arstechnica.com — Apple is again the target of criticism for its closed music-hardware ecosystem in Europe. This time, it's the EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection weighing in on the topic. Article also has a good run-down of recent shenanigans between the EU and Apple.
Mar 11, 2007 View in Crawl 4
psychoaceMar 12, 2007
I can transfer my files on to my Creative Zen with Winamp and Windows Media Player and MusicMatch and Napster and Rhapsody and.....you get the picture. I need Itunes to put music on my ipod or a freeware program that is lighter yes but only serves 1 purpose while the programs can handle many devices.
orp2000Mar 12, 2007
Perfect analogy. Apple should use that...uh, except maybe leave that whole "WTF" thing off at the end.
geekeeMar 13, 2007
@morganmSo you agree MS should get all their lawsuit money back, and be allowed to make any deal they want with OEM's then, right?
nogamiMar 13, 2007
"Apple certainly isn't blameless here and they play their own games as well, but to say that Apple owns aac is incorrect."Actually, I didn't say anything about Apple owning AAC, I just said that tracks purchased from ITMS in AAC format won't play on any non-apple software or hardware.
icezzMar 13, 2007
@geekee: you ignored what I was replying to. A lot of people seem to think monopolies are illegal by themselves. I'm not talking about any particular company.
exidyMar 13, 2007
The EU elects to mandate change ???!!!! (at least they have an active legislative body)Problem is that the EU citizens seem to electing to purchase the iPod (their own free choice) and some actually purchase DRM songs from iTunes (again, their own free choice).Now Apple needs to make a choice ... my vote is for Apple to pull the iPod/iTunes out of the EU, if they continue with the deadline ultimatum approach.
jbondMar 13, 2007
I have no objection to Apple (or Microsoft or anyone else) using technology to lock in their customers. Or finding innovative ways to make money. However, I do feel that there should be truth in advertising and some prominent warnings when they do this. The problem here is not that tunes bought on iTMS only play on iPods, it's that customers don't necessarily understand this until too late.And having said that, Just Say No To DRM. It's killing music and it's a ripoff.
macparrotMar 13, 2007
@geekeeOK, let me know when devices that use Plays4Sure are supported on the Mac. OK, how about Plays4Sure music stores on the Mac? Or the Zune and the Zune Marketplace? Do any of those files just work on the Mac? I mean it's just data right? It's not complex code written for specific piece of hardware.
brainxsMay 16, 2007
Sounds interesting... Who's able to open the link?