“About two years ago, I wrote an opinion column titled ‘iTunes Bad, WMA Good‘ that certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. The legion of Apple fans mailed me to say that, naturally, I was wrong and the iPod and iTunes are the greatest thing to happen to music since Edison’s phonograph. I followed the column up with a Round Two that further explained my gripes. In short, it’s not the iPod or iTunes I have a philosophical problem with. It’s the lock-in policy of Apple. iPods work with iTunes and little else, iTunes works with iPods and no other portable players, and Apple refuses to license their FairPlay DRM to anyone. There’s nothing wrong with AAC as an audio codec. As I discovered by running blind listening tests in my Audio Codec Quality Shootout, AAC basically sits at the top of the heap with WMA (version 9) for lossy audio codec quality,” Jason Cross writes for ExtremeTech.
“I have avoided buying an iPod and making iTunes my music player/manager of choice for a long time, simply because I didn’t want to be locked into the whole iPod/iTunes thing forever. I liked the idea of choice,” Cross writes. “Last week, I finally caved. I wanted a bigger portable music player than my 5GB Zen Micro (which is great); something that can hold my whole music collection—nearly 4,000 tracks of high-bitrate MP3. What did I buy? A 60GB fifth-generation video-playing iPod. In black.”
“Why did I jump to the Apple music ship? Simply put, I’m tired of waiting for Microsoft and its partners to get their act together. iTunes simply has features that the competition can’t match, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to catch up anytime soon. It’s got the best overall interface, the best-designed music store, and some easy-to-use features that I really care about,” Cross writes. “At CES this past year, I spoke with several Microsoft reps about Media Player 11 and the Urge music store that will be the default built-in music shopping experience… In short, Media Player 11 and Urge, which aren’t shipping for months, won’t even catch up to what Apple is offering now.”
Cross writes, “Microsoft should be aiming at where they think Apple will be in a year. Instead, their next-generation music offering seems to be striving to do 80% of what iTunes already offers. Way to hand Apple the brass ring there, fellas. Does anyone in charge of digital media at Microsoft even use iTunes? I know there are other Windows offerings, like Napster, MusicMatch, Yahoo Music, and so on. I’ve tried them all, and I can’t stand the interface and design for any of them… I’m happy I made the switch. Microsoft is going to have a hard time winning me back—certainly they haven’t announced anything that would make me reconsider.”
Full article “Joining the Dark Side: Switching to iPod” here.
Welcome not to “the Dark Side,” but to the future, Mr. Cross!
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Related article:
Writer worried about proprietary iTunes songs wants his WMA instead – February 13, 2004
The funny thing with these writers all switching to praising Apple and its products is, that like everyone else. They’re coming to the realization that there is nothing wrong with Apple’s products, afterall. In fact, it like watching an epiphany happen before your eyes. Next, they all be raving about how they wrote about this or that years ago, as if, they were the only truth tellers in the world. Nevermind, the legions of Apple and Mac based pundits that came before them.
I have a hunch, that the guy finally got sick of being the only one in his office that didn’t have an iPod and he broke down and got one largely because of that, then realized it was a pretty well thoughtout system and it worked way better than whatever it was he was using previously.
Sweet the worm has turned
Microsoft’s BIGGEST failing is its PlaysForSure on Windows-only strategy! FairPLay is cross-platform, making it the lesser of the two evils
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Lock in, Lock in, Lock in!
You aren’t locked into anything. You have already ripped your collection to a lossless codec that works on iPod.
But even if you were locked in, aren’t you glad you’re not locked in to that dog of a system you were using.
You could still be using a Zen and WMA.
I hit’em high, hit’em high, hit’em high,
While you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low,
I hit’em high, hit’em high, hit’em high,
While you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low,
I hit’em high, hit’em high, hit’em high,
While you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low,
I hit’em high, hit’em high, hit’em high,
While you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low, you hit ’em low.
Manage your files with iTunes. Yes indeed. It’s so ver, very capable. iPod or no iPod. Plus, the many international music stores are simply a delight to read.
Yipppee, yet another very public conversion. Now will someone tell him its the the same with a Mac please?
Yeah, people say they want “choice”, cause it sounds good, but in reality who needs “choice” when you’ve chosen the best?
Nothing’s changed except this writer has finally wised up. Did he apologize for being an ass when he wrote his original two articles?
It’s funny how these drones see the iPod/iTunes as being “locked in” to Apple, as if they aren’t every bit as “locked in” when they go with Microsoft’s solution. Their definition of “choice” is highly flawed.
You’re not locked in as long as you don’t purchase music from iTunes. Purchase CD’s. Its what I do. I stay away from DRM, regardless of how much it stays out of my way. I just don’t want it period. Now if Apple offered a lossless format with their current DRM, I would possibly be swayed. But right now, CD’s win out over convenience.
