I'm also a bit shaky as to wether to finish my Obj-C Cocoa book or not. I might, just for the skills and programming knowledge.
Don't forget, while Mac OS X is probably the biggest user of Objective-C, Objective-C can be used on other OSes.
I'm also a bit shaky as to wether to finish my Obj-C Cocoa book or not. I might, just for the skills and programming knowledge.
Apple:
Give us Daily Deals not just a SINGLE SONG OF THE WEEK
/end story/
Apple is upset people are buying from AmazonMP3
well, if the cheaper tactic didn't work Amazon wouldn't offer it.
exactly, most people don't even know that Amazon sells music, let alone at a cheaper price. I have been a happy Amazon mp3 consumer for 2 years. I don't barely buy any music from Apple anymore because I need to be able to use the music in any way I see fit. The first time, not after I had to reup for the drm free copies.
I guarantee you the Label is still recouping cost. They may not have a high profit margin like in Apples model, but making more money than you think
Is it my imagination, or was there not a hooha about the record labels wanting variable pricing a couple of years ago, but Apple said no?
Maybe that's coming back to bite Apple now. They confined themselves to a straitjacket in pricing structure, and a more nimble competitor is now nibbling at their heels.
Are the brand manufacturers (labels) allowing Walmart (Amazon) to sell their products at a lower price than your grocery store (Apple)?
Also, a terrible analogy on your part. Groceries can be bought in bulk from the manufacturers in different amounts at different prices. A copy of digital file is not purchased in bulk.
For long, I have been a huge supporter and follower of itunes but enough is enough. Amazon continues to sell the same music as itunes at the same quality but always for a cheaper price. So many times I have compared prices of itunes albums with Amazon albums and Amazon, the majority of time, continues to price their albums lower than itunes. I bought the entire self titled album, The Fray, for $0.99 on Amazon as a promotion whereas itunes would never have a sale like that on their store. So many times I've bought classical and alternative albums at itunes for full price ($9.99) only to be drastically disappointed that Amazon is selling the album much cheaper. I don't know what gives but I hope Amazon continues to negotiate these promotional deals with music companies more as their customer base continues to exponentially increase. Well done Amazon-jump aboard itunes.
Apple is free to match the prices, but at the current pricing scheme, Apple would lose money each time (they have to pay the record companies 70% of the negotiated list price even if the actual selling price is below that).
Are we going to get mad at the record labels for selling music at half cost? Sure as heck if they're doing it to damage the free market. And they are.
You forgot to read the rest of my comment that explains why I said this:
"They'd better be careful because Apple are going down the same road as microsoft did - which lead to them being sued for abuse of market position. This is exactly what Apple are doing now - using their market position to influence the music industry."
It's pretty wild that you people can't understand what is going on. The monopoly in this situation is not Apple, it is the studios. And pricing their product differently for different resellers is the only thing close to a legal problem.
Frankly, I hardly care, let me know when Apple or anybody starts selling some music in a decent format online, not the mp3 crap. 24/96 or better, please. Then I'll start being a customer. Otherwise, I'll stick with those shiny optical discs.
It's pretty wild that you people can't understand what is going on. The monopoly in this situation is not Apple, it is the studios. And pricing their product differently for different resellers is the only thing close to a legal problem.
Frankly, I hardly care, let me know when Apple or anybody starts selling some music in a decent format online, not the mp3 crap. 24/96 or better, please. Then I'll start being a customer. Otherwise, I'll stick with those shiny optical discs.
It's pretty wild that you people can't understand what is going on. The monopoly in this situation is not Apple, it is the studios.
Welcome to iTunes. 128 kbps
http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/itunes.htm
Actually yes they are. Walmart and Costco strongarm negotiate with their suppliers to make them give them a better deal to allow them to sell for cheaper than their competitors. So actually it is a fine analogy, the fact that bulk purchases can be made notwithstanding.
Yes Amazon is cheaper but the mp3 codec is inferior in quality to AAC. So there is a reason why it is less anyway.
That sounds like Apple needs to renegotiate the way they do business.
I'm not reading through the whole thread, but this damages the free market how? This isn't an argument, clearly I'm just not seeing what the issue is yet.
In my limited understanding, this seems like typical business muscle going on. Each side is leveraging their strength to strong arm the other, looking for the advantage themselves. This one puts Apple at a disadvantage, while the record companies would argue that Apple already did the same to them.
Part of me just likes seeing Apple get a bloody nose after walking around punching everyone else in the face for the past few months, but that's just me.![]()
It's not true competition. The labels are price discriminating against Apple to prop up Amazon MP3.
.
This seems to be the key point that people are missing. Apple would LOVE to offer these prices, if the labels allowed them to.
A monopoly is situation in which a single company owns all or nearly all of the market. There is only one Apple, but there are multiple music studios. Monopoly doesn't really apply to a plural, I don't think.![]()
So you don't read the thread, then complain that you don't understand the arguments being made. *Sigh*
<Wait for retort about being "too busy to read the entire thread">
>snip<
And no offense, but you are falling for it.
A lot of you folks talking about how much Apple sucks for this -- and there are things they do that are unsavory, no doubt -- but in this case, you are being played by a much of corporate thugs who want nothing more than to take you for your hard-earned cash, just like they did for the last 30 years.
So wake up. Your personal hatred or love for Apple and Steve Jobs is irrelevant to this argument. It is business, and the record industry are bad guys here, and they will have no qualms about ripping away the deals you think Amazon are so great for giving you the minute they feel Apple's lost enough dominance to do so.
You're right, it's technically called collusion, where several companies band together and behave like one. The recording industry has been investigated for it several times over the past few years.
[*]Steve Job's hypocrisy, especially when it comes to Apple's recent lawsuit against HTC where he was quoted as he didn't think other companies should steal their ideas.
[/LIST]
That's a pretty different tune from what Steve Jobs was singing in 1996.
"At Apple, we've always been shameless about stealing ideas we thought were cool." -- Steve Jobs in the 1996 PBS documentary Triumph of the Nerds.
Little bit of a double standard there Steve?