“It’s not enough to denounce crime and lock up criminals, say the social scientists. We must consider the root causes of crime. Which brings us to Apple Computer Inc., which is encouraging people to steal digital music files, and undermining its own success to boot,” Hiawatha Bray writes for The Boston Globe.
“How’s that? Apple’s iTunes Music Store offered the first easy way to buy music legally over the Internet. Surely that has helped to discourage illegal file swapping. But there’s a catch, as we saw last week when a rival music seller attempted to crash the iTunes party… Since his amazing comeback as Apple chief executive in 1997, Jobs hasn’t made a single major mistake — until now,” Bray writes.
Full article here.
This guy is probably just miffed that Steve didn’t go to the MacWorld Boston Expo.
Windows users steal music to begin with. As a Mac user…I dont. I buy them.
He makes no sense. He says it’s a mistake not to have Real be allowed this technology. He says without it, people are going to start dowloading from Kaaza.
Umm … People are going to continue going to iTunes.
WTF?! Dude – go back in your hole….
lol what people hate apple now just cuz they got best mp3 player out? well guess what i bought a 40g ipod today so stop that you ass lol
we need to blame people that copy music not the company that provides uss with mp3 player and music store, and its up 2 apple to deside who should sell the music that works on an ipod lol.
Give Apple a break they have to make sure that someone actually broke their user agreement before they do one of the following upgrade the firmware or file a lawsuit.
How do idiots like this actually get to keep a job as a writer? Apple creates the first major legal download market, and this moron thinks it’s perpetuating pirating.
Go back to writing poems for your mother, dude. She can at least make you THINK you’re a half-way decent journalist…
“But Apple’s not having it, because Steve Jobs is a jealous god who will have no false technologies before him.”
How much does that say about the author??
The writer would have a point if the REAL download service were in any way superior to iTMS, or cheaper, for that matter.
Also, most of the music on iPods is ripped from CDs anyway. (Just calculate: 3 mio iPods sold, 100 mio songs sold in total, that’s a measly 30 songs per iPod, even if all iTMS customers owned iPods). iTMS is, at the moment, just a nice way to complement one’s preexisting music collection with choice selections. Thus, a choice of download services is not a top priority topic for iPod users.
Right on, Hagar57. You’ve just made the most valid point in this whole “scandal”.
THIS ARTICLE IS THE BIGGEST LOAD OF SHIT I HAVE READ SINCE MICROSOFT LAUNCHED WINDOWS XP!!
So fairplay allows people to pirate songs eh???
What aload of bollocks!
This guy abviously bought a Dell DJ instead of an Ipod – unlucky sucker!!
LOL!
My email to the author:
Mr. Bray,
Your article “Apple music operation hits a sour note” is so much opinion, that you should be ashamed as a “journalist”. You say that Apple’s decisions create an “incitement to steal music”, which is completely moronic. That would be like saying “Ford won’t put BMW seats in my Taurus, so I’m going to go steal a BMW”. People who already have an iPod are not going to be firing up Kazaa just because they can’t purchase music from REAL. They will use the market leading iTunes Music Store. To try to make Apple look bad for offering consumers the first legit online music purchasing system, coupled with a kickass personal music player, all of which are rich in features, technically sound, and extremely user friendly is a very luddite attitude. What really gets me though is your lack of responsibility to your readers by reporting FUD, strictly based on your alliegance to Microsoft (or your disdain for Apple). As a journalist, you should have been told to leave your opinions out of your piece. What kind of stupid ass statement are you trying to make with: “But Apple’s not having it, because Steve Jobs is a jealous god who will have no false technologies before him”. Like I said, how about reporting the facts instead of bellyaching about someone else’s success. I would understand if Mr Jobs’ status as a CEO was in question, but I think all the reports about his (and the iPod/iTunes) tremendous success speak volumes, which is more than I can say about your ability to report news. Additionally, your writing is boring. Even when you try to write with a clever (albeit irresponsible) slant, I find your style a extremely dull.
Have a nice day.
I still don’t get it. The universal spreading of you can’t play Apple iTunes bought music on other players! I haven’t a clue on how this Harmony works and if it is user activated. ie: buy the Real music then open a Harmony app and convert the track the import to your iPod.
But the reality is anyone can buy a song from the Apple iTunes Music Store, burn the song to a cd in iTunes as an aif track. Then re-import the track back as an mp3 file and play it on any mp3 player they want to. Sony, Rio or iPod.
