“Personally I’ve never bought an iTune and I don’t own an iPod. I think Apple’s DRM is awful and represents a major step back for us all. I think those that are investing in iTune digital libraries are suckers. You are basically betting that Apple’s proprietary DRM laced format will be the standard for the rest of your life. You are paying too much for your music and tying yourself to only Apple products going forward. More innovative ways to play your music may indeed come in the future but unless they are marketed by Apple you will not likely be able to use these devices with your iTunes files due to Apple’s tight proprietary control,” Thomas Hawk writes for eHomeUpgrade. “Personally I want nothing to do with it.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s iTunes lets you burn as many custom CDs as you like without DRM. You can play these music CDs anywhere. iTunes also lets you make MP3 CDs. Audio CDs play in CD players like the one in your car or home stereo. MP3 CDs play on Mac and Windows computers and in MP3-compatible car stereos and CD players. Data DVDs are great for archiving and backup, but they only work in your DVD-equipped Mac or Windows PC. If your optical drive includes a DVD burner, you can use iTunes to archive your entire music library on DVDs for safekeeping, storing the equivalent of up to 150 CDs on each DVD-R disc. More info here.
Hawk struggles onward, “So who owns the music anyway? You or them? They do. You bought nothing. You bought the right to play their song on their product. It might work today. But I’m not about to bet that this will be the format du jour 10 years from now.”
MacDailyNews Note: See our note above.
Hawk tries this one, “And if you think Apple will be opening up their proprietary format anytime soon, think again. Apple makes virtually nothing on their iTunes downloads, after paying the labels, marketing costs, bandwidth costs, etc. they make peanuts. They make a *ton* of money on the other hand on selling iPods. This was the genius deal between Steve Jobs and the hacks over at the record labels who are just as big of suckers as you are and basically have done nothing but cannibalize existing more lucrative CD sales. They were short sighted and never thought to try to get a piece of the hardware sale and now they are yammering on about raising iTunes prices on you because they are bitter dogs over the screwing that Jobs gave them.”
MacDailyNews Take: Do TV show producers get a cut of every TV sold? Do radio producers get a cut of every radio sold? Do software companies get a cut of every computer sold? So much for the idiotic argument that record labels should get a cut of every iPod sold.
For some reason, Hawk insists on continuing, “And what if you are just dying to get the latest CD from that hot new band. Again, theoretically, would it be possible to go down to Amoeba records, buy it for $14, take it home and rip it, then return it within 7 days to get 75% credit back? What’s that like $3.50 for the new CD? And with 12 songs that’s like what 29 cents a track? Hmmm… would I rather have a crystal clear high bit rate mp3 track for 29 cents or a sure to be antiquated DRM bloated track from iTunes for 99 cents? Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating piracy here, per se. But the way I see it, if Apple is going to go to war with me the consumer to lock up my music and keep it off my innovative new devices of the future, then this doesn’t really represent a valid step forward away from piracy at all.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hawk’s not advocating piracy per se, just ripping off brick and mortar CD stores by stealing their product and driving them out of business even faster. The reason DRM exists is because of people like Hawk. Is it just us or does it seem like the biggest DRM complainers tend to be the biggest thieves? What a ridiculous article penned by someone with a total lack of understanding about iTunes, iPod, Apple’s FairPlay DRM, and how each of them works. What makes someone think that, if they’ve never bought a song from Apple’s iTunes Music Store and they don’t own an iPod, they’re qualified to critique them? Shut up, go buy your CDs, and play them on your CD player (without stealing the music and then returning the CDs). You want a legal online music service without DRM? Stop stealing, keep dreaming, then tell it to the music labels, not Apple.
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Related article:
Apple’s vs. Microsoft’s music DRM: whose solution supports more users? – August 17, 2005
The de facto standard for legal digital online music files: Apple’s protected MPEG-4 Audio (.m4p) – December 15, 2004
Flashxl,
The transition of iTunes Music Store purchases to any device is already possible, as MDN has explained.
Can people read and comprehend anymore?
Someone should forward his article, which cynically advocates CD piracy (by way of plausible denial) to the RIAA, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Virgin.
Then maybe he’ll get a clue as to why DRM exists at all, and it has nothing to do with Apple.
How can he write anything at all when he admits in the first sentence that he hasn’t even tried it. Yet another Doofus PC weenie!!
I wonder how long this turd took to move from cassette tapes to CDs? I suppose he’s going to wait for the “next thing” in 20 years time to move on. So he’ll be sucking sour grapes for 20 years while the rest of the world enjoys technology. Idiot!
MW: “changes” – very appropriate.
