“Let me present the first ‘This Won’t Work With That’ awards, honoring self-serving perpetrators of toxic incompatibilities,” Steven Levy writes for Newsweek.
Levy writes, “Third prize goes to the satellite radio services Sirius and XM. It’s a good idea to offer people the opportunity to subscribe to quality, ad-free radio, but a bad idea to have two systems that don’t work with each other… Second prize goes to Apple CEO Steve Jobs for selling songs on the iTunes Music Store that play on iPods, but not on anyone else’s music players. Also, Apple has rigged the iPod so that (un-less [sic] you perform some digital surgery) songs purchased from other online stores won’t play on it. Jobs’s explanation is that it’s not something users are asking for, and if a groundswell of users clamor for compatibility, he’ll consider it. Take my word for it, Steve—when people pay for music, they want it to be playable on any device they choose… And the grand-prize winner? America Online, for shamefully maintaining AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) as a closed system.”
Full article here.
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Apple’s iTunes Music Store sells music (and video) for iPods. It works seamlessly for the end user. If you buy an also-ran digital player, you don’t get Apple iTunes in the box, so use whatever service that player maker recommends, if it’s still in business. Good luck. Our advice, buy an iPod and use the iTunes Music Store. That way, you’ll get the best device, use the best jukebox software, and get the best, most-comprehensive online store. What Levy complains about is obviously not something many users are asking for, since iTunes Music Store dominates its market even more than the iPod dominates the portable digital music player market.
Only Apple’s iTunes Music Store supports both Mac and Windows PC users. So, Levy should really be awarding the Napsters, Yahoos, and whatever other outfits are still operating his award for supporting only Windows PCs and leaving Mac users to, as usual, “settle” for the best. It’s interesting that Levy singles out Apple’s iTunes Music Store, the only major online music store that supports both Mac and Windows users, but doesn’t complain that, oh, for example, Sony PlayStation games aren’t playable in Microsoft’s Xbox and vice versa, or that, hmm, Autodesk doesn’t make AutoCAD for Mac OS X, Microsoft rigging Outlook to make it difficult to move information to Mac OS X’s Mail*, Motorola cell phone batteries don’t power Nokia phones, or even that GM auto parts don’t work in Fords.
Of course, iPods also play a variety of formats, of course, including AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF. And Apple’s iTunes software application supports importing in high-quality AAC, high bit-rate MP3 with no extra fee, AIFF CD audio, and automatic conversion of your existing music collection from unprotected WMA, among other formats.
Apple’s iTunes Music Store exists to provide content for Mac and Windows personal computer and iPod users. It doesn’t exist to provide content for Apple’s iPod “competitors.” Consumers don’t seem to have a problem with iPod+iTunes, but certain writers and Apple competitors certainly do. If people suddenly started flocking to an iPod and/or iTunes competitor, Apple would surely consider licensing FairPlay. Of course, as Levy probably knows, people are flocking to iPod+iTunes, so the issue and Levy’s second place “award” are meaningless.
Lastly, achieving a monopoly is legal. It’s monopoly abuse that is illegal, as Microsoft knows all too well. Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy iPods or use their iTunes Music Store. Consumers are choosing to do so of their own free will. In droves.
* To free yourself from one of the most-blatant of self-serving Microsoft’s toxic incompatibilities and get your stuff the hell out of Outlook and onto your Mac, take a look at Little Machine’s US$10 Outlook2Mac: http://www.littlemachines.com/
Related articles:
Apple’s roadkill whine in unison: ‘incompatibility is slowing growth of digital music’ – August 12, 2005
The de facto standard for legal digital online music files: Apple’s protected MPEG-4 Audio (.m4p) – December 15, 2004
be fair.. he had to type this article with one hand, so there may be some.. er.. typos..
Oh, it’s not what you think, Levy was counting his MS Payola with his other hand
linguist-
Are you retarded?
Go look it up.
MDN’s wrongness is not new.