If people have to be tech savy to use Harmony, then just burning and re-importing is easier.
Haven’t seen Hiawatha expousing his views on Apple related stuff for a while. He never seemed to make much sense, indeed came over as excessively aggressive, so this piece is par for the course.
Crunge!
Go for it!
The guy is a typical example of a bad reporter.
The first rule of ALL reporting is that it HAS to be unbiased otherwise the ‘article’ (as I use this word with caution on such a badly written piece!) becomes just an opinion and not a acurrate peice of reporting.
At the end of the day the article is so inaccurate that he has shown himself up to his peers as to how badly a reoporter he is and unfortunately for the Boston Globe – it does no good to the image of the publication too as it gives the reader the conclusion that their reporters are totally crap and untrained in any journalistic skills whatsoever!
If this guy worked on a UK national paper he would have been sacked for the inaccuracy of this article!
Also – if he thinks APPLE is encoyuraging piracy how come the music labels arent sueing APPLE? or that there is no statements from ANY record labels in the article condoning APPLE?
The guy is just a 10cents hack looking for a new angle to rattle everyone’s cages – because at the end of the day IT ABOUT SELLING NEWSPAPERS and they will print any FUD to increase sales!
These people act as if Apple invented the music that is on their download service. I guess he forgets that iTunes is the largest music store so chances are Real has nothing that iTunes already sells. Plus, since the iPod is the market leader, most of those people are perfectly content using iTunes, the software that works seamlessly with the iPod. Why bother adding complexity and confusion to your music usage by using a second rate music store that offers the same songs and albums as Apple’s iTunes?
What an irrational prejudice article!
Here’s the link to the editor if anyone wants to complain about this guy!
letter@globe.com
Well this guy thinks iTunes is AWESOME! But he thinks the iPod sucks (yet he has bought 3 already) I think he should have dinner with the author.
http://www.edwinsucks.com
“Apple Could Be “Microsoft Of My Ass”
Among others. He’s funny and whacked. Like he says it sucks to be him.
Here’s my letter to the writer (bray@globe.com) and the editor (letter@globe.com):
————————————-
Not only are your arguments not very convincing, but they have no logic. You’re jumping to conclusions and twisting everything around. Apple is the source of encouraging people to steal music? And Kazza and other P2P networks isn’t? Just because Apple doesn’t want a competitor’s music to be on Apple’s *own* iPod doesn’t send the message that they want people to steal. You don’t know shit about technology.
You must be desperate to get more readers for the Globe. Then again, it’s writers like you that brings the Globe down in status and reputation. It will remain there until you’re fired. You shouldn’t even be a reporter. It really seems like you’re bought and paid for by Real.
Your editor must have been asleep at the wheel to let this biased and error-filled article to be published.
What about the software ripped from Apple and reverse-engineering? Isn’t that ROBBERY?
I think SJ et. al. are angry with the fact that someone, ILLEGALY, took their software and make some application based on it. As far as I know, “harmony” is a response from REAL to the negative from Apple to share with them their DRM. AND, INHO that response is the part that is not legal.
REAL is not respecting the RIGHTS that Apple has on their own software. Who is the burglar? That is the real point on REAL.
M$ or Apple it those not matter as long as you are free to choose whatever monopoly you want.
I don’t think Apple could have foreseen this issue but there should enable the mto take them to court anyway. Why doesn’t real player pay royalities to Apple and not tell them how to run their business… The other issue to me is that anyone who downloads from Realplayer has to pay a 9.95 subscription on top of what they download music or choose not to. They can’t make money so they get u on monthly service feeeeee.
Boston Globe must be very low in the press scale — avoid! Don’t even go there!
Some folks just don’t get it. I saw a poll here that indicates otherwise.
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/mac_poll_how_many_songs_on_your_ipod_legal_not_legal/
Surprisingly, 82% of those polled have over 1,000 songs on their iPods, and 78% of their songs are legal or mostly legal.
If anything, it appears as if Apple’s iPod and Music Store are encouraging “legal” purchases.
Hiawatha should go back to the reservation.
In other related news, consuming turkeys at the end of November causes water to freeze, fall from sky, and accumulate as snow in December…
This guy’s logic makes no sense. Why not say that GM, by offering a new model lineup every year, encourages grand theft auto? What utter hokum. I’d expect this sort of bad journalism from the NYT, not from the Globe. His boss will be getting an email from me shortly.