Comments on: Apple versus Apple

I think Apple should buy Apple -- or vice versa.

That would be anniversary news, wouldn't it?

- Michael

-- ____________________________________________________________________ michael at mueller-hillebrand dot de

It's easy to forget that when the iTunes Music Store first launched,
the advertisements and billboards all said http://applemusic.com/,
which pointed to http://www.apple.com/itunes.

The original URL was quickly replaced with http://itunes.com, which
is used to this day.

The applemusic.com domain is still owned by Apple Computer, but the
URL is dead.
http://www.whois.net/whois.cgi2?d=applemusic.com

--
Andrew Laurence atlaurenes.nacs.uci.edu
Network & Academic Computing Svcs. http://www.nacs.uci.edu/~atlauren/
UC Irvine

On Mar 28, 2006, at 8:56 AM, Tony Meyer wrote:
>> As most people know, the iTunes Music Store doesn't sell physical
>> media: it sells digital tracks which customers download and play on
>> their computers, an iPod, or (with some determination) other music
>> devices.
>
> I suppose this is a reason for the special-edition iPods (e.g. U2,
> Harry Potter) coming with vouchers for iTMS content rather than
> preloaded with the content, since if they were, then the iPod itself
> would have been "physical media delivering pre-recorded content" (and
> the iPod is a bit more profitable than the iTMS).

No, if it's pre-loaded, how do you get it back to your computer?
You'd have to pre-load it twice - once in normal mode, the second in
disk mode - and the users would have to grok the whole process of
getting the iPod up and running and getting the tracks into their
libraries.


Kirk
              Author of: How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Tiger
                      http://www.mcelhearn.com/htde.html
                - - - - - -
              Read my blog: Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
           Musings, Opinion and Miscellanea, on Macs, iPods and more

> No, if it's pre-loaded, how do you get it back to your computer?

Apple would provide a method for doing so, obviously. Some sort of
first-time-connect process where a factory-fresh iPod reverse-syncs
the content to iTunes. There's certainly no technology barrier, and
Apple have a pretty good record of making processes easy. Just
because there isn't a process now doesn't mean there can't be one.

=Tony.Meyer

At 10:56 PM -0800 3/27/06, Tony Meyer wrote:
> suppose this is a reason for the special-edition iPods (e.g. U2,
>Harry Potter) coming with vouchers for iTMS content rather than
>preloaded with the content, since if they were, then the iPod itself
>would have been "physical media delivering pre-recorded content"

I've heard from reasonably well-placed sources that was the case with
the U2 Edition iPod, but can't confirm it through official channels.

One amusing anecdote: when Apple introduced the original iPod, the
units they gave away at the event were pre-loaded with music,
including some Beatles tracks.

>Perhaps when this edition of the dispute gets resolved, there will be
>an agreement that allows this sort of distribution, and you'll be
>able to purchase pre-loaded iPods from Apple Stores (with a discount
>for some sort of bulk purchasing of iTMS content).

I'm not an iPod user (horrors!), but I think there are some technical
issues there. For instance, would users be able to easily get
pre-loaded music from the iPod onto their computer without
authorization/key issues?

More importantly, I'm not sure Apple would be interested in that
business. I gather there are businesses out there who will load your
iPod for you: prove you own the appropriate CDs somehow, or give them
a list of what you want and they buy it at iTMS. I know people who
have comparatively little music on their high-capacity iPods because
they don't have the patience to rip material from CDs, and (after
spending hundreds on an iPod) don't want to re-purchase music they
already own from iTMS.

gd
--
Geoff Duncan TidBITS Technical Editor <http://www.tidbits.com/>

On Mar 30, 2006, at 7:15 PM, Tony Meyer wrote:

>> No, if it's pre-loaded, how do you get it back to your computer?
>
> Apple would provide a method for doing so, obviously. Some sort of
> first-time-connect process where a factory-fresh iPod reverse-syncs
> the content to iTunes. There's certainly no technology barrier, and
> Apple have a pretty good record of making processes easy. Just
> because there isn't a process now doesn't mean there can't be one.

It would still be a problem. The iPod has to be formatted when you
connect it.


Kirk
                    Co-author of: Podcasting Pocket Guide
                      http://www.mcelhearn.com/ppg.html
                - - - - - -
              Read my blog: Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
           Musings, Opinion and Miscellanea, on Macs, iPods and more

On Mar 30, 2006, at 7:16 PM, Geoff Duncan wrote:

>> suppose this is a reason for the special-edition iPods (e.g. U2,
>> Harry Potter) coming with vouchers for iTMS content rather than
>> preloaded with the content, since if they were, then the iPod itself
>> would have been "physical media delivering pre-recorded content"
>
> I've heard from reasonably well-placed sources that was the case with
> the U2 Edition iPod, but can't confirm it through official channels.

Huh? It was just a discount voucher, not a voucher for all the music
for free. There was no music on it.
>
>> Perhaps when this edition of the dispute gets resolved, there will be
>> an agreement that allows this sort of distribution, and you'll be
>> able to purchase pre-loaded iPods from Apple Stores (with a discount
>> for some sort of bulk purchasing of iTMS content).
>
> I'm not an iPod user (horrors!), but I think there are some technical
> issues there. For instance, would users be able to easily get
> pre-loaded music from the iPod onto their computer without
> authorization/key issues?

And the fact that the iPod has to be formatted....


Kirk
              Author of: How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Tiger
                      http://www.mcelhearn.com/htde.html
                - - - - - -
              Read my blog: Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
           Musings, Opinion and Miscellanea, on Macs, iPods and more

On 31/3/2006 4:13 PM, "Kirk McElhearn" <kirklistswanadoo.fr> spake thus:

> And the fact that the iPod has to be formatted....

So make them all Windows-formatted volumes initially. Both Macs and Windows
machines can read them. After you copy everything off, reformat if
necessary.

--
Nigel Stanger, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND.
http://xri.net/=nigel.stanger

1. When my Cube arrived, with iTunes, there was music on it. Does Apple still ship iTunes with music?

2. The name switch from Apple Music Store to iTunes Music Store was interesting. Although it certainly seems logical (and likely true) that there is a connection between the name change and the lawsuit, there may also be less consumer confusion with the current name.

On Apr 4, 2006, at 8:51 PM, Chris Ruebeck wrote:

> 1. When my Cube arrived, with iTunes, there was music on it. Does
> Apple still ship iTunes with music?
>
> 2. The name switch from Apple Music Store to iTunes Music Store was
> interesting. Although it certainly seems logical (and likely true)
> that there is a connection between the name change and the lawsuit,
> there may also be less consumer confusion with the current name.

"Apple Music Store" is a very effective identity builder, and one
that solidifies Apple in the mind of consumers as a full featured
entertainment and convergence oriented company, and as more than just
a computer hardware/software company, and links Apple with a major
online retailing destination. Though Apple is not in the music or
entertainment business (at least not yet), it did link the company
with the music business, and now with video, and if rumors become
fact, movies. Apple now has "Hollywood" and "Indie" street cred.

Although I love and have the utmost reverence and respect for the
Beatles and Apple Corps, if I were Steve Jobs (who I have equal
regard for), I'd fight them tooth and nail to keep the greatly
effective Apple Music Store name. And they are retailers, not
creators of music.

Marilyn