– Apple *DOES* force its customers to use iPod and iTunes. If you buy an iPod, you have exactly one option for purchasing content online, and if you use iTunes/iTMS, you have exactly one option for a portable player. They don’t force you into their products, but if you buy one of their products, you have no choices about the rest.
– The analogies of XBOX games on PS or Lexus key in a Honda are flawed. Think instead of your PS only working with your SONY television, or your Lexus only driving on approved highways. Those would be outrageous.
justified
Take it like a man, you were talking crap and aland call you on it. now get out of the gutter and move on. this is just a forum, it happens.
Pale Rider & co:
Microsoft and the others have expressed a willingness to share their standards with Apple. Whatever its reasons may be, Apple’s refusal to make FairPlay encoding or decoding available to others constitutes the self-serving incompatibility. The others are all compatible with each other, and are on the record as willing to be compatible with Apple.
heroin
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why do I have a feeling that you won’t be using that word again?
Peace man
there is more to the story than just proprietary formats. I am not sure that Apple even has the option to license FairPlay. The content is still the property of the Labels, not Apple. Even if Apple licensed FairPlay to say MP3.COM does that mean that they can sell their content just as Apple does. Each outlet has to license with the content providers. What will be interesting in the coming year I suspect is the Labels will try to extend licensing to WMA outlets to put pressure on Apple because the Labels don’t feel they have enough control over Apple. What Apple should do is find a way to license FairPlay such that other outlets can sell the Labels content using the same format as Apple uses. This will put pressure back on the Labels and remove the label of proprietary from the AAC/Fairplay DRM. No matter what, this is going to be a great show to watch!
“Apple *DOES* force its customers to use iPod and iTunes.”
Utterly ridiculous.
Anyone who’s willing to open their fricking eyes can clearly see that we’re still in the nascent phase of this marketplace. NO company is obligated to provide a “leg up” to their competitors simply for the sake of some “perceived” greater convenience. Especially in the midst of a constantly evolving (and evolving at light speed, no less) market paradigm. Indeed, this is the period in which you establish the solidity of your business model — not risk it all because other companies were too stupid to innovate. Or were unwilling to provide all aspects of the user experience. FSCK THEM!
MDN’s take is CORRECT. Apple has plently of compatibility built-in to their system. After all, it works for PC’s as well. And guess what? The marketplace has ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM with the current state of affairs. Only the whiners do.
Choose another goddamn system if you don’t like being “trapped” — whatever the hell that means.
You know the old saying:
“The don’t try and tackle you unless you’ve got the ball.”
Apple has the ball and just keeps scoring touchdowns. And it’s a great, great thing to see.
Open your eyes, PC Nutjob.
I still disagree with Levy even if he is a Mac booster because right now he is a basher of the best music player and service on the planet. DRM was the record companies idea, not Steve Jobs. Blame them for requiring DRM and incompatabilities not Apple. Imagine a world without DRM and then everyone could sell music for any player. But the record labels are so paranoid and greedy it won’t ever happen. So again don’t blame Apple or Steve Jobs. iTunes has the best DRM and you don’t have to pay a monthly fee and if you decide not to buy from iTunes ever again your music won’t disappear.
dave,
One can make a point without talking down to others. AlanD is clearly a oaf.
“One can make a point without talking down to others.”
You are absolutly right about that. It would be good if Mr D was big enough to apologize.
Why are you people BUYING anything?
All these critics of ‘closed’ systems are missing the real point.
The only thing that really makes them closed is the DRM, but without the DRM, the labels wouldn’t allow their music to be sold digitally. There is no universal DRM system, so nobody can sell universally interoperable digital music.
Whatever the labels may try to claim publicly, they are not in favour of universal digital systems as they fear that it can be too easy to make perfect copies.
Look at Sony’s recent ham-fisted attempt to copy protect it’s CDs. The CD format was designed to be universal, but the people who make them no longer want them to be universal and go out of their way to distribute non-standard CDs.
I aways considered Newsweek a self-serving perpetrator of toxic bias.
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“Why are you people BUYING anything?”
