“Apple CEO Steve Jobs hates digital-rights management (DRM)–and he wants you to know that the music industry is responsible for those restrictions on entertainment that keep people from ripping, mixing, and burning their own media,” Brad King writes for technology Review.
“At least, that’s the idea he posted on Apple’s website yesterday,” King writes. “Let me first start by saying that Jobs’s apparent change of heart about DRM is long overdue. I’ve been a (flip and sarcastic) critic of his draconian view of digital-rights management, which has raised the hackles of the Apple community. But Jobs’s voice is a welcome addition to the discussion about looking for ways to promote an environment that includes unrestricted media files.”
MacDailyNews Take: King has absolutely no proof that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a “change of heart” about DRM or any knowledge of Steve Jobs’ “view of digital-rights management” being “draconian” because neither is true. Jobs was forced to add DRM by the music cartels in order to sell their music online. King’s ham-handed attempt to twist the issue is laughable. Yes, we’re mocking you, Brad, because you can’t even execute yellow journalism properly.
Well, there’s a lot of smart people at the music companies. The problem is, they’re not technology people… And so when the Internet came along, and Napster came along, they didn’t know what to make of it… And so they’re fairly vulnerable to people telling them technical solutions will work, when they won’t… When we first went to talk to these record companies — you know, it was a while ago. It took us 18 months. And at first we said: None of this technology that you’re talking about’s gonna work. We have Ph.D.’s here, that know the stuff cold, and we don’t believe it’s possible to protect digital content. – Steve Jobs, Rolling Stone, December 03, 2003
King continues, “However, let’s not be misled by the press response to his post. Jobs isn’t leading this discussion. There have been countless voices, from RealNetworks’ Rob Glaser to MP3.com’s Michael Robertson and all of the digital-entertainment companies that went out of business…”
MacDailyNews Take: Jobs is leading the discussion because his voice in this market trumps all of the peons that King mentions combined. Most of them were advocating that Apple license them FairPlay, so they could sell music for the device that Apple designed, built, and worked so hard to make number one. They wanted in for free, for the heck of it. That’s not how business works, Brad.
Related articles:
Apple’s roadkill whine in unison: ‘incompatibility is slowing growth of digital music’ – August 12, 2005
Real CEO Glaser begs Apple to make iPod play nice with other music services – March 24, 2004
King continues, “With his ‘Thoughts on Music’ post, Jobs is deftly trying to switch the attention from his monopoly to the music industry’s oligopoly.”
MacDailyNews Take: iPods do not require iTunes Store use. The iTunes Store does not require iPod use. The two are not tied. Also, Apple has no monopoly on either portable media player or online music sales. And, even if Apple does have a monopoly, that is not illegal. It is only illegal to abuse a monopoly. Ask Microsoft about that distinction, Brad.
King continues, “Apple is given too much credit for being the scrappy little computer company that could; it’s just a company. It has positives (great interface design, plug-and-play products) and negatives (a terrible record on the environment, closed networks).”
MacDailyNews Take: Brad needs to read viewpoints other than publicity-hungy Greenpeace’s self-serving press releases. The EPA does not support Greenpeace’s PR-driven charges against Apple Computer. Information on Apple’s recycling programs and industry-leading environmental policies is available online (http://www.apple.com/environment). And, to what “closed network” exactly is King referring, TCP/IP?
King continues, “The decision to move in this direction would make sense, particularly on the heels of the decision to change the company’s name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc., a symbolic gesture that signals its decision to move away from personal computing and into the consumer-electronics and digital-entertainment space.”
MacDailyNews Take: King’s BS is seemingly never-ending. Apple rightly changed their name to reflect growth in the breadth of their product portfolio, not the elimination or subjugation of personal computing. King’s anti-Apple agenda is transparent throughout his article. See also: Writer: I’ve never used an iPod or iTunes, but I think people who do are dupes – Brad King, January 04, 2006
King continues, “Jobs has the ear of the entertainment industry in a way that Microsoft, RealNetworks, and scads of other companies never have. If he builds it, those companies will follow. If he builds it.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, look, King got something right in the first part. Too bad he reverts to wrongheadedness once again by failing to understand that the music cartels must first deign to let Jobs build the DRM-free future that he described yesterday.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Contact info: http://www.technologyreview.com/cust/feedback.aspx
Related articles:
Apple’s Jobs jolts music industry; Zune exec calls Jobs’ call for DRM-free music ‘irresponsible’ – February 07, 2007
Dvorak: Apple CEO Steve Jobs is dead right about DRM – February 07, 2007
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ posts rare open letter: ‘Thoughts on Music’ – calls for DRM-free music – February 06, 2007
How do you get to be Technology Review editor w/o knowing anything at all about technology?
One can, and does.
The other can’t, and writes.
..And that is the difference between King and someone like Jobs.
Having got it wrong over the BBC, MDN now tries to find real FUD to keep the hate flowing… Well done MDN.
p.s. MDN how about you shed your cloak and tell us all who you are? There is something very shifty about this site and the way it is run. You constantly criticise the lack of information or openess and yet you hide. Who are you?
Brad King…
FISHING…. FOR…. HITS.
“How do you get to be Technology Review editor w/o knowing anything at all about technology.”
It’s a tech industry secret. It’s called the Ballmer rule. First, pick your college roommate VERY carefully . . .
Well who the hell are you, John?
I mean, John, you could be anyone.
How about a link to your MySpace or something, John?
Must be fun being all anonymous and powerful, John.
Why do you hide, John?
-c