Re: AM I missing the point?
1. I think Apple will, to greater or lesser extent, make this deal more advantageous to .mac customers because even Apple recognizes that the service needs improving to justify the price.
Many have argued that the .mac customer base is too small for Apple to limit the product to them. But look at the flipside--Apple is thoroughly committed to .mac. It is a fee-based component of OS X. The integration will only get tighter, and they want to broaden that customer base. Making the program in some way better for .mac users will bring in more customers. I could easily see Apple integrating the iTunes 4 song-puchasing feature with .mac.
2. Now, to contradict myself, I think that many have correctly assumed that the iPod's success will prompt Apple to pursue other ways to cash in on the portable digital music consumer market. What this does is make buying an iPod all the more compelling. Therefore, either the article is wrong in saying that this product will only be available for Apple users or Apple will test run it with Apple users for the first year or so before expanding it to Windows (just as they did with the iPod itself).
3. Apple is not the only tech company to realize that fee-based, steady-stream products are in many ways more profitable than selling hardware or even software with its annual upgrades. Products like this will keep the hogs at the trough all day long.
4. This is further proof that they intend to utterly dominate the "digital hub" market. This product will work far better than everything else on the market, I have no doubt (Except for the one nagging doubt I have that selection will be limited to the big labels, and perhaps even a select list of titles from said labels?that would be a huge mistake. One of the things that makes Amazon, Ebay, and other Internet shopping experiences so great is that you can literally find anything and everything ever published, sold, made, etc. The same needs to be true for the digital music market.)
1. I think Apple will, to greater or lesser extent, make this deal more advantageous to .mac customers because even Apple recognizes that the service needs improving to justify the price.
Many have argued that the .mac customer base is too small for Apple to limit the product to them. But look at the flipside--Apple is thoroughly committed to .mac. It is a fee-based component of OS X. The integration will only get tighter, and they want to broaden that customer base. Making the program in some way better for .mac users will bring in more customers. I could easily see Apple integrating the iTunes 4 song-puchasing feature with .mac.
2. Now, to contradict myself, I think that many have correctly assumed that the iPod's success will prompt Apple to pursue other ways to cash in on the portable digital music consumer market. What this does is make buying an iPod all the more compelling. Therefore, either the article is wrong in saying that this product will only be available for Apple users or Apple will test run it with Apple users for the first year or so before expanding it to Windows (just as they did with the iPod itself).
3. Apple is not the only tech company to realize that fee-based, steady-stream products are in many ways more profitable than selling hardware or even software with its annual upgrades. Products like this will keep the hogs at the trough all day long.
4. This is further proof that they intend to utterly dominate the "digital hub" market. This product will work far better than everything else on the market, I have no doubt (Except for the one nagging doubt I have that selection will be limited to the big labels, and perhaps even a select list of titles from said labels?that would be a huge mistake. One of the things that makes Amazon, Ebay, and other Internet shopping experiences so great is that you can literally find anything and everything ever published, sold, made, etc. The same needs to be true for the digital music market.)
