WMA support in iPod soon

[damson34]

This is off Paul Thurrotts website :


Exclusive: HP Working to Get WMA on iPod
__ HP's blockbuster deal with Apple will have one exciting side effect, I discovered today. The company will be working with Apple to add support for Microsoft's superior Windows Media Audio (WMA) format to the iPod by mid-year. You heard it here first.

[ShadowHunter]

Originally posted by damson34
This is off Paul Thurrotts website :


Exclusive: HP Working to Get WMA on iPod
__ HP's blockbuster deal with Apple will have one exciting side effect, I discovered today. The company will be working with Apple to add support for Microsoft's superior Windows Media Audio (WMA) format to the iPod by mid-year. You heard it here first.

"superior"?

:mad: :mad: That's bull$h!t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Macpoops]

I don't want no damn microsoft junk poluting my iPod. MP3s, M4As and M4Ps are enough for me

[mms]

I really doubt that Apple would do that. Also, note that Paul Thurrott is not known for his credibility.

There has been a whole discussion of this article at http://www.macdailynews.com/comments.php?id=P2533_0_1_0 .

[CrackedButter]

2 words: Hope Not.

[Omad0n]

As many people have pointer out, this would be a terrible move for the Ipod and more importantly the iTunes music store. Plus where does this guy get off thinking WMA is superior to ACC?

[kidA]

first of all, thurrott is an idiot.
second, he must have mistyped. wma is inferior, not surerior, to AAC. wma is better at 64 kbps 9who encodes music at that bitrate anyway?), but there is a reason that the napster music store's downloads are 160 kbps wma files instead of 128 kbps, the bitrate of the AACs from the iTMS. wma is no better at high bitrates than old school mp3.
i don't think it would be a bad thing for the iPod to simply be able to play wma, the iTMS doesn't have to have anything to do with it, but it wouldn't hurt the iPod or iTunes at all.

[mms]

If Apple really wanted to do something about WMA, the smartest move would be to include an easy to use WMA to AAC or MP3 converter in iTunes. That would let people with existing WMA music collections use the iPod and it would hurt the competing format.

[Horrortaxi]

Originally posted by CrackedButter
2 words: Hope Not.

Two more: Me too!

[nuckinfutz]

Foks this is bunk. Thurrot is definitely and idiot regarding Macs. Apple is not going to add WMA to the iPod.

It simply wouldn't make sense because then PC users would demand this WMA support on their ipods as wel.

Let's look at this logically.


iTunes contains the Music Store.

This app does not support WMA.
This app will the the default app shipping on HP's.

Why would they go with WMA? Thurrot's a shill.

[Macpoops]

Another case of a PC users treating a microsoft product as a standard format. DEATH TO WINDOWS MEDIA

[ChrisH3677]

my understanding is that the formats that iPod supports are the ones the music industry supports.

So I don't think iPod will support WMA until the music industry backs it. and that will happen when?

[Macpoops]

Well considering there are music services that offer legal WMV downloads. i don't think that is an issue

[patrick0brien]

-All

Apple will only enable WMA support if WMA is standardized by the MPEG.

Not before.

Then the format will not be controlled by a single, for-profit, entity like MS.

And before any apologists start getting their hackles up, AAC is a standard - actually m4p if you really want to get down to it. It's the FreePlay DRM that is Apple's, and only then that there isn't a standardized DRM structure yet.

[mmmdreg]

Originally posted by kidA

second, he must have mistyped. wma is inferior, not surerior, to AAC.

Lol how ironic. Look at your spelling ;)

[Counterfit]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
It's the FreePlay DRM that is Apple's, and only then that there isn't a standardized DRM structure yet. I thought Apple licensed FreePlay from some other company?