Link: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/magazines/fortune/fortune_fastforward_...This article describes why I'm personally not excited about the iPhone, despite how awesome it sounds. While the iPhone may be the phone of the future, to the degree that it is a music player, it is based on the ideas of the past.Rhapsody, not iTunes, in my opinion, is the future of music.RealNetworks is way ahead of Apple in navigating the complexities of licensing and software for a streaming music service. Maybe the two companies will somehow get together. Until they do, or Apple otherwise gets the music subscription religion, the iPhone won't be what it should be.Also, an interesting NY Times article that pretty much slams all copy-protection. Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffsIN the long view, Mr. Goldberg said he believes that today’s copy-protection battles will prove short-lived. Eventually, perhaps in 5 or 10 years, he predicts, all portable players will have wireless broadband capability and will provide direct access, anytime, anywhere, to every song ever released for a low monthly subscription fee.
It’s a prediction that has a high probability of realization because such a system is already found in South Korea, where three million subscribers enjoy direct, wireless access to a virtually limitless music catalog for only $5 a month.
 | If copy-protection is worth slamming, then he's slamming Rhapsody too.
The iPhone, just like all of Apple's iPods, will play MP3s if that's your stance. |
 | sambu wrote on Jan 17, '07 Give me an iPod with bluetooth and I'm happy. I still need a central PC to organize everything. Much like I don't understand a minature computer for its screen size, I will still want a big monitor to do my organizing. I just don't like that stupid proprietary USB connector you need for the iPod.
As I understand it, the iPhone will be release on GSM standard so the data transfer will be painfully slow (like 14.4). As good as the reviews are on the interface (touch screen all the way), it still doesn't do any good at 14.4. If that is wrong and it truly is GPRS at nearly 56.6k it is still pretty slow. Imagine taking your PC and going from DSL/Cable back to dial-up. how long before they get to Edge or 3G? Then maybe you have a compelling solution. The early adopters are doing it for the cool factor and to limit the number of devices they carry. It certainly isn't because it is an iPod with a built-in subscription service. |
| Boo... it's got Bluetooth 2.0, EDGE *and* WiFi (although "only" 802.11b/g). |
 |  If copy-protection is worth slamming, then he's slamming Rhapsody too.
The iPhone, just like all of Apple's iPods, will play MP3s if that's your stance.  The iHandcuffs refer to the fact that you can only play music bought at iTunes on iPods and you likewise can't play music bought *anywhere* other than iTunes on an iPod (excluding ripped CDs).
Unlike Apple, Microsoft has been willing to license its copy-protection software to third-party hardware vendors. But copy protection is copy protection: a headache only for the law-abiding.
But yes, he does criticise Windows copy-protection as well as Apple's.
Microsoft used to promote its PlaysForSure copy-protection standard, but there must have been some difficulty with the “for sure” because the company has dropped it in favor of an entirely new copy-protection standard for its new Zune player, which, incidentally, is incompatible with the old one. Pity the overly trusting customers who invested earlier in music collections before the Zune arrived.
This argument...one's library becoming obsolete...is a point you had recently brought up to me..."Bill Gates would buy CDs." It wasn't so much an Apple vs. Windows (or Rhapsody) argument as much as that the future is more going to be about unlimited selection, playability, and accessibility for low flat fee and not about about the 50 or 100 year-old model of buying albums or songs.
While there are certainly issues to be overcome, like playlist compatibility between services (to facilitate switching services, sharing, and to insure against your provider going out of business), the "subscription model" is the future. |
| Apparently Boo, Time recognized that this was an issue for you :). (see last word in quote). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1576854-1,00.htmlI do have nitpicks. You can't download songs onto iPhone directly from the iTunes store; you have to export them from a computer. And even though it has wi-fi and Bluetooth on it, you can't sync iPhone with a computer wirelessly. [snip] Boo.The article/review is worth reading if you're an Apple fan. It'll make you salivate for the device and goes into detail on some of the features and design decisions. |
| Ooops I didn't read the rest of your reply because I wanted to reply to the iHandcuffs part... so the author is saying some of the same things I've said in my reply.
In the long run you may be right about subscription vs. buying, but right now I still definitely think the Apple solution is the best one on the market -- at least for me. |
| sambu wrote on Jan 18, '07 Boo... it's got Bluetooth 2.0, EDGE *and* WiFi (although "only" 802.11b/g). Cool, I've been buried in preparing our financial statements and MD&A. But the day of the announcement, I could swear I read an article that said it was only GSM and not EDGE. I guess I mis-remember (easy) or the writer had it wrong (easy). So why doesn't the standard iPod have WLAN and Bluetooth? Or do they by now? My iPod is easily 2yrs old, and I couldn't tell you which series it is.
The biggest thing that hit Nokia on their N-series MP3 player was the lack of direct subscription service. The phone was easily 1yr late as they tried to get the software/service, and then just released it without it. It stunk because by the time it went out, it was a 4GB microdrive and there were already flash players at that level AND it didn't have direct subscription service. |
| sambu wrote on Jan 18, '07 And I'm not an Apple fan. I like my iPod, but it has serious flaws that need to be corrected (ie wireless interface to the PC). Why has this taken so long?
But Apple does correct things over time. The iPod initially was only syncable with a Mac (TI supplied that interface controller). |
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