Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
There is a thread over at the Apple discussions on this that I have been following. Interestingly, there was mention of this and that post has been removed. The terms there do not allow for discussion about Apple's course of action but they seem to allow for second guessing Facebook's actions. Either way nobody there can answer why or how the Facebook feature existed, is mentioned, or the way it is supposed to work.

That's because Apple values privacy; primarily their own, of course!
 
They introduced Ping as a means of discovering new music, and I think that's accurate. MySpace started out as a place for indy bands but most of us saw what happened there. I have a Facebook account that I check at least once a day, but I never see anything about music. I see links to youtube videos and requests to help someone on their farm or in their mob, but I rarely see anything about music. Even the suggestion box is about television shows, movies, or things like "talking into an electric fan to sound like a robot".

It may offer the same functionality, but the intention is different from what Facebook focuses on. I think having a service that focuses on discovering new music, specifically within a program designed to purchase music, is a good move. And as its limited to music, I don't see it harming Facebook at all. Not as long as Farmville is still around.
 
I don't think even Apple could do that. My question is, who needs another social network? You can already share information about music on Facebook.

This may be just the beginning for Apple. Look at the iPod, iPhone etc. If I was big on social networks I would rather trust my info with Apple than Facebook or google. I would like to see Apple extend this to movies, then I might bite.
 
All Things Digital chatted with Steve Jobs about the lack of Facebook integration before people realized that the functionality was in fact partially present.
The reason, according to Jobs: Facebook wanted "onerous terms that we could not agree to."
What a bunch of FUD from Jobs. Facebook's terms for developers are rather simplistic - most significantly, that you don't take people's private data from Facebook and keep/store it on your own servers. Hmmm ... dare I guess Apple thought that was "onerous"???

I have no interest in Ping (what a dumb name anyhow). It's nobody's business what music I buy.
 
Good. The less Facebook the better. Let Apple do their own thing and maybe in the future they can run Facebook off the planet.

+1. I even start to dislike websites that have a facebook button on them somewhere. Would have really pissed me off to see Apple partner up with FB. Heavy social networking functionality is not what I want on by default in any of my Apple gear. Ever.
 
What a bunch of FUD from Jobs. Facebook's terms for developers are rather simplistic - most significantly, that you don't take people's private data from Facebook and keep/store it on your own servers. Hmmm ... dare I guess Apple thought that was "onerous"???

I have no interest in Ping (what a dumb name anyhow). It's nobody's business what music I buy.

Wow, cool your jets. I think Ping is a good name, referring to networking... Anyways, you don't have to participate, but I would argue, are you on facebook? Do you do updates? Then who's business is it to know what your status is, or where you are (places). Just saying, you seem pretty defensive when it comes to you music, are you the same with other things? Cuz I hope you don't have any google services cuz then your just screwed.

With others, I agree this is a good thing for music which is not the focus on on any other services. It may have a plug-in for others, but Ping is dedicated to this. Will I use... probably not, but it's good to see it come. Facebook is enough for me, which I hardly use anyways.
 
+1. I even start to dislike websites that have a facebook button on them somewhere. Would have really pissed me off to see Apple partner up with FB. Heavy social networking functionality is not what I want on by default in any of my Apple gear. Ever.

Are you sure that you know how Facebook Connect works?
Because using Facebook Connect doesn't really equal "partnering up with Facebook".
It's merely a small feature that allows you to see which ones of your Facebook friends also use ping and add them to your follow list.

I really do not get how you could possibly dislike such a feature. Nobody is forcing you to use it.
Please explain!
 
I was able to link it to my facebook, i don't think it does anything though.

content
 
This may be just the beginning for Apple. Look at the iPod, iPhone etc. If I was big on social networks I would rather trust my info with Apple than Facebook or google. I would like to see Apple extend this to movies, then I might bite.

What if your friends do not use iDevices? Having Apple-confined social network is kind of pointless, is not it?
 
I Signed Up Last Night, Facebook Still Shows the Application

I was able to sign in to Facebook through Ping last night, and according to Facebook, it's still connected as indicated by my Application list:

FacebookApplications_PingScreenshot.jpg


You can see that like Facebook for iPhone, it's unclickable so there's no homepage for the feature.
 
What if your friends do not use iDevices? Having Apple-confined social network is kind of pointless, is not it?


Like I said a begining. You're thinking small which is OK because we have Apple which does not. Which was first myspace or Facebook? I remember when myspace was hot. Now I barely hear a reference to it. On any new endeavor you have to start somewhere. Right now I could care less about Ping but for now whose to say where Ping will end up.
 
Perhaps just because of a glitch?

While I certainly think something strange is going on regarding what Steve said and what showed up in Ping, I wonder if it was perhaps removed simply because of a technical issue.

