Poll: Reaction to Apple's announcements today?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Reaction to Apple's announcements today? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=296)

[Toppa G's]

I can't wait for the Pepsi promotion. Getting free music will be great, since I already drink Pepsi products. Also happy for iTunes for Windows...now my girlfriend can use something that actually makes sense.

[Freg3000]

Although this is meant to be a rhetorical question.....you can answer anyway.

Can you name anything Apple did wrong today?

The only thing I see is the Pepsi thing starting in February, other than that.....

WOW!

[ColoJohnBoy]

I think it's awesome that their doing such a huge expansion of the library! I hope they just keep adding songs - then they can have a one million song library!

Who else think the audio book thing is awesome?!?! I'm reading The Fountainhead for my Modern American Lit class - it'll be nice to just download it a listen to it while I do other homework. Huzzah!

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by Freg3000
Although this is meant to be a rhetorical question.....you can answer anyway.

Can you name anything Apple did wrong today?

The only thing I see is the Pepsi thing starting in February, other than that.....

WOW!

give it time. there's about a hundred people here that find something to bitch about *every*time*. i'm sure the biggest gripe will be no new iPod with color screen, no camera attachment, no WMA support, blah blah.

Did anyone else think it was odd that the beatles were playing before the presentation? inside joke?

:)
pnw

[shecky]

i think at the end of the day its going to be 2 big players: Apple and Napster.

here's hopeing Apple keeps kicking ass.

[johnnowak]

Who ARE these people voting for disappointed anyway?

[bluedalmatian]

my only concern for apples sake was that it doesn't work on Win 98.

According to http://www.doctor-html.com/agent_stats/ a great many consumers - and certainly a lot i know, are still using 98

Surely theres no technical reason why it couldnt easily be made to work on both?

anyway not a major problem

[Nermal]

Originally posted by bluedalmatian
my only concern for apples sake was that it doesn't work on Win 98.

According to http://www.doctor-html.com/agent_stats/ a great many consumers - and certainly a lot i know, are still using 98

Surely theres no technical reason why it couldnt easily be made to work on both?

anyway not a major problem

It's probably got something to do with FairPlay, which might not work on 98. I would imagine it'd take a fair amount of work to get it functioning properly as it is, and throwing Win 98 into the mix just makes it even more difficult.

[caveman_uk]

Originally posted by johnnowak
Who ARE these people voting for disappointed anyway?
One was me. Apart for a few bits to bolt on to an ipod there was absolutely nothing in it for me. Sorry if I don't share your enthusiasm. When we get iTMS for Europe then, THEN, I'll get excited. Until then I'll continue to be the grumbly one in the corner...

[Wuddel]

Originally posted by johnnowak
Who ARE these people voting for disappointed anyway?

European Mac-users, like me, waiting for "iTMS for Europe" of course.

[johnnowak]

... Oh. :-)

[caveman_uk]

...and we're not going to stop whinging about it until we get it either. It may be copyrights, it may be Apple being slow. But what ever it is if Apple can write a WHOLE BRAND NEW APP for windows users, GIVE AWAY 100 million songs thru Pepsi and sign up AOL then it obviously has plenty of time on it's hands. Can it expend a fraction of that effort making deals with the European copyright holders?

I'm an Apple customer. I buy your stuff. DO YOU HEAR ME STEVE?

[Chealion]

Freg3000 - Yes, I can. No iTMS for Canada, or Europe. I voted good, because in general this is a nice refresh, but we still can't purchase music.

If anyone here wants to complain about WMA support, someone please tell them to go somewhere else. WMA is not a format you want to use.

[filmamigo]

Fantastic news....


but I voted disappointed because I can't give any of my music money to Apple from Canada.....

At least now I have a decent jukebox at work (land of windoze).

:D

[Sailfish]

Blame the labels not Apple.
Blame the Beatles for a stupid lawsuit.
Blame the RIAA.

Don't worry UK someone will sell you a iPod with everything you want on it and you can use Podworks to upload it to your Mac.

Maybe even "rent" you the iPod for your solo upload party ;)

Just a matter of time.

[Garry]

I have a PC laptop, and iTunes for Windows is great. Being able to share my music library is amazing. Two things I'd like to see in a future release though.

1) ID3 tag editing of the files on the Mac, from the PC.

