It was only a matter of time. I wonder how this will pan out. Will Apple further lock down its store, or will Palm pay a licensing fee for the use of Apple's technology?
Or will Palm sue Apple claiming an illegal monopoly and/or unfairly locking them out of iTunes?
Of course Apple could probably find some DMCA charge to bring against Palm for circumventing their non-Apple device lockout.
It all comes down to Palm drinking Apple's milkshake.
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Something has to give. Apple has established a practical digital music distribution monopoly with an inferior product sold with slick marketing. Now they are leveraging their market position to limit your choices as a consumer on how you enjoy music purchased through their store.
Zune pass is a much better deal, the UI is better, the DRM free store is better. Ten downloads plus all you can eat for $14.99 is a stupid good deal compared to paying $1.29 per itune.
Well, the hardware can be considered inferior in terms of poor codec support, no radio tuner; if those things were important to you, you wouldn't be buying an iPod anyway, though.
Guys, we have been over this. The zune pass includes ten songs to keep permanently each month, since they are DRM free, thats $13 in itunes value, so for $2 extra a month, rent all you want. It is a great deal. The Zune store has always supported DRM free music as well. Itunes is finally getting around to it, and hey, you have re download your collection DRM free for an extra cost, thats a great deal!!! Pay to un bork the files you already paid to own!!!
If you think itunes offers a better value than Zune pass, then you my friend are a victim of Apples snazzy marketing, and I feel sorry for ya.
You know I hate to disagree with you, Cliff (lul), but the math doesn't work for you. For $15 a month in both services, after a year of putting it into iTunes, I have 180 songs; after a year into a ZunePass, I have 120 songs. After 5 years, that's a 300-song gap.
Economics says the ZunePass isn't better than iTunes+(Pandora, or Grooveshark, or LaLa, or myriad other free alternatives).
But what you aren't accounting for is the ability to have anything in the zune library on your zune. Which gives you the time to decide if you really want to spend your ten credits on a song or album.
The two business models are different and people will decide which one works best for them. Obviously the different models appeal to different people because not everyone is exclusively using one or the other.
Apple got into the market first, which allowed them to establish themselves. But lately, Microsoft has been doing a tremendous job both in hardware and software design and I look for them to give apple a run for their money. And now that DRM is beginning to disappear people will be able to make these choices once again as their collections will truly be portable.
Me personally, I'm waiting for the ZuneHD. I wouldn't mind having an ipod, I like the interface, but they refuse to play wma.
I think you're all wrong. The superior platform is Napster! $5/mo., 5 free downloads per month (billed every 3 months, free downloads reset every 3 months) and unlimited streaming. Plus they give you a discount if you buy a full CD as opposed to purchasing tracks a la carte. For instance, I bought 21st Century Breakdown, an 18 track album, and it only used 12 of my free track credits. For those of you that like the "rental" model, they have a to-go service as well that's more expensive but lets you load up your player with as much content as you want.
That's what I subscribe to is napster to go which is essentially the zune pass without the download credits per month that the zune pass has. But I'm ok with that because I use napster for other reasons.
Thrax
🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
Comments
Of course Apple could probably find some DMCA charge to bring against Palm for circumventing their non-Apple device lockout.
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When will consumers wake up?
Inferior to what, exactly?
And UI is just opinion.
rented music...lol, that's a funny concept
Although the DMCA almost makes it seem like renting sometimes....
If you think itunes offers a better value than Zune pass, then you my friend are a victim of Apples snazzy marketing, and I feel sorry for ya.
Economics says the ZunePass isn't better than iTunes+(Pandora, or Grooveshark, or LaLa, or myriad other free alternatives).
The two business models are different and people will decide which one works best for them. Obviously the different models appeal to different people because not everyone is exclusively using one or the other.
Apple got into the market first, which allowed them to establish themselves. But lately, Microsoft has been doing a tremendous job both in hardware and software design and I look for them to give apple a run for their money. And now that DRM is beginning to disappear people will be able to make these choices once again as their collections will truly be portable.
Me personally, I'm waiting for the ZuneHD. I wouldn't mind having an ipod, I like the interface, but they refuse to play wma.