I wanna be the next Dalai Lama…,
All of these folks forget to mention that quicktime can convert a song downloaded through itunes music store into a format compatible with playforsure MP3 players.
Are there more Mac owners than non-apple portable digital audio player owners. If so then napster is being more incompatible.
Dave
you are right. I shot from the hip frustrated with the diatribe.
Justified. sorry dude did not mean it personally.
Everyone here is making good points, but it seems the tone is generally defensive. I find Levy’s tone to be offensvie and repugnant. Here’s a situation where millions of people are willingly buying iPods and the music to use with it, and this condescending a**hole is telling everyone he’s right and the rest of us are wrong and are so ignorant that we can’t
can’t see through SJ’s bull? Give me a break. To paraphrase an old expression, this guy couldn’t find his chair warmer in a phone booth.
AlanAudio –
There is no universal DRM only because the folks writing the schemes aren’t making them available. It’s a set of 1s and 0s, and all personal computers as well as digital media players of all sorts could use any one of them.
Apple promotes open source initiatives left and right, and criticizes its competitors for not playing nice. But in this situation, where it would clearly serve to create a competitive market, they are unwilling to open their DRM scheme.
Open DRM schemes would allow portable devices to compete on their actual features, rather than on the basis of which stores can provide content for it. They would permit stores to compete on ease of use and pricing rather than on which portables you’re allowed to use with them.
Should Apple require reciprocation? Yes. Other retailers must support the iPod as a portable device. But one side of this equation has agreed to play fair, and one side is sticking to FairPlay. Is it working out financially for them? Yep. To a huge degree. Is it legal? Probably. But something stinks, so it might not be for long.
The last time I checked no one was forced to buy an iPod. No one is screaming at the fact that Napster etc is incompitable with Macs..
my word “clearly” as in you clearly have a choice to use or not to use the iPod.
I don’t have an iPod, but isn’t it possible to rip iTMS songs to CD (somehow undoing DRM, and maybe losing Mhz qualitiy…). Well, anyway, I think once you have it on CD isn’t it possible to load onto a Rio, or any other such device?
Oh, and of course, this iTMS method would work on both PC’s AND Macs. Last I heard it is unique in the marketplace on that score, no?
MDN:
Stop referring to iTunes for Windows and to iPod-PC compatibility as to an evidence of the iTunes/iPod “openness”. We all know that the reason why Apple does that is to reach customers beyond Mac and maybe make them to switch to Mac. And that is it.
Puhleeze. I’m upset the engine in my Lexus won’t go into my old Toyota. I’m upset that I can’t use the motherboard in a quad PowerMac G5 in a Mac mini. I’m upset that I can’t get the ink out of my Pentel pen to use in a less expensive Bic.
Apple ‘forces’ customers? I don’t think so. When you buy an iPod you expect iTunes to be able to put music on it. It does. All that music can go elsewhere. When you buy music from ‘iTunes’ music store, you expect iTunes to be able to play it. It does.
Get another portable music player and it won’t work with iTunes (mostly) or iTunes music store. Is that Apple’s fault or the idiot manufacturer’s fault for trying to compete with God’s will– Apple’s ecosystem?
Where’s all the noise about Sony’s most recent iPod killers not playing nice-nice with ANY friggin’ format on the face of the earth.
Get real. With all the things to complain about, only a Windows-lag would complain about that. BTW – AOL was pumping bits long before the ‘public’ internet, but that’s another story.
Here’s still another: supertime (above) said, “All of these folks forget to mention that quicktime can convert a song downloaded through itunes music store into a format compatible with playforsure MP3 players.”
Exactly how is that accomplished using a Fairplay AAC music file?
Bambi Hambi
Mac360
Forgot to mention, after ‘Insanely Great’ what has happened to Steve Levy’s insight? Seems like he’s lost his way. On this issue at least…must be drinking RIAA KoolAid; thsi is ruining compettition. Or some such propoganda. Choice is best for consumers, etc. (Like they lack choice as it stands, right?) They’re making choices. Just towards onecou provider who seems to have the superior solution.