Blogcritics: Comments on iTunes Music Store too late?

Comment by Seb

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 02:59:45 EST

haha. two years on - and oh, how wrong you are!!

Comment by Phillip Winn

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:30:51 EDT

You beat me to it, Michael. This does make me a happy man. Put that in your hash-pipe and smoke it, Eric!

Comment by Michael Croft

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 10:55:41 EDT

Bwa-ha-ha-ha! It looks like iTMS is not neutral on the soda question. "Sources said the unveiling of the pact with PepsiCo Inc. was timed to coincide with today's release of a Windows-compatible version of Apple's iTunes Music Store...consumers who purchase Pepsi beverages would find codes in the packaging that they could redeem online for free downloads from iTunes."

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:46:29 EDT

Woohoo! Steve's going to go! I'm jealous. TDavid, those that have WMA files on their XBoxen aren't going to be running the iTMS for Windows. ;-) Eric, I just can't talk about soda any more. I'm fasting as part of a church thing, and thinking about a vanilla Pepsi is painful. We'll talk Friday. ;-)

Comment by Steve Rhodes

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 15:34:31 EDT

I just got email that I'll be able to cover the Apple event thanks to Philip's tipoff, so I'll post a report tomorrow.

Comment by TDavid

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 14:37:34 EDT

Phillip regarding #1 comment:

People are really using WMA? I've got more than 120GB of MP3s, and though I ripped that last several hundred CDs on Windows, I've never once even thought about using WMA. Do you? Really? Those that have XBox, use WMA all the time ;) You can burn CDs and play them while playing games instead of listening to the often lousy game music. No MP3 XBox option unless one goes for that Linux hack.

Comment by Michael Croft

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 13:07:53 EDT

Not to put details into a religious discussion (I am also a Diet Dr. Pepper fan), but let me try. I'm pretty sure Windows (specifically WinAMP) supported AAC first, via plugins. I think newer versions incorporated it into the base product. This thread on ipodlounge discusses aac and m4a files on Windows. Also, most of the rumor sites are suggesting that pre-release builds of iTunes 5 already support WMA. As long as they'll convert it to AAC, I'll be happy. Biggest pain I've ever had was converting some files out of Windows Media format into MP3 or AAC... I'd be interested in knowing what counts as "success" or "failure" for iTMSW. If it "only" sells twice as many songs per unit time as iTMSM, then are they "failing"? If they get to reuse the infrastructure they've built on the Mac side, then their costs are much lower than their competitors. And if it's a loss leader to sell more iPods, then it can lose money and still be worthwhile for Apple. I'm not willing to say it's a success or failure until it actually comes out, though. Time will tell.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:42:09 EDT

The vile bedevilments of a worm-tongue. Fie!

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:33:23 EDT

Eric - believe it or not, I hadn't seen your comment when I posted mine - I took a long time to type it up. So we both used the phrase "nectar of the gods" spontaneously. Obviously you server false gods. You're probably a stinking Windows user, too. Bah!

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:31:55 EDT

First, the important thing: There is no better drinking experience in the world than to go to a QuikTrip (QT) gas station and mix a dollop of Vanilla with the sweet nectar of the gods - Pepsi. I've got more than a dozen 32 oz cups in my desk drawer, my car, and my kitchen cabinet to attest to the clear superiority of this concoction. Pepsi Vanilla? A pale imitation of The Real Thing, my own hand-made vanilla Pepsi. And coke drinkers can just drink the gas from the pumps. :-P Okay, back to Apple. My understand is that they do actually might turn a profit off the store, though not a large one, obviously. But you're right, their goal is to drive people to iPods and to Macs. I'm reasonably sure they'll sell a lot more iPods when people don't have to use MusicMatch, but I'm skeptical on the push to Macs. Apple's Windows software has generally been, well, not that great. I'm concerned that people will think that the iTunes/Windows experience is indicative of what they might expect from a Mac, when there is no comparison. I say that without even having used iTunes/Win, because there can be no comparison. Not just like Apples and oranges, it's like day and night.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:25:54 EDT

Diet Coke is the nectar of the gods: the final evolution of flavored, carbonated, carmel-colored, caffeinated, non-alcoholic human refreshment. To suggest otherwise is positively Rushdian in its effrontery.

