Ever since my post this morning about Amazon and its DRM free music downloads I've been doing a lot of thinking.. The conclusion I've come to is itunes sucks. Apple isn't doing us a favor generally. I really truly love the Apple company, I think they've done an amazing job from the business perspective, but personally I think they're ruining us. My roommate last year, Mary would always say Starbucks ruined local coffee shops, in the same way I think itunes has ruined music. Mary would ask, "When you think of a coffee shop, what do you think of? Starbucks. That's wrong." similarly, when you think of a MP3 player, what do you think of? Ipod. So everyone has an ipod and wants to be seen strutting around town with those famous white ear bud cords streaming from their ears, but is it truly a superior product? Itunes has changed the way we download music but the copyright limitations are horrible! Again, I understand that the music company is struggling to regain their financial grasp on the sales of music files, but the industry has to change. I have become too comfortable with not paying for my music, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Everyone loves itunes/ipod because it's so easy to use, but that can't be the only driving force in our music player selection. What made me post this rant was
this article about how the iTV has been a flop but this one quote in particularly really stirred my blood:
But its biggest problem is that it's a locked-down device shackled to a third-rate media service, kind of like the iPhone, which is tied to AT&T.
He's right, the iTV was a third-rate media service like the iPhone and I can't help but say the same about the iPod. Though their iTv movie/tv selection is a lot worse than the music selection in the itunes store, it's not
the best by any means. There are many obscure artists that can't get in the itunes store; has apple become our musical gatekeeper? Why are we allowing apple to dictate what we listen to? Also, some of the best CDs I've downloaded are compilations that itunes doesn't offer. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but Apple, I'm not very happy with you right now. My love is not unconditional, you're going to have to work harder!
1 comment:
I agree, though im not sure that is that difficult to get onto iTunes if you are an emerging/obscure artist (I know this, as my sis-in-law recently got her music on there). However, I think you make a valid point that Apple acts as a technology gatekeeper that has turned into a gatekeeper for things social as well. Think about how their products are made just in themselves. If you are pretty well versed in technology, it is almost impossible for you to fix an Apple product if it is sucking up. I cant even count the number of times my iPod has just not turned on, despite my following all of the instructions to turn it on if you are having trouble. But I'll wait a day or 2, as I have learned, and alas it will come back to life. Do you know how hard it is to not be able to fix the problem myslef? But Apple caters to people who just want a simple product, so I am stuck with a pretty interface, but nothing behind it all to work with as somewhat of a power-user. And I am not even THAT technologically-oriented. I just have learned how to fix issues like this myslef, as it becomes intuitive what the problem might be and how to solve it.
Think about how easy it is to replace something on a PC if you need to, but you have to take a Mac to a Geek to have something replaced or fixed, which will then cost you a buttload.
Now my music social life is restrained my Apple as well. You know, my white iPod earphones were ruined by chocolate that melted in my bag and into the actual erplugs. Instead of paying heaps for a new iPod specific pair, I am using my dad's similar, but grey earplugs. It's somewhat embarassing, and it makes me mad that it is. A status symbol, indeed, the iPod has become. Same with the iPhone.
Maybe when 4G becomes the standard, we can have a device which has music (from any source), cell phone capabilities, PDA use, email, television, movies, personal identification, credit card info, and is secure. And then I'll show you a happy customer.
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