2) Ability to copy files from the remote library from the Mac, to the local library on the PC.

[AmigoMac]

Pepsi, drink different!

I should patent that!:D

[Bunzi2k4]

its good, i only wish that the ipod would have a line in rather than voice recording... but that's alright... i like the new game though :-D

[DeusOmnis]

Apple really is going to own the competition. I hope that we see some NEW and more ACCURATE reviews now. Features lists for iTunes and iTMS.

[DeusOmnis]

Originally posted by Bunzi2k4
its good, i only wish that the ipod would have a line in rather than voice recording... but that's alright... i like the new game though :-D

My MDD G4 has a line in, i dont know what to do with it. I bought a sound card so i could use a mic!

[Lancetx]

Originally posted by caveman_uk
...and we're not going to stop whinging about it until we get it either. It may be copyrights, it may be Apple being slow. But what ever it is if Apple can write a WHOLE BRAND NEW APP for windows users, GIVE AWAY 100 million songs thru Pepsi and sign up AOL then it obviously has plenty of time on it's hands. Can it expend a fraction of that effort making deals with the European copyright holders?

I'm an Apple customer. I buy your stuff. DO YOU HEAR ME STEVE?

Look at Microsoft, they're getting sued right now for offering music downloads in Europe. Apple isn't stupid, they aren't going to get mixed up in all of that until it all gets settled down...so quit blaming Apple for not offering the service in Europe already!

[caveman_uk]

Originally posted by Lancetx
Look at Microsoft, they're getting sued right now for offering music downloads in Europe. Apple isn't stupid, they aren't going to get mixed up in all of that until it all gets settled down...so quit blaming Apple for not offering the service in Europe already!
Even if the patent in question had any merit then Apple could license it. I seriously doubt the patent has had anything to do with their plans.

If it was a Europe-only service you'd be pissed wouldn't you?

[jdhuskey]

Originally posted by caveman_uk
...and we're not going to stop whinging about it until we get it either. It may be copyrights, it may be Apple being slow. But what ever it is if Apple can write a WHOLE BRAND NEW APP for windows users, GIVE AWAY 100 million songs thru Pepsi and sign up AOL then it obviously has plenty of time on it's hands. Can it expend a fraction of that effort making deals with the European copyright holders?

I'm an Apple customer. I buy your stuff. DO YOU HEAR ME STEVE?

Give Steve a break. Check out this article before you continue to blindly blame him for not doing enough:
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/10/14/edata/index.php?redirect=1066315523000

I'd be willing to bet this is the big hold up, not the Beatles' Apple Music. Steve has already shown he has a different interpretation of that agreement. He wouldn't hold up for that, but this "Freeny Patent" on downloading data of any kind to any tangible media at any location that can loosely be named a "kiosk" could be eating Apple's lunch in Europe. It has expired in the US, thus no hold up. You certainly have my sympathy, as I'd like for you to be able to support iTMS, but this is going to be a tough obstacle to get around. He'll figure out some way to make it happen.

I think it's a ridiculously vague and unfair patent. I'd rather he find a way around it over the next 6 months than say screw it and end up in litigation for years. Trust me, the dude wants your money just like he wants mine.

[bryanc]

Originally posted by johnnowak
Who ARE these people voting for disappointed anyway?

I'm disappointed there is still no way I can buy music from the iTMS. However, I voted 'as expected' because this is what I expected.

Cheers

[jdhuskey]

The iTMS wasn't designed to be wildly profitable and was never expected to be. It was designed to help sell iPods. There will probably be a problem opening the iTMS anywhere that Apple is going to have to pay additional licensing to avoid patent infringement just to extend availability of the store.

I just wonder when the patent runs out in the "10 other countries" where it was granted.

[KLFloyd]

I have a Classic 10GB iPod that I bought on clearance after the new 3rd Gens were released. I love my iPod and use it everyday though I'll admit now I'm kinda wishing I had the newer iPod but, I really don't need any of the features so I'll be happy for a year or so. Figure by then there will be even more features.

I think partnering with AOL is HUGE. I hate AOL's service but it has a tremendous number of subscribers and will instantly and easily give that many more people access to the store.

I just hope Apple made a deal for themselves and will end up making some profit off of the AOL store.

BTW, anyone know when the stream will be up on Apple's site?

[punter]

Originally posted by caveman_uk
...I'm an Apple customer. I buy your stuff. DO YOU HEAR ME STEVE?

