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Apple to Buy Roxio?
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Personally I think it is a good idea, they buy it, and keep the name Roxio, and use it as a subsidiary. This gets thier feet wet in the Windows world, plus, Micro**** has to pay them for every Win**** sold. I think it is a god idea. If they buy it, I expect them paying anywhere from 150-200 million, where did I get that number? the Market cap is currently 124 million. We will see, a nice purchase.
Another Roxio Mac App: PhotoSuite 5 for Mac OS
Roxio showed PhotoSuite 5 for MacOS at MacWorld New York in July of last year. Unlike iPhoto, it runs under Mac OS 9.
Disclaimer: I hlped write PhotoSuite for Mac OS.
Roxio showed PhotoSuite 5 for MacOS at MacWorld New York in July of last year. Unlike iPhoto, it runs under Mac OS 9.
Disclaimer: I hlped write PhotoSuite for Mac OS.
Roxio is a good buy for Apple
I have long thought that Roxio's Toast Titanium has better, more comprehensive CD-burning capabilities than Apple's offerings. (I don't have experience with the DVD-burning side of things though.)
I don't think much about the PressPlay business and have no idea how to value the Napster brand. But just for those CD-burning technology alone, I would say that Roxio is a good buy for Apple.
(For those who speculate on Roxio's market cap and hence Apple's possible offering price - keep in mind that Roxio carries significant long-term debt load that has to be taken into consideration as well.)
I have long thought that Roxio's Toast Titanium has better, more comprehensive CD-burning capabilities than Apple's offerings. (I don't have experience with the DVD-burning side of things though.)
I don't think much about the PressPlay business and have no idea how to value the Napster brand. But just for those CD-burning technology alone, I would say that Roxio is a good buy for Apple.
(For those who speculate on Roxio's market cap and hence Apple's possible offering price - keep in mind that Roxio carries significant long-term debt load that has to be taken into consideration as well.)
Re: Initial reaction...
On the other hand, look what was done to Final Cut Pro (it was Macromedia's before Apple bought it), Shake, and Logic. All Apple did was rebrand and make better.
Oh, and IIRC, all Apple did to Sound Jam was to get rid of some of the MP3 encoders.
On the other hand, look what was done to Final Cut Pro (it was Macromedia's before Apple bought it), Shake, and Logic. All Apple did was rebrand and make better.
Oh, and IIRC, all Apple did to Sound Jam was to get rid of some of the MP3 encoders.
they would be able to include a bunch of features, like cd-session burning, into the finder. they would be able to do a lot with it.
Apple has over $4 billion in cash (or liquid equivalent) on their balance sheet. In this market it doesn't make sense to keep all that money on hand. Give it to the share holders or spend it. Debt is cheep and they would get a tax break instead of paying more in income.
Sound Like M$
It will never happen. I wish it would. It would be an M$ styled move, and we know those make money.
Dan
It will never happen. I wish it would. It would be an M$ styled move, and we know those make money.
Dan
Remember that Toast allows unlimited burning of tunes downloaded from the iTMS. The purchase of Roxio would allow Apple to patch this hole in their rights management scheme. If Apple buys Roxio, beware the next Toast update!
Jon
Jon
i didn't know that toast could burn AAC encode files.
they'll probably fix that. maybe they'll forget! and re-release the cube instead! no... sorry about that.
they'll probably fix that. maybe they'll forget! and re-release the cube instead! no... sorry about that.toast is one of the best CD-Burning apps i've used, and it's great for CD-Images too! i would be afraid of not being able to burn songs as many times as i'd like, as that's what i've been doing, but then again, i can strait burn a CD, so, burn it once then as many times as i want after that...
more importantly is VCD and DVD support...at least to me those are, and SVCD...
i think the buyout could be cool if it was done quietly and apple intregrated the stuff and didn't outright take it over...well, takever yes, but nor dis-asemble the whole thing...
mixed feeling, good overall i think
btw, it was SoundJam MP that was bought from C&G
more importantly is VCD and DVD support...at least to me those are, and SVCD...
i think the buyout could be cool if it was done quietly and apple intregrated the stuff and didn't outright take it over...well, takever yes, but nor dis-asemble the whole thing...
mixed feeling, good overall i think
btw, it was SoundJam MP that was bought from C&G
Toast and .m4p
Sorry if I misled - you have to transcode the .m4p files to .mp3 (with significant loss of quality). However, because Toast does not depend on QuickTime, you can circumvent FairPlay and burn as many copies as you want.
PS. Check out the new iPod cases at http://www.sfbags.com. I just got one for my Gen3 iPod and love it.
Jon
Sorry if I misled - you have to transcode the .m4p files to .mp3 (with significant loss of quality). However, because Toast does not depend on QuickTime, you can circumvent FairPlay and burn as many copies as you want.
PS. Check out the new iPod cases at http://www.sfbags.com. I just got one for my Gen3 iPod and love it.
Jon
Re: Toast and .m4p
But, um, if you're willing to transcode you can just pop those mp3's in iTunes and burn CDs to your heart's content as well, right? Doesn't the 10-burn limit only apply to m4p's?