The Facebook Connect feature was still in Ping when I registered last night, but the first time I tried it, I got and error in the Facebook Connect popup saying that the browser (iTunes) did not support cookies, so Facebook Connect wouldn't work. I tried it again in five minutes and it worked fine (Of course, since I was one of the first to use it, none of my Facebook friends were found using Ping).

Therefore, I wonder if it is just temporarily removed because of a cookie-related glitch in the iTunes browser.

There used to be a Facebook Connect section at the bottom of my profile saying that Ping was currently connected to my Facebook Account, but I noticed that is now gone.

Maybe it was just a one-time bug with my computer, but I just wanted to share my experience. Conspiracize away!
 
Still shows up in Facebook

I was able to sign in to Facebook through Ping last night, and according to Facebook, it's still connected as indicated by my Application list:

FacebookApplications_PingScreenshot.jpg


You can see that like Facebook for iPhone, it's unclickable so there's no homepage for the feature.

Cool, thanks. I was just about to go check my account.
 
I had the Facebook option last night and clicked on it. I connected to Facebook but it did not find any Ping friends. This was to be expected as my friends are not mac loving iTunes whores so they wouldn't even know about the service.

Personally, I don't see the need for Ping. Why should I want to broadcast everything I am doing in iTunes to the world. I'll give it a week or two to see what happens and then i will probably switch it off.
 
I've often thought Facebook stinks, but does this mean Ping pongs?
 
I'm not sure most of you even use Facebook as you don't seem to know what was there, why it was removed or what it even does.

If you are on Facebook you are on a social network and (if using it on a regular basis) shre updates and information with people.

Facebook currently does not have a way of showing what music you like or what you are buying unless you make an extra step to tell people that.

The Facebook portion of Ping that is currently missing would do a couple of things:

1) Post an update on your page so all of your friends could see that you are on Ping and start following you

2) Provide a link from Ping to Facebook so any updates you may have on Ping you COULD share on Facebook.

Everyone I want to talk to or share this information with is already my friend on Facebook and not having that link there now means Ping is practically useless to me or any of my friends that follow me....it will get better most likely...or fade into practical non-use (like my Google Buzz account)...:(
 
all things digital is reporting that facebook blocked apple for using the API against the TOS

even without facebook why couldn't apple put a gmail link in there to scan your address book? like i'm going to manually check 500 email addresses
 
all things digital is reporting that facebook blocked apple for using the API against the TOS

even without facebook why couldn't apple put a gmail link in there to scan your address book? like i'm going to manually check 500 email addresses

^This. I was more surprised it can't check OS X's "Address Book". Ping is basically an isolated network with little to no connectivity to other networks or accounts. FAIL
 
Ping is basically an isolated network with little to no connectivity to other networks or accounts. FAIL

It is at this point, but once they have the integration with Facebook they will basically be providing a link between probably the two most used items on a persons desktop.

Since Facebook came out I've always wished for a way for my friends to see what music I was playing (like Google Talk has) or share what albums I have bought without having to take an extra step to do so.
 
What a bunch of FUD from Jobs. Facebook's terms for developers are rather simplistic - most significantly, that you don't take people's private data from Facebook and keep/store it on your own servers. Hmmm ... dare I guess Apple thought that was "onerous"???
\

Actually, when your company is doing a massive number of hits to their services, Facebook requires that you negotiate with them.

Try reading sometime, its cool. :cool:
 
It is at this point, but once they have the integration with Facebook they will basically be providing a link between probably the two most used items on a persons desktop.

Since Facebook came out I've always wished for a way for my friends to see what music I was playing (like Google Talk has) or share what albums I have bought without having to take an extra step to do so.

There was something called Qloud, in 2007, but it has since lost backing/development.

Time will tell. I'm surprised Apple didn't integrate iTunes "Ping" with OS X "Address Book".
 
I'm not sure most of you even use Facebook as you don't seem to know what was there, why it was removed or what it even does.

If you are on Facebook you are on a social network and (if using it on a regular basis) shre updates and information with people.

Facebook currently does not have a way of showing what music you like or what you are buying unless you make an extra step to tell people that.

The Facebook portion of Ping that is currently missing would do a couple of things:

1) Post an update on your page so all of your friends could see that you are on Ping and start following you

2) Provide a link from Ping to Facebook so any updates you may have on Ping you COULD share on Facebook.

Everyone I want to talk to or share this information with is already my friend on Facebook and not having that link there now means Ping is practically useless to me or any of my friends that follow me....it will get better most likely...or fade into practical non-use (like my Google Buzz account)...:(

all things digital is reporting that facebook blocked apple for using the API against the TOS

even without facebook why couldn't apple put a gmail link in there to scan your address book? like i'm going to manually check 500 email addresses

Agree on both counts, do Apple understand social networking? It isnt done via email addresses!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.