No caveman, I don't think Steve does hear you. Perhaps you should be yelling somewhere he is more likely to be listening.

BUT! Remember someone tried to sell their itunes downloaded song on ebay? eBay pulled the auction, but Apple said it was technically legal.

So someone could set up a european/worldwide ITMS relay? You choose a song, they download it and send it to you? You pay them whatever fee they decide.

A crap idea from apples point of view, but apple would be spewing if it started before itms europe started.

Oh yeah, on topic, the announcements for me were good, although NONE of them apply to me. No pc, no ipod, not in america, don't drink pepsi, don't like jet, don't use aol, have sony flash card :| but i still think they are very good announcements

edit: spelling :rolleyes:

[true777]

I think that eventually they might have to get the price down to $ .95 to stay number one (though I'm not sure). I don't think they have broken even with the iTMS yet, have they? So lowering the price is probably wishful thinking. But for a mass market including Win users, I think in the end pricing will count a lot (though of course better interface, iPod compatibility & less restrictive ownership rights are all good - but we know how Joe Average typically chooses).

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by bluedalmatian
my only concern for apples sake was that it doesn't work on Win 98.

According to http://www.doctor-html.com/agent_stats/ a great many consumers - and certainly a lot i know, are still using 98

Surely theres no technical reason why it couldnt easily be made to work on both?

anyway not a major problem

It's probably a reason similar to the one that stopped development on Mac OS 9's iTunes--the operating system is no longer supported.

They might even have tried to make it work but it's likely that it stuttered a lot due to poor core timing in DOS.

[wdlove]

Originally posted by KLFloyd
BTW, anyone know when the stream will be up on Apple's site?

I was wondering that also. Would like to be able to see the stream via QuickTime. Could someone post a link?

[scem0]

Wow!

because iTunes rocks. One of the things i missed most about macs when i 'switched' (to PCs)...

scem0

[KAKOsc]

Originally posted by jdhuskey
The iTMS wasn't designed to be wildly profitable and was never expected to be. It was designed to help sell iPods. There will probably be a problem opening the iTMS anywhere that Apple is going to have to pay additional licensing to avoid patent infringement just to extend availability of the store.

I just wonder when the patent runs out in the "10 other countries" where it was granted.

PFFFT
the iTMS wasnt designed for anyone's profits except the ****** record companies. Whats the point in it?
the consumer pays
the record company receives
the consumer feels righteous
the record company's CEOs have heavier pockets
the musician gets left out in the cold

I think the main reason for iTMS not being released in Europe, Canada, Asia, Australasia, etc etc etc is not because of Apple being lazy or whatever, its because America is like the only country in the world that is screwed up enough to target small to medium time music downloaders, and the RIAA wanted some halfway point. So they go to Apple and Napster, tell them to create a product that allows them to get money and allows the consumer to download singular songs.
Now, there could be a massive debate about file sharing, etc. but the fact is that I'm pretty sceptical about Apple setting up iTMS as a simple advertisment for their iPod and Napster setting up a similar serrvice around the same time when Apple release win iTMS.
Only when i see music store put into countries that dont have a very active anti-music downloading squad will i stand corrected. Although.. when i think about it it could work differently: maybe the RIAA works out the countries with the most amount of music 'theft' and tells apple (and napster????) to set up a service in that country. Only time will tell, eh?

[JohnStrass]

Originally posted by true777
I think that eventually they might have to get the price down to $ .95 to stay number one (though I'm not sure). I don't think they have broken even with the iTMS yet, have they? So lowering the price is probably wishful thinking. But for a mass market including Win users, I think in the end pricing will count a lot (though of course better interface, iPod compatibility & less restrictive ownership rights are all good - but we know how Joe Average typically chooses).

