am waiting for iTMS Europe. But it’s gonna be a long wait.
And yes, AAC kicks eMusic mp3 a��!
What do they mean by that ? AAC is an open standard. There would be nihing to stop them using AAC instead of WMA. The new Nokia mobile phone supports MP3 and AAC. No mention of WMA.
AAC may be a standard, but Fairplay Apples DRM technology is not a standard, nor is it licensable. So the new Nokia mobile phones, will support the AACs you rip from a cd, but won’t play the AACs you buy from iTMS.
The problem is that if the content providers start creaming in the money from WMA, they could pull Apple’s license to distribute through the AAC format, essentially killing the open standard (and the iPod). Once the market settles, if Apple and AAC have more than a third of online sales, iTMS and iPod sales will be self-sustaining. But, as we’ve seen in the past, MS can be VERY persuasive when it comes to getting it’s products adopted.
iTMS needs to go both international and to Windows quickly. The WMA services are open in Europe already, giving MS a head start, and Media Player 9 for Mac has already been confirmed. Mac users don’t want to use it, but if WMA sales do well, the record companies could be persuaded by MS that they will do. That will kill AAC, and WMA will be left as our only option.
Calm down boys. In an age of p2p i dont think anyone is gonna stick up the music market in future – that is the whole point of iTMS and the way it has been setup. M$ will find it hard to dominate such a truly open market.
“Apple seems to have the AAC market locked up…” reads as if it’s meant to be sarcastic to me. As in, why is only Apple using AAC and all the rest seem to be going WMA? Locking themselves into MS willfully! Idiots, lepers, and fools.
Dell had a great model to work from – a requirement for anything to be developed by the PC world. Apple should change its tag line to “Apple: Free R&D for the PC World”
The DellPod will be nearly as good as the iPod but will include some additional features. These “features” will sell it.
And at $149, unfortunately, it will kick the iPods butt.
And by the time Apple responds it will be too late. PC weenies will be showing you their cool DellPod – never knowing that Apple has had one for a couple of years.
Apple is a testament to the saying “History repeats itself”.
Well, I for one cannot wait for my new DellPod. As soon as Michael Dell places those beauties on the new Dell website, my credit card will be charged! This thing is going to be $149, able to playback my MP3 library and it has a VOICE RECORDER. Let’s face it, the Ipod is going to start looking outdated very quickly the more these companies start rolling out these players and web music stores. If folks want to continue to pay more the Ipod, go ahead.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have an original 5gig Ipod I bought when they first came out. Synced this little Ipod with my 350mhz AGP Sawtooth G4 for 2 glorious years and have LOVED my little Ipod, but I think Dell will get my upgrade money. I’m sorry, but the features and price have the new Ipods beat, hand down.
Please don’t think I am the only person out there thinking like this either…
Well, I for one cannot wait for my new DellPod. As soon as Michael Dell places those beauties on the new Dell website, my credit card will be charged! This thing is going to be $149, able to playback my MP3 library and it has a VOICE RECORDER. Let’s face it, the Ipod is going to start looking outdated very quickly the more these companies start rolling out these players and web music stores. If folks want to continue to pay more the Ipod, go ahead.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have an original 5gig Ipod I bought when they first came out. Synced this little Ipod with my 350mhz AGP Sawtooth G4 for 2 glorious years and have LOVED my little Ipod, but I think Dell will get my upgrade money. I’m sorry, but the features and price have the new Ipods beat, hand down.
Please don’t think I am the only person out there thinking like this either…
“I’m sorry, but the features and price have the new Ipods beat, hand down.”
The most important feature is USABILITY! I guarantee Dell’s player will have annoying limitation in how easy it is to actually use. How many gadgets have you bought based on wonderful features, only to discover that most of them were so difficult/annoying to use that you just gave up?
The Dell player is just a Creative player with a Dell logo. Nothing Dell created. Nothing exclusive.
If the price attracts you, wait for iPod to come down in response to competition. iPods have been getting better and cheaper since they came out–like all computer products–and that will continue. Prices even change in mid-product-cycle–by the method of offering special promotions.
The ergonomics are important for the music lifestyle… but voice recorder and price are compelling. but even for that, we should just be looking forward to Nokia’s new $250 ($200 with rebate) 5Gb phones with 802.11b, 3Mpix camera, digital voice, etc. etc…
You can’t swap files between “Music” players. You can’t restrict file-swapping for business. Wireless music transfers? momma sayz please please.
“Wireless music transfers?”
Um, how much music do you want to transfer, and how many spare batteries do you want to carry around? For more than a few songs, it would start to seem slow, and burn your battery. You’d need to use Airport (aka Wi-Fi), since Bluetooth would be excruciatingly slow for multiple songs. Remember how slow USB is? Bluetooth is almost 10 times slower. Airport would burn down your player’s batteries, and would still be a few times slower than a wired connection.
Isn’t 802.11g 56Mbps? Perhaps the bluetooth could announce personal information, like what song a person is listening to…
Wifi is inevitable on portable devices–battery drain notwithstanding. The purpose is *not* to create a device that pirates music, but it seems as though the progression of technology will make p2p practical without the network. DRM can obviously prevent play on more than the specified device, but the MP3s will fly freely. Streaming would be legal, from device to device, but it would drain batteries pretty fast. I guess bluetooth could stream music at reduced quality, as it “streams” voice to headsets. It would be pretty cool if you could wirelessly connect so that multiple people could listen to the same song. I love using a splitter with a friend.
It’s funny – when you look at the Dell Web Site, you find several different players including the iPod. Just out of curiosity, do you have a link to the picture of the Dell player you said looked like a Creative player with a Dell Logo?