Comment by Ken Edwards

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:15:30 EDT

its more the taste then the amount of sugar in Coke, and Diet Coke is soo nasty. If you want a Diet the only thing that is good is Diet Dr. Pepper. But then I have always been a Dr. Pepper fan. But between Coke and Pepsi its Pepsi for sure. Our college (BGSU) even went with Pepsi over Coke, they obviosly knew what they were talking about :p To get back on subject (OMG!) I don't think that Apple is bringing the iTMS to Windows to sell the music. They don't have a very realistic profit margin for selling music online, no one does. The profit margin comes from the iPod. Apple makes a killing on selling those things! The profit on the iPod is the cash cow that Apple has right now. Of course that is the main reason for iTMS to Windows, to sell more iPods. Myself, I had a 5 GB iPod, and just got a 30 GB one when it came out, because of the "relaunch" of the iPod. that is the idea. Of course the sheer number of PC users buying music casually on the Windows iTMS is sure to be a very large number, I do not think the number of sales on the iTMS will be any where near the numbers, per capita, of the Mac iTMS.

Comment by Tom Johnson

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:07:07 EDT

I got your back, Phil: read my missive against Coke: Cokeland

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 11:54:18 EDT

it's the sugar that rots teeth - Diet Coke all the way.

Comment by Ken Edwards

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 11:52:18 EDT

What? Coke rots your teeth out! Pepsi all the way!

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 11:32:34 EDT

Coca-cola: preferred by bitter people with bitter souls. Do you drink bitter beer, too? Try Newport Brown Ale.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 11:29:10 EDT

Pepsi: preferred by hummingbirds.

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 10:52:25 EDT

Eric - DIE, you scoundrel! You will spend eternity licking the floor underneath the urinal in the "used Pepsi department" of a roadside gas station 89 miles from nowhere in Kentucky for your insolence, and you will thank me for the privilege! <grin>

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 10:32:43 EDT

MD and Phillip, both correct and insightful points. It's also Schadenfreude. But, of course, Phillip has selected the wrong soft drink company is doomed to eternity sipping Diet Cokes.

Comment by Phillip Winn

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 10:23:53 EDT

MD, you're right. To a certain extent I think this is true of any successful entity. People want Microsoft to fail, often for reasons unrelated to any bad thing MS has done. People want American to file. People want Apple to fail. People want Bill Gates to die, and what on earth has he ever done to deserve that? It's more than just punishing success, though. A non-Mac user wants Apple to fail, because the longer Apple succeeds, the more likely it is that the non-Mac user will have to face the fact someday that he or she made the "wrong" choice of computers. At least, I think that's the subconscious reasoning. I use Mac, Windows and Unix, so I don't think it's an either/or, but a lot of people do. It's why I get irked at Coke commercials as a Pepsi drinker. ;-)

Comment by Mac Diva

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 16:53:43 EDT

Maybe it comes from hanging out at ZDNet too much, but sometimes I get the feeling that some people just want Apple to fail. The company bothers them for some reason -- perhaps having more market clout than its size 'justifies.'

Comment by Phillip Winn

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 16:45:57 EDT

So many sources have popped up with this story all at once that I could easily believe it is the result of a marketing push by one of the backers of an inferior offering, like BuyMusic, MusicMatch or Napster 2.0. I mean, all this crap the week of the announcement? It's like the CA recall election all over again! I think some people are crapping their pants and trying to plant story ideas everywhere as casually as they can.

Comment by Steve Rhodes

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 16:34:52 EDT

Wired News also has an article on the is Apple too late to Windows question. I don't think it is too late. I haven't seen evidence any of the other services done as well as the iTunes store even with access to the Windows market. And the Wired News article hints this may be more about selling iPods than making money from selling music for a song: Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson has said that the Windows launch of iTunes would be a Trojan Horse for the company that many say popularized the personal computer, spurring more sales of the iPod players, which have also been popular with Windows users. Dan Niles, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, estimated that Apple sold 303,000 iPod digital music players in the June quarter at an average price of $370, up from 78,000 in the March quarter, fueled by the launch of the company's online music store.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 08:20:56 EDT

Great job, important perspective. Thanks Ken!

Comment by Mac Diva

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 01:11:12 EDT

Ken, it seems to me the ability to convert is what needed. That can be done if one burns ACC files to discs first. I also think iTMS has an advantage in not being a subscription service. I think Windows users will appreciate not paying up unless they actually download music. Nor do I notice Windows iPod buyers being wary of Apple. I was an early member of iPod Lounge, which began as very Mac oriented. The last time I was over there, there seemed to be more Windows than Mac users present. I have also noticed Windows iPod users at Mac Addict and MacWorld forums. The kind of person who is hostile to Apple probably would not buy an iPod anyway.