I think its potentially the most useful thing Steve Jobs has ever said. Id be interested whether he's always felt this way, and just felt he had to go along with the record companies in the past. The timing fascinates me, why now? Does he know something we dont, is there some historic opportunity for progress on this front? Or is the timing more to do with Apple getting stung in several courts in EU countries, with demands being placed on Apple to make their stuff interoperable?
DRM certainly seems to be increasingly frowned upon and a dirty word, helped byt he Sony debacle, these Apple court rulings, and much negative press about Vista's DRM for high-def stuff. Now we get to find out just how much of the rhetoric of our system of 'free markets and consumer choice' is hot air, and what balance they place between that and protecting content. Multiple formatss is what has brought this issue to a head in the eyes of the average consumer - copy protection is nothing new but it didnt matter so much with DVD because there was one protection standard for all dvds. But with mp3's and films available via the net, and the explosion of competing hardware devices, the issue comes to a head. Personally I find it hard to imagine that many companies will just give up on DRM in the near future, but theres lots I dont know and I suppose its not impossible. The ball just needs to start rolling, will any labels heed Jobs plea? Cheers Steve Elbows --- In [email protected], "Joshua Kinberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This is more related to the digital music industry, but I think its > important nonetheless: > <http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/> > > Very interesting that Steve Jobs, whose company has probably benefited > most from DRM, is now taking an anti-DRM stance. > > -Josh >
