“Observers are calling the launch of Apple Computer’s digital music service the iTunes Music Store an overwhelming success, Billboard Bulletin reports. The service, which went live Monday, sold an estimated 275,000 tracks at 99 cents apiece in its first 18 hours, according to major-label sources,” reports Billboard.com
Billboard continues, “The feat is especially remarkable when considering that the offering is available only to the limited universe of users of Apple computers… Apple says it plans to make iTunes compatible with the PC by the end of the year. Sources tell Bulletin that two major labels have already cut wholesale agreements with Apple for the Windows version of the service.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A Windows version of iTunes is needed quickly here, Apple. Do not squander this opportunity to own a significant portion of a very lucrative market (like you screwed up your shot at the personal computer market back in the dark, Steveless days of the early 1990’s). Move quickly and you’ll own modern music distribution.
yes i agree with macdailynews , you should have been doing both platforms while you were researching the music store. At the end of the year would be 7 months from now. If windows copies the itunes music style, apple is doomed once again. They should get everyone to do make this there full priority. Imagine a million downloads a day from Apple users and PC users. And macrumors has a poll, and it said the reason people are not using the itunes music store , because they are international users. 50% said they were international users. Maybe Apple should buy or open there own credit card service to make those overseas accounts more reliable. You have to tap this market fast, because you know Bill Gates loves to see what Apple does and copies it and takes all the money and credit. Hurry Apple time is running out.
Why bother? How is porting iTunes to run on cheaper PCs going to help Apple sell more Macs. That is the desired result isn’t it?
In response to Jim Phleps
No, the goal is not necessarily to have Apple sell more Macs. If they overtook Windows they would eventually become fat and decadent (like Microsoft). We want them to make lots of money on music so they can continue to innovate in the computer market (and others) and offer superior products for a superior future. Of course, if their success in music leads them away from the computer industry, that would be a bad thing for everyone. But I don’t care who else buys Macs, as long as there are Macs available for me.
Its just another source of revenue. I’m sure they will convert a few but the goal (IMHO) is not in creating switchers but creating new streams of revenue, that we’ll profit from by the new apps and products that Apple will introduce.
Is everyone at Apple of friggin moron. Man I follow this company day after day, year after year and they keep making the same stupid decisions. Apple listen to me for a second. Stop your pratice of showing the world what cool stuff you have but you can’t have it unless your a Mac user. Come on its not 1984 anymore. Its like demanding everyone to throw all thier pens and pencils away and buy new ones that can write upside down. Yea everyone will say cool but how often are you writing upside down. You offer the pen to everyone without forcing them to throw out the other pens, pencils and sell it to them at the same price. Yea you still won’t write upside down a lot but when you do and you realize it you’ll be glad you have that pen. These are the kinds of little differences that Mac Users understand about thier computers and Operating System that make them a nicer machine than Wintel. Well Apple you need to stop just showing and start letting Windows users experience Apple quality.
Listen, there is more to this than meets the eye. The reason Apple got the deal with the 5 record labels, is the protection system. Now that we’re finding out how it works, it makes sense that Apple is the one that created a system that satisfied the labels. Why? They make the hardware!! SO, after reading the “authorization/deauthorization” that one needs to do with the computer and how you can totally kill your drive, but the songs stays connected to your computer, it HAS to mean that something is hardware/serial number linked. That said, Apple doesn’t have as much control over every 3rd party computer maker to share the serial number with the software. This leads me to believe, that it will be much harder to use the encryption system on PC’s and may take some time and agreements/workings with the major PC makers. I’m not much of a techie, so I could be wrong. But, it sure makes sense to me.
Now, if they can do it, they should do it in a few months unannounced. Why not get a bunch of people to switch BEFORE pulling it out for PC’s. They did this with the iPods and will continue to do it with other software titles and solutions.
Any thoughts?
Kevin
This is why Apple doesn’t roll out every product for PC consumer consumption:
Apple Computer.
Above all, they are a computer manufacturer and not a software company. It is wise for them (in the interests of selling more computers) to make software available exclusive to Macs, or at least a prime reason to delay porting it for other OS’s.
I agree that Apple should roll out a Windoze version quickly, so it doesn’t replicate blowing this opportunity as it did with the OS market. Just to set the facts straight though, they didn’t blow it during the “Steveless” days. Jobs shortsightedly was against licensing the Mac OS back in the days when they had a shot at cornering the market before he was forced out.
Getting all the bugs out with a lot more songs sounds like a good reason not to go pc for at least 3-4 months. Coming out with a polished product will do more for Apples rep & sales than speed.