“There is currently no industry standard for downloadable MP3s. This means that, for instance, MP3s downloaded from Sony’s Connect service can only be played on Sony’s MP3 Walkman, and not on the more popular iPod (and vice versa),” Neil McCormick writes for The Telegraph.
“Behind the scenes, the battle waging for commercial dominance is reminiscent of the early 1980s cut-throat competition to establish video standards between VHS and Betamax. And lest we forget, VHS won despite being technically inferior,’ McCormick writes.
“Although Apple has been the pioneer in the MP3 market, with Sony/BMG controlling 25 per cent of the music market it will be interesting to see whose digital distribution platforms will survive,” McCormick writes. “Will all those expensive iPods we have been rushing out to buy wind up piled high in car-boot sales alongside Betamax video players and 8-track cassette machines?”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Confused? Ditto. iPod can play AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, Apple Lossless and WAV, so we don’t see why this writer’s concerned. If he means to ponder whether iTunes Music Store protected AAC (.m4p) content will possibly end up as “the next Betamax,” the songs can be easily transcoded into different formats with minimal degradation. That particular scenario doesn’t look remotely plausible at this time; 100 million sold and counting. We don’t see any reason for concern here.