I agree with him, but not 4 his reasons. 128 bit files, in my mind, are not worth paying for. When i can buy them lossless, I’m in.
but i love my iPod
We are indeed suckers.
Every last one of us.
You se all you have to do is get a cheap PC with a large hard dive and subscribe to Yahoo! Music.
For $5 a month you can download up to a million songs.
Using certain software you can then strip the music of M$ DRM and burn cds.
Once you loaded up your iPod with MP3’s, and all your friends, burned DVD-R full of tens of thousands of songs.
You quit the subscribtion service, because now you have so much material you can easily trade cd’s for any new music that arrives.
So yes we are suckers, if your a cheap thieving ba$tard
Whatever?
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exactly WHERE can you buy a CD and return (opened) for 75% of the price? i’ve only seen returns on unopened discs.
If the saying “write what you know” still stands then Thomas Hawk’s page should be blank.
Dumb argument– there are opportunity costs for all choices– when you get one thing, what is it you can’t have?
The real question is whther you’re satisfied. Seems like that has been aswered loudly with a resounding YES!
MDN: “opened” as in MacDude opened mouth and inserted hoof.
Personally I’ve never heard of Thomas Hawk and I’ve never visited eHomeUpgrade. I think Hawk’s article is awful and represents a major step back for us all. I think those that are investing in reading articles on eHomeUpgrade are suckers. You are basically betting that reading Hawk’s opinions are worth wasting 5 valuable minutes out of the rest of your life. You are paying too much for your time and tying yourself to only Hawk’s opinions going forward. More unbiased ways to get your technology news may indeed come in the future but unless they are written by Hawk you will not likely be able to reconcile your opinions with his drivel due to Hawk’s tight sphincter control. Personally I want nothing to do with it.
I can’t believe the replies. OK, so he’s picking on iTunes to troll for hits on his website ( BTW, it is working ). Overall his real gripe is with DRM. Although Apple’s Fairplay is better than most DRMs, it is still DRM.
What happens when you want to play or stream your fairplay songs to some other non-Apple device? You can’t. Unless Apple starts licensing fairplay, you never will.
Brick and Mortar stores won’t go out of buisness because most people use cd’s and don’t want/care/have money/stupid to use a computer.
So there. The poor, technically challenged get RIPPED, like always.
Actually, you can’t burn MP3 CD’s without DRM using iTunes Music Store music.
A lot of stores don’t accept returns on opened media anymore.
Gosh the days of re-shrink wrapping the cd’s are long gone.
http://www.officezone.com/shrink1.htm
Or are they? Hahahahha! weeehooo!
We CAN thank him for coining a new term, he has never bought an “iTune” not that he has never bought from the iTunes Music Store.
Has anyone call a track from iTMS an “iTune” before, I’ve never heard it, but I like it.
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JoeKnows…NOT!
“What happens when you want to play or stream your fairplay songs to some other non-Apple device? You can’t. Unless Apple starts licensing fairplay, you never will.”
Did you read any of the previous post BEFORE you wrote this BS? You can burn from iTunes to a CD and the DRM is removed, then put the MP3’s on any damn device you want, moron!
I don’t know about the rest of the posters here, but I sure did NOT give him a hit.
MW: “single” – not a single hit!
To understand a man like Hawk all you have to do is remember the line in Top Gun, “he was abused as a child.”
I’m with Ben,
“I don’t mean any offense, so don’t take this the wrong way, but why bothering linking and responding to trolls? This idiot clearly did it to get attention. He has no valid arguments that everyone hasn’t debunked a million times already, so why bother wasting your time?
The best way to destroy a troll is to ignore it because then it cuts off the one thing they so desperately crave: attention.
I mean, has anyone heard of this site before now? Nothing but a big attention whore.
Move along. Nothing to see here.”
x2
Last time I checked, I CAN’T buy a CD from a music store, rip it to iTunes and then RETURN it – FOR ANYTHING! Not 75% (as he said), not 50%, NOTHING! Every music store I’ve been in has signs posted at the counter stating that refunds are given on unopened CD’s only. Once its open, you can only exchange it. Besides, where is he finding $14 CD’s? The bargain bin at Wal-Mart? The last CD I bought cost me almost $22 after tax.
is really stupid enough to think the DRM is Apple’s idea. Try the RIAA.
They think Apple could have said no DRM and the iTunes store would exist? Not. All the other stores have DRM too.
You want it gone? Re-rip to Apple Lossless. Storage is cheap.
It’s not Apple’s fault there’s DRM. It’s the music industry who made them do it.
i agree with Tommo_UK.
i didn’t click on the link. pls don’t