Are We Free From Price Increases to Apple Services This Year?

[JamesMay82]

In the course of ripping a CD at a time, a person is not typically going to have 500 CDs to do (but wow, if that was some good music- WHAT A BARGAIN (that you fully own now)). Instead, they buy a new CD or 3 at a time or maybe get 5 or 10 as gifts... or at least that's how it went for me. Since it's not one gigantic job like 500 CDs but often just 1+ new CD, I've simply searched the internet to find a BIG size version of the cover (I favor 1500X1500 myself), correct any not square (to perfect squares) and then assign them to the new songs just ripped. Repeat when I bought another CD. And just keep doing the same as I buy CDs.

In a few cases, some of my CDs were OLD ones and a big version of the cover could not be found. In particular, some 1990's Rhino Greatest Hits/Compilations no longer had big-size images of the art, so I just made my own. In some cases, I scanned it on a scanner. In other cases, I considered taking a picture of it with an iDevice. And still in others, I just chose a generic image that fit the type of music (like a 1500x1500 British flag for 60's British Invasion "greatest hits" compilations). Again, it's no heavy load unless one is trying to rip a LOT of discs in one sitting. So today, about all of my 15K songs have large-size covers (or substitutions of my choosing) associated with them.

It's been the same with ripping movies from discs. That's also been an overtime proposition and I hand pick the "thumbnail" in a large size and also tag them with apps like Meta-Z and Subler. That would be quite a heavy chore if I was doing hundreds of movies in one sitting but the practicality of accumulating a collection is often maybe a few a month. If someone was doing 1 each week of each, they would have 52 CDs and 52 movies in one year... and 520 CDs and 520 movies in 10 years. It's quite easy work ONCE to do a disc or two (or even 4) each week.

Way to go on getting 500 CDS for only 20¢ each. Over many years, I've usually paid the "bargain" of only a couple of bucks for each one.

I’ve found that friends have stacks of cds in their attic space that they will away for free. I’ve got a couple more collections to pick up.. sadly it’s not always the best. I prefer complete albums as opposed to compilations.

I use this website for artwork which is quite good for general stuff but not so much for rare albums.

iTunes Artwork Finder by Ben Dodson

bendodson.com

I was just reading your posts above about a NAS and how you sync photo albums which is good. I’ve become obsessed with having all my photos with me but I suppose realistically I rarely look at them. I think I might miss the automatic iCloud sync but I suppose it might keep my photo library more organised if it’s not syncing every screen shot

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, I've seen people carrying tens of thousands of photos, but I strongly doubt they EVER look at most of them. I have many thousands myself but I looked through all of them and made a handful of albums that are 'best of" (the entire collection) and then I just sync those albums to my iDevices. In > 15 years, I've never had a situation where I was disconnected from the whole library but really wanted access to one that wasn't in those synched albums.

For "events" such as latest vacations, etc, I usually create a new album to hold 'best of' those photos, synch them for a while (the time in which I might want to show some of them to others- usually up to a few months) and then stop synching them when I'm probably done showing shots of that trip with about anyone likely to be interested. So, back on Mac, I probably have piled up 100+ such albums that at one time or another were also synched to iDevice (and could be again at any time if I wanted them on there again for some reason)... but generally, it's a relatively small group of albums that might total up to about 500-800 "best of" photos as a group- if that.

BUT, should that need come up, accessing them on my own "cloud" is as easy- IMO anyway- as accessing them in iCloud. And I pay no forever rent. Yes, I did pay up for the Synology box and drives but it is doing a LOT of things beyond only some cloud services. In fact, I barely use it for cloud functionality. It's just another thing that is available to me should I need something that way.

Hop back a generation or two when people carried wallet photos and they were pretty happy with maybe a set of 8 or 12 "on us" at all times. I'm not so sure any of us need access to tens of thousands in almost any circumstance. Yes, there's probably some exceptions but I would bet most of the photos in gigantic libraries are NEVER seen again after the first look.

 

[dumastudetto]

I'm hoping Apple announce price increases ahead of next week's investor call to really energise investors and the stock market. Prices do need to increase to keep pace with inflation and the need to keep investing in product innovation.

 

[GuilleA]

$10.99 a month for Apple music is the same as one album purchase a month which gives your favourite artist more of the cut.

I pay $3.29 a month for Apple Music

 

[Ctrlos]

I pay $3.29 a month for Apple Music

Student discount?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I'm hoping Apple announce price increases ahead of next week's investor call to really energise investors and the stock market. Prices do need to increase to keep pace with inflation and the need to keep investing in product innovation.

Maybe start a GoFundMe and contribute all of your net pay to help poor Apple out?

Or maybe campaign to give them direct access to global treasuries and global credit lines so they can just have all of the money? Maybe seek to let Apple run the printing presses and the global FEDs so they can grant themselves all of the wealth of all nations?

Because what really matters to all of us consumers is maximizing for this "richest company in the world" corporation.

 

[Edd70]

While I am often critical of Apple, the price of Apple Music is a heck of a deal. Years ago I was paying about $20 for a new CD. I listen to music a lot and now for half the price of a CD I get access to a huge library for as many hours a day as I wish.

This is what I’ve been saying since Rhapsody came on the scene. I think whatever your habits before the internet were informs how you perceive the music streaming values now. I too was paying $15-20 a cassette every month in the late 80s, in high school. Could I afford that? Sure, living with my parents only needing gas and beer money mostly. Taking inflation into account, the value increase here is astronomical.

But I know people around my age that pay not a dime for music in any form. Terrestrial radio and free Pandora are good enough for them. They’ll never see the value here because they don’t seek out music. They wait for music to come to them, which doesn’t work for me at all.

 

[GuilleA]

Student discount?

Regional pricing. Apple TV+ is $6.99

 

[Chungry]

Surely any price increase will also be marked by the increase of the base storage tier- surely!

 

[MNLondon]

I'm so sick of Apple's price rises.
I am not able to work due to complex disabilities, and so can only rely on welfare for income. I have used Apple for decades in one form or another, but now it's becoming more and more expensive to subscribe to the Music Rental service, for example. I have a complete library that I listen to regularly, and it's one of the only things that help my mental health.
I hope Apple can look kindly on the less fortunate who, for one reason or another, ( and due to no ones fault) help us to enjoy the services we rely on so much, without simply making more and more profit.
I hope this message is read by someone who can speak to those in Apple who understand that Apple customers are not all well paid or don't have to worry about paying the bills every month. I did work once, became very sick, and for the last 24 years, have had to manage on a fixed income.

 

[madeirabhoy]

i just hope the next price rise isnt a 100% rise like happened last year with Apple Tv. previous year €50, last year €100.