Interesting People mailing list archives
more on The so-called Apple music monopoly
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 08:27:41 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: David Pakman <david () dimensionalassociates com> Date: May 23, 2006 7:43:58 AM EDT To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com Subject: RE: [IP] The so-called Apple music monopoly Hi Dave, In response to Ole Jacobsen's comments... The fact that the major record labels, responsible for more than 70% of the US music market, only sell their catalogs digitally in DRM-protected formats rendering them compatible only with certain players is NOT a myth. The legal digital music market is the only iteration of a music format without universal compatibility. This lack of universal compatibility is not only terribly confusing to consumers but unquestionably has slowed the growth of the legitimate digital music market. Ole's comments seem to accept the notion that it is the consumer who must bear the effort to convert music from a CD into a digital format compatible with their iPod, unless they accept that the only source of major label digital music is from Apple. This lack of choice is not only bad for the market, but is silly and helps Apple build a closed and monopolistic ecosystem more than anyone else. David ........................................................................ ...... david pakman / president & ceo managing director, dimensional associates, Inc. david () dimensionalassociates com emusic / Number 1 site for independent music http://www.emusic.com/browse/new.html t (+1) 212.201.9210 / f (+1) 212.201.9202 / m (+1) 917.597.1855 100 park ave / 17th fl / new york / ny / 10017 ........................................................................ ......... -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 2:07 AM To: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: [IP] The so-called Apple music monopoly Begin forwarded message: From: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com> Date: May 22, 2006 8:26:25 PM EDT To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: The so-called Apple music monopoly Reply-To: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com> A lot has been written about how you can "only" buy music for the iPod from Apple's iTunes Music Store, see for example: http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/22/technology/business2_launchpad0522/ index.htm This, and most stories of its kind, completely misses the fact that you can put ANY MP3 file from ANY source on your iPod, and it also misses the fact that you can convert any CD to MP3 using the iTunes (player, not Music Store) software. It is true that Apple has special DRM attached to the files you do buy from their music store (they use a non-MP3 encoding also), but nobody is forcing you to spend money in this way. It is also true that you need iTunes in order to copy the music from your computer to the iPod (third-party hacks nothwithstanding). But iTunes is a free download which runs on both the Mac and the PC. The net is full of (legally) free MP3 files, MP3 files for a fee (such as audio books from audible.com), and of course there are millions of CDs to buy that can be converted and put on your iPod. Why does the press insist on propagating this myth? Ole Ole J. Jacobsen Editor and Publisher, The Internet Protocol Journal Cisco Systems Tel: +1 408-527-8972 GSM: +1 415-370-4628 E-mail: ole () cisco com URL: http://www.cisco.com/ipj ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as david () pakman com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- more on The so-called Apple music monopoly David Farber (May 23)