But, um, if you're willing to transcode you can just pop those mp3's in iTunes and burn CDs to your heart's content as well, right? Doesn't the 10-burn limit only apply to m4p's?
You can't transcode protected files from .m4p to .mp3 in iTunes as far as I understand. Check out this news item from ipoding.com:
http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1142
Jon
http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1142
Jon
i was kinda wondering why Apple would put the ability to do almost anything with bought music from teh iTMS. it would just defeat the whole purpose.
Roxio'a market capitalization is only 127 million and it has about 40 million in cash and cash equivalents. Assuming that Roxio was thinking of selling, Apple could buy it for a small amount of actual money relative to their cash reserves. I do not remember the figures from apple's other buyouts, but buying Roxio would be similar although slightly costlier. It would also be more diffiicult as roxio is a public company and if i remember correctly apple's other recent buyouts were not.
If Apple were to do this, these are basically the things I'd predict them doing:
1. Kill off Napster/Pressplay and integrate any useful assets into iTMS.
2. Kill off or simplify Roxio's Windows offerings, and integrate any useful features into their own apps. This would obviously include the Windows version of iTMS.
3. Continue selling and supporting Toast until they're ready to rebrand it as an Apple pro burning app.
I definitely think the good outweighs the bad in this situation. The worst thing I see happening is them removing some features from Toast, but there are a lot of other apps that provide things like VCD and multisession burning.
Apple needs to become truly aggressive in expanding their market, and I think the signs point to that being the case.
1. Kill off Napster/Pressplay and integrate any useful assets into iTMS.
2. Kill off or simplify Roxio's Windows offerings, and integrate any useful features into their own apps. This would obviously include the Windows version of iTMS.
3. Continue selling and supporting Toast until they're ready to rebrand it as an Apple pro burning app.
I definitely think the good outweighs the bad in this situation. The worst thing I see happening is them removing some features from Toast, but there are a lot of other apps that provide things like VCD and multisession burning.
Apple needs to become truly aggressive in expanding their market, and I think the signs point to that being the case.
Apple may have 4.53 bil in cash and cash equivalents, but while this may seem excessive dispensing it would likely prove harmful. The market already has a knee-jerk reaction to all news apple - does anyone remember when the stock dropped from 50 to 25 in one day - and while some stockholders might want dividends this would ultimately harm apple. One of the few things that analysts like about apple is that it has a cushion, a cushion large enough to sustain quarterly losses. This is the primary reason that apple, while its stock price has greatly devalued, it has not dipped below the 12 point level (at least for a sustained period). Apple has $12.38 per share in higly liquid assets (cash), meaning that it could feasibly pay every shareholder that amount per share if needed, and thus its market price should not fall below that level.
Anyway, if they were to give dividends - which I as a shareholder do not want - or to go on a buying spree this cash level would decrease and since the market thinks that the current price is already overvalued due to the ITMS reaction, analysts would really think the shares were overvalued. Apple would no longer have that price floor, and its stock value would likely decrease. The very suggestion that apple could go into debt is insane. Are there not already enough pundits forcasting apple's death every week - speaking of has anyone seen the barron's article on the ITMS - an apple with compiling debts would be assailed bby news of its final death, causing stock prices to tank, or at the very least to fall to a new low. There is no way that apple could go into debt and maintain its current stock price or even half of it. If a slight shortfall in earnings estimates could cause it to go from 50 to 25 in a single day, i ask you too imagine what would happen if apple were to have no cash, no liquid assets, if it were to be in debt.
iTunes for Windows
Apple needs CD Burning for iTunes for Windows. They don't have time to write it. They need to get iTunes for Windows done before Microsoft ships their music store.
Apple needs CD Burning for iTunes for Windows. They don't have time to write it. They need to get iTunes for Windows done before Microsoft ships their music store.
I think they could also use the toast drivers to support tons more CD-RW drives than iTunes and disc burner currently do. I for one hope this is true. They will get some great tech. and eliminate a competitor for online music sales all at once.
Apple-Roxio
It really wouldn't be that bad of an acquisition; however, APple would have to maintain their PC product line. Ususally, when Apple acquires a company, they terminate support for WIndows versions almost immediately.
ANyways... with Roxio owning Napster, APple would gain control of a product that existed already on the PC. It's jsut a matter of adding certain iTunes features to teh Napster interface... and bam... you've got iTunes for WIndows.
Problem there is that APple would have to kill the Napster brand all together because the brand obviously competes with iTunesMS.
It really wouldn't be that bad of an acquisition; however, APple would have to maintain their PC product line. Ususally, when Apple acquires a company, they terminate support for WIndows versions almost immediately.
ANyways... with Roxio owning Napster, APple would gain control of a product that existed already on the PC. It's jsut a matter of adding certain iTunes features to teh Napster interface... and bam... you've got iTunes for WIndows.
Problem there is that APple would have to kill the Napster brand all together because the brand obviously competes with iTunesMS.
