Edward Felten, with the definitive post on the below-discussed fracas over Real reverse-engineering for compatibility with Apple's iPod:
Pay attention now, 'cause this story gets kinda complicated.See, Apple had this product called iPod that lets you listen to music. That sounds like a good idea. But Apple thought it would be better if the iPod could do less. So their engineers pulled a bunch of all-nighters to make sure that the iPod couldn't play just any music a customer might have laying around. They called this DRM. I think that stands for Don't Replay Music.
Now Apple had a competitor called Real. And Real was unhappy that Apple had made its product less useful. So Real's engineers pulled a bunch of all-nighters, so that they could make Apple's product better. They could've spent that time making their own product better, but that would have been a waste after all of the time they had already spent making their own product worse by making it do DRM too.
You still with me? Good.
Okay, so Apple was mighty ticked off that Real had made Apple's product better, without even getting permission or anything. So Apple cried foul. Apple was shocked 'n' saddened that Real was trying to improve Apple's product, like those hacker guys are always doing. So Apple drew a line in the sand, and swore to make its own product worse again.
I don't know about you, but I find this all very confusing. I guess I just don't have a head for business.
Category: IP Abuse
I think a letter written by a reader of MacismumPerspective.com says it best...
“Real created its own platform around Rhapsody, Helix, and the Samsung player, and it sucked so now they are trying to move in on other platforms. Microsoft and its partners created its own platform around several stores, WMA, and hundreds of players, and it sucked. Sony is trying to create its own platform around Connect, ATRAC, and its Walkman/other players, and it’s sucky so far.
“Apple is saying to its competitors: If you can create a platform (it can be a mix-and-match platform, if you want) and experience that people want more, all the power and congrats to you. May the best platform win. Just don’t come messing around with the Apple iPod or Mac experience.
“It may be true that flexibility (song store choices) trumps end-to-end quality experience, as it seems to have in the Mac/Windows market. But Apple believes quality should win out, and even if it doesn’t, Apple is in the high-quality experience business (like BMW) and if a small market share is all they get, then so be it (5 percent share with high quality is better to Apple than 60 percent share with cheap stuff). Those who want more flexibility can choose WMA or Helix/Harmony/WMA. But don’t force Apple to mess up the only choice for those who want a high quality end-to-end experience.”
And, as for the new Sony Walkman mp3 player that people are talking about, you and your readers should now that their mp3 files are created at 48kbs whereas, iTunes mp3s are created at 128kbs. Making the quality far greater. Yes, you can store more with the Sony, but the sound quality is poor. So, again, Apple and its quality will win/is winning out.
If you want to make ho-hum comments abot the situation, Donna, perhaps taking the time to learn and understand the big picture may make for more educated conversation. And no, you apparently do not have a head for business.
Enjoy your sub-par players. We mac fans are enjoying our iPods and the "Oh my! This is really great!" realization is spreading fast.
Tracked on July 29, 2004 03:05 PM