$0.99 is pretty damn cheap. For me, iTMS is competing with the CD store; I can't believe retaileers are selling most CDs at $16 each. If I save another 10 cents for songs, then after 100 downloads I've saved a whopping 10 bucks. iTMS is just so convenient, now that I can use it on my fast network connection (PC at work) instead of depending on my lovely Mac at home (dial-up).

now, I can't believe the search function sucks so badly. I looked for AC/DC and only got some crappy tribute band album. Thre needs to be an "advanced search" function. Even if there is one, I cna't find it and most users wont find it either

<EDIT>
one more gripe:
apple touts this as 0.99 per song with Most albums at 9.99.
Cruising throught th bowie section (I already have them), I found "Lets Dance" for $13.99 for 10 songs. If it were a remix with long songs like some progressive album, I could understand, but overpriced for some mediocre 80s pop...
(/EDIT> one more gripe

[sedarby]

I voted "Wow!!!" because now I can use my iPod the way it should have been used all along, with iTunes. I have been using MusicMatch and although it worked for me it was a royal pain to set up. iTunes just worked. Copied my purchased music from my iMac (Rev A, no firewire so no connection to the iPod there), added the folders to the library and pushed it to my iPod. Great job, Steve. I really hope they get the kinks worked out and provide the music store to the world! Buying the song you like rather than the whole CD is fantastic. Comes out to $1.04, exactly what I used to buy 45's for (some of you will remember those bits of plastic with 2 songs, one per side. Anyway, ask your grandparents if you don't!) although then you get the song you like and the one you never listened to usually.

Great move to team up with Pepsi and AOL. Brilliant to get music biz biggies to pitch at the end too. Bono of U2, Dr. Dre, Sarah Mclachlan (I wonder if she knows the iTunes music store is not available in Canada?), etc. I believe the gift certificates will be a welcome addition as well. Nothing says love better than free music!;)

[iAlan]

WOW

All steps, however little, are steps forward.

I really want ITMS here in Japan, well, Apple would probably do it if they could, but there is probably something holding it up somewhere. By the way, you can rent CD's from most video stores here in Japan for the equivalent of a couple of bucks, so a download service is not really attractive.

[caveman_uk]

You can rent CDs here from public libraries... The selection can be a bit dodgy though.

[deejemon]

Originally posted by bluedalmatian
my only concern for apples sake was that it doesn't work on Win 98.

According to http://www.doctor-html.com/agent_stats/ a great many consumers - and certainly a lot i know, are still using 98

Surely theres no technical reason why it couldnt easily be made to work on both?

anyway not a major problem

Windows 98 enters "non-supported" phase from Microsoft in about 3 months. Why would someone create a completely new product for an OS that is not going to be supported in 3 months?

Windows Millenium Edition goes "non-supported" in about 14 months, so it's not got a lot of life left in it. NT 4.0 is already "non-supported".

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

For the CD we produce for our users each year, we're cutting out 98 and NT, and have already cut off 95. For developmental reasons, I can see why Apple would prefer to focus on the NT-based 2000 and XP. NT-based OSes are much more reliable than 9x-based ones, and throwing 9x into the mix makes development more difficult.

[sillycybin]

that mic attachment is a joke. I've been waiting for years (since i got an original 5 gig over two years ago) to get a simple line in to record live music in high quality. The iPod is for music, not for "notes to self" and other crap for people who like to listen to themselves talk. and what a waste of space to record voice notes in wav format. geez. Lets get it together and provide what people need for their supposed "music" player. audible books?? give me a break.
My iPod is the best thing to ever happen to me (dont tell my wife that). Lets make it better. cheesy attachments dont work for me.

[deejemon]

Originally posted by Garry
I have a PC laptop, and iTunes for Windows is great. Being able to share my music library is amazing. Two things I'd like to see in a future release though.

1) ID3 tag editing of the files on the Mac, from the PC.

2) Ability to copy files from the remote library from the Mac, to the local library on the PC.

#2 is not going to happen. Apple plugged up a hole in 4.0.0 for Mac which allowed it to happen. The "Sharing" is to allow you to listen to your library from other computers on your network. Music is streamed (it's a mini QuickTime Streaming Server), not downloaded. Allowing copying would incur the rath of the record labels.

And #1 doesn't make sense if you understand #2.

If you want to work with your iTunes Library in more than one place, use some form of file sharing. A friend of mine organizes his music on his non-Firewire iMac, with the files themselves stored on a large-ish USB drive. To put them on his iPod, he connects the drive to my (Firewire-equipped) PowerMac, we re-direct iTunes to his files (through an alias), and sync them to his iPod. It took quite a while the first time, but then it doesn't take too long for a few changes. He's looking at getting a new PowerBook, but until then, this works okay.

[wdlove]

I'm very excited about Apple offering the Music store to Windows users. Hoping that it will be a great success.