cliveb;313131 Wrote: > iTunes is precisely such a mechanism. People can buy stuff from ITMS and > it just appears in iTunes. Additionally they can rip their own CDs with > iTunes and the music appears, ready to go. This is precisely the model > that is needed. The problem here though is that (apart from listening > via the computer itself) you're restricted to using Apple hardware to > actually play your music. Unless some enterprising third parties decide > to integrate with iTunes - third parties like Slim Devices, for example.
The main reason that iTunes (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft) will fail to be the dominant player in this emerging field is Apple's (and Microsoft's) insistence on proprietary formats, in the form of DRM. Apple's (and Microsoft's) DRM isn't about protecting the rights of the copyright holder but in protecting it's own hardware and software. The Slim Devices hardware cannot play files with DRM, whether they be from the iTunes Music Store or MSN Music Store, since neither Apple nor Microsoft will release the necessary software hooks to properly decode their DRMed files. DRM free files will very shortly be the only viable means of selling music online. And once everything is DRM free the playing field will be much more level and then Slim Devices will be able to gain the mass market share it so richly deserves. -- ralphpnj Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels -> Snatch -> The Transporter -> Transporter 2 'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ralphpnj's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10827 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=48945 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
