Cory Doctrow on "Steve Jobs' iTunes dance"
POSTED ON 2/23/2007 | PERMALINK |1 Comments |
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Doctow nails Jobs to the wall on multiple counts:
I'm a lifelong Apple fan boy -- I have an actual Mac tattoo -- but even I remember the dark time of the Performa, when Apple's hardware trailed so far behind the market leaders that buying it was like wearing a hair shirt. I think that it's reasonable to assume that Apple won't always make the world's best music player. I'd like to keep my options open. But the longer you own an iPod, the more likely it is you'll buy more iTunes music, and the fewer options you'll have.and
Then there's the matter of the movies and TV shows sold through the iTunes Store. The first adopter of this marketplace was Disney/Pixar. Jobs is the single largest shareholder in Disney/Pixar. Apparently, he forced himself to add DRM to his Pixar movies, turning a deaf ear to his own impassioned arguments to leave the DRM off. Videos you buy from the iTunes Store can only be watched on Apple's products. So every movie you buy from Apple is a tax down the line of switching from Apple to a competing product.previously on wtg:
- iPod, iTunes & iHandcuffs
- day against drm
- why the beatles won't use itunes, existing record deals or drm
- emusic: free and clear mp3s
- doctrow on google's video drm
1 Comments:
While the author does makes a few valid points, the article is mostly sensational and even misleading at times.
"But the longer you own an iPod, the more likely it is you'll buy more iTunes music, and the fewer options you'll have."
I've had my ipod for close to four years now. I own one iTunes AAC that I won for free from a bottle cap. As a consumer, I am not forced to buy from iTunes, and I am aware of other services/methods where I can get music for my iPod, legally.
"Jobs is the single largest shareholder in Disney/Pixar. Apparently, he forced himself to add DRM to his Pixar movies, turning a deaf ear to his own impassioned arguments to leave the DRM off."
Jobs owns about 7% of Disney. Though that is a significant amount, it is still a long way from being able to call all the shots. And I might add that the DRM was added to Pixar films on iTunes before Jobs recent public announcement in support of music companies dropping DRM.
My note to the author of this article would be: Don't like DRM, don't by DRM media. It really is that simple.
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