“I have avoided buying an iPod and making iTunes my music player/manager of choice for a long time, simply because I didn’t want to be locked into the whole iPod/iTunes thing forever. I liked the idea of choice”
Umm…I hate to break this news to him, but being locked in IS being locked in. Whether you go with Apple’s FairPlay or Microsuck’s WMA DRM, you’re locked in either way. I wish Jason Cross would enlighten us all to what “choice” it is exactly that he’s referring to…
Well it really depends on how you look at it…
Fairplay may be cross-platform, but it only supports one MP3 player. I think PlaysForSure as a Windows-only strategy is okay, since they own a vast majority of desktops out there, but it’s the experience of the different sites, as well as the hardware capabilities that are killing them.
Unfriendly store interfaces + ugly and clumsy hardware interfaces = PlaysForSure
and ‘one more thing’ — to add to this…
WMA (and WMV) sounds (and looks) like crap.. on my Mac..
I’ve even heard PeeCeers complain, too !!
Theres no way I would consider using it for my music ..
(or anything else for that matter)
Besides … as has been mentioned here many times..
Who the heck wants to rent their content ??
Not me … and thats MY “choice” !!
MDN MW = “hell” …. no kidding…. how appropiate, huh ?
What did I buy? A 60GB fifth-generation video-playing iPod. In black.”
HAHAHA, yea that’s quite a leap from a cheapo Zen, I got a 60GB viPod myself in black and it’s totally awesome.
I guess he decided he needed to treat himself for a change.
Vendor lock isn’t such a problem for him, he’ll rip everything into MP3 anyway.
I think the point of PlaysForSureExceptForOnMac was that more companies could produce more options to all play the same music format.
Kind of like how Communism was supposed to make everyone happy with public ownership and everyone was equal.
It sounds good on paper, but it reality everyone in the USSR were equal (they were all poor) and all of the PlaysForNowButNotLater solutions produced a handful of software companies that all competed against each other for a tiny slice of the pie.
Apple won out financially by hardware sales, if it were just a music store it would have failed. That solution doesn’t make enough money by itself. It’s an iPod accessory, and the iPod is doing very well.
=)
What a dumbass.
Yes, I am absolutely for choice! I love choice so much that I think it is a weird, absurd, freaky situation we live in when more than 90% of all personal computer-users in the world voluntarily support less choice by supporting and buying themselves into a de facto monopoly when it comes to operating systems – and that monopoly has the audacity to call it “free choise” in a true 1984-manner!
Wow and again – who are drinking the Kool-Aid? Who are totally dominated by a Reality Distortion Field?
And then, when they hesitantly dare to take the step to actually try out the other choices there are, there eyes are slowly opened and their minds comes free, day by day.
I would never want Apple to swap place with Microsoft, but if they did, I hope it would be because they’d never stop trying to make the best products there are and not because of ‘smart’ business-tactics…
“Fairplay may be cross-platform, but it only supports one MP3 player.”
Not really, it supports iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Mini, iPod, iPod Photo, iPod U2 Edition, and iPod Video; all at different sizes and a couple even give you a choice in color. Surely you could find a model in there that you like. And if you want to be different, there is a plethora of cases and accessories that allow you to customize your iPod.
MW:Before-Mr. Cross should at least try the iPod+iTunes system before he writes about how much it sucks.
You’re not locked in even if you buy songs from iTMS in AAC format wrapped in DRM. All you have to do is convert the files to MP3 (there are MANY one-click converters that do this) and all the DRM goes away, and the files still work on the iPod as well as whatever other crap player you want to use.
Will, you’re right on the money. I can’t stand people that say they won’t buy a Mac because they want “choice”.
Dell = Windows XP
Sony = Windows XP
Gateway = Windows XP
HP = Windows XP
Lenovo = Windows XP
eMachines = Windows XP
Look at all that choice! With so much choice, how can you possibly pick a favorite?
Those freaking jack ass “journalists” voicing opinion without getting the facts right or even trying the iPod+iTune first!!! Jason Cross is one of them. Admitting his wrong does not redeem the damages he has done. The standard of “journalism” keeps sinking since Dan Rather!!!!
just wait till he tries a Mac out in three months (after falling madly in love with his iPod).
This ‘vendor lock’ or ‘lock-in policy ‘ is nothing more than the choice of whos products and services you want to use based on your own requirements. If you like Apple products then you purchase Apple products and all the services, add-ons, and whatever else is compatible with them. If you like Window/WMA/Microsoft, then its the same. Its like buying a car. You don’t buy a Ford and expect to be able to enhance it with Bently parts (unless you do a lot of cutting, welding and patchwork).
The idea of a ‘lock-in policy’ is nothing more than a marketing tool to scare someone from making an intelligent choice about what they want and the experience from that choice.
Trolls fear sunlight, and wisemen fear nothing.
Hehe..i love the last line: “certainly they haven’t announced anything that would make me reconsider.” These Microsofties are so trained that they will even wait on baited breath for Microsoft’s “announcements” which can be YEARS in advance of any actual shipping product. Such a joke! Glad this tool finally woke up but he’s still so lost. How is WMA NOT “lock-in?” There is an “apparent” openness to M$ Plays for Sure but honestly, who would you rather trust with your hard built music collection? Apple or Microsoft. The answer is plain and siimple and the market is showing us that.
G Spank: EXACTLY. We should email that point to him.