kenjisan

Applesoft?

Last August, RealNetworks opened a music store that sold digital music that could be played on the iPod. They did this by reverse-engineering Apple's digital music format (AAC) and bypassing any persmissions or licenses a company would normally have to secure from Apple (Apple's never given such permissions to any online music stores). It should be noted that Real asked for permission/license and was refused by Apple. They went ahead and did it anyway.

Apple has answered ("Apple fights RealNetworks' 'hacker tactics'" via CNET News.com). Apple simply made a few changes to the iPod's firmware (available in its latest update), making RealNetwork's Harmony digital music incompatible. The revolution died only a few months after it started.

As a life-long Apple user, I'm torn. On the one hand, I'd like to support Apple, its products, and its choices. Still, I can't help but remember the painful early 90s when the company was on the verge of collapse, due in large part to the choices it made.

Yet I'm getting this nagging feeling about this whole issue. Here we have the market leader doing everything that it can to destroy competition and keep its music strictly proprietary. Sound like anyone familiar? Want an iPod? Want to buy music on the internet? It's Apple's Music Store or nothing. This is not a good situation for the consumer. As davextreme talks about in The Music War and File Formats, why should people have to be worried about whether their particular music player can play songs from one format or another? Most people aren't aware of these choices before they make them. Most people just want their digital music player to work, regardless of format or the store they purchased it at.

Additionally, competition breeds innovation. Monopolies rarely create a superior product. Look at Internet Explorer. Look at Microsoft Word. A competing online music store doesn't automatically mean a price-slashing war. (I know, I'm butchering the economics of the situation, but I think I'm roughly correct.) Brands depend on their branding to sell products, not their low-low prices.

I'd like to see an open format that is shared by all players, not some silly format war over a thing that means nothing to the consumer. While I don't really approve of Real's approach, I admire what they were trying to do. Maybe this can serve as a wake-up call to Apple that something needs to change. I don't like the way Apple's beginning to resemble Microsoft. It's making me uneasy.

Could IBM buy Apple?

That's what Cormac O'Reilly speculates in his opinion piece in The Register (Apple of IBM's eye?).

Personally, I'm not so sure how keen IBM is about getting back into the PC market after it had finally extracted itself from it, but you never know. As a mac user, the thought of IBM buying Apple makes me a little weary since so many things could go wrong. Still, I can't help but sit here and ponder all the strange possibilities that such a merger would entail. It's like some kind of machabre fascination has seized me; I should be watching, but I can't help it.