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HP Branded iPod and Music Store

OK. I have a confession.

I hate iTunes.

Now before you all flip out, hear me out.

1) The interface is somewhat clunky.

2) I don't like the fact that you can't arrange the music into any preference you want, in my case, ARTIST >YEAR > ALBUM > TRACK NUMBER > SONG TITLE

3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.

4) I will NEVER purchase anything from the iTms. I am very much against DRM music, I should be able to do whatever I want with it when I purchase it.

If I am wrong about any of these things, please feel free to convert me. I am glad that they are doing this, but there are others that feel the same way and I am not sure that preloading it on every PC will really generate as much revenue as they think it is. Some will simply uninstall it or just use something that is a little more comprehensive like Winamp5.
 
Originally posted by brywalker
3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.
Click to expand...

This one's weird - I was about to go off on you: the middle button on the top right USED to turn it into a small player on Windows - now it just minimizes/maximizes.... where'd this feature go?!!?
 
Originally posted by brywalker
OK. I have a confession.

I hate iTunes.

Now before you all flip out, hear me out.

1) The interface is somewhat clunky.

2) I don't like the fact that you can't arrange the music into any preference you want, in my case, ARTIST >YEAR > ALBUM > TRACK NUMBER > SONG TITLE

3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.

4) I will NEVER purchase anything from the iTms. I am very much against DRM music, I should be able to do whatever I want with it when I purchase it.

If I am wrong about any of these things, please feel free to convert me. I am glad that they are doing this, but there are others that feel the same way and I am not sure that preloading it on every PC will really generate as much revenue as they think it is. Some will simply uninstall it or just use something that is a little more comprehensive like Winamp5.
Click to expand...


winAmp5 ....yech
it will increase Apple revs significantly
 
Originally posted by brywalker
OK. I have a confession.

I hate iTunes.

Now before you all flip out, hear me out.

1) The interface is somewhat clunky.

2) I don't like the fact that you can't arrange the music into any preference you want, in my case, ARTIST >YEAR > ALBUM > TRACK NUMBER > SONG TITLE

3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.

4) I will NEVER purchase anything from the iTms. I am very much against DRM music, I should be able to do whatever I want with it when I purchase it.

If I am wrong about any of these things, please feel free to convert me. I am glad that they are doing this, but there are others that feel the same way and I am not sure that preloading it on every PC will really generate as much revenue as they think it is. Some will simply uninstall it or just use something that is a little more comprehensive like Winamp5.
Click to expand...

1. Somewhat agreed but show me another media player that's better. I'll wait for your answer.

2. Click on the heading above the list of songs. For example, Click song name and it will order the songs alphabetically. All columns are orderable.

3. I'm not sure for windows, but for mac, the green button minimizes the window to the back, play, and forward buttons, a volume slider and the display. You can go further and get rid of the display so you just have the buttons.

4. You're out of luck. All online music stores have DRMed (most more strict than Apple) WMA (a closed proprietary format controlled by microsoft). Most new CDs have copy protections on them. You're screwed either way, if you think you're not, you're kidding yourself.


As for the store not making more money... 71% is pretty good. Most people don't know winamp exists and from what I hear Winamp is not what it used to be. If you can't seem to figure it out and millions of ditzy blonds blonds and pot heads can then perhaps the PEBKAC :D
 
Re: Future of iTunes

Originally posted by pjkelnhofer
I think this is huge for the future of iTMS. But, maybe the "based on Apple's iPod" simply means it will have the capability of playing AAC's with the iTunes DRM. Nothing in the Press Release leads me to believe Apple is designing or manufacturing the player.
Click to expand...

No, it could also include (in increasing order of likelihood).
  1. Apple's supply chain
  2. Apple's design chain
  3. Apple's patent on the iPod dial
  4. Apple's patent on iTunes synchronization.

Personally, if it is rebranding I think that #4 and AAC/Fairplay support are likely, especially in an entry level solid state player put out by HP.
 
Originally posted by Codemonkey
This one's weird - I was about to go off on you: the middle button on the top right USED to turn it into a small player on Windows - now it just minimizes/maximizes.... where'd this feature go?!!?
Click to expand...

Hey, you're right. I liked it at first, then I stopped using it. :(
 
Originally posted by arn
this is huge.

arn
Click to expand...

Yes it is.

Look who Apple has gotten into bed with lately:

* AOL with iTMS
* Pepsi promotion
* McDonalds (still a rumor but never denied by either party)
* HP-Compaq
* Return of Macs to Best Buy (how is this going BTW?)
* iPods in some of the biggest retailers; i.e. Target.

Never has Apple been in front of so many consumers. Let's just hope Jobs is wearing a condom lest we catch any HP-Compaq PC disease.:D


edit:typo
 
Re: Re: Future of iTunes

Originally posted by tychay
No, it could also include (in increasing order of likelihood).
  1. Apple's supply chain
  2. Apple's design chain
  3. Apple's patent on the iPod dial
  4. Apple's patent on iTunes synchronization.

Personally, if it is rebranding I think that #4 and AAC/Fairplay support are likely, especially in an entry level solid state player put out by HP.
Click to expand...

Phil Schiller has told the media that it'll be a 3G iPod re-branded as an HP device. Apparently, it will be functionally the same, including the display of an Apple logo on start-up (I forget where I read that).

My guess is that it will be introduced at roughly the same time as 4G iPods from Apple, allowing HP's to drop in price (relative to existing 3G iPod prices), and the new Apple ones will have new features and increase capacity to stay at roughly the same price points (and margins)
 
Originally posted by Frobozz
It was an attempt at irony... because Phill Parcells coached the Cowboy's arch rivals, the New York Giants (NYC is my home town) to the superbowl. Now he plays for the "bad" guys... :)
Click to expand...

Kind of ironic that you got his name wrong then. It's Bill.:D
 
Originally posted by brywalker
OK. I have a confession.

I hate iTunes.

Now before you all flip out, hear me out.

3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.

4) I will NEVER purchase anything from the iTms. I am very much against DRM music, I should be able to do whatever I want with it when I purchase it.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you must use windows since the WinAmp reference. I've not used WinAmp for a few years (since I moved to a Powerbook) but WinAmp was ugly and didn't do a whole lot for me, not sure about the sorting though because I've not found a need to sort.

I think the WindowShade thing must be a PC thing, it works on my mac. iTunes is at work on my Thinkpad so I can't test this, but does pushing on the maximize button again make it a little player? On Mac OS X if you push the green button (max) it makes it tiny.

As for the DRM. Jeeze I hate this excuse.

Name me something you can't do with iTunes DRM that you can that you are supposed to be able to based on the licensing agreements? I can burn them to CD, I can play them on my computers throughout the house, and i can save them off onto a CD in original format as a backup.

What's so evil about that?
 
Originally posted by brywalker
Um, that isn't very true at all.

Buy me.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should correct that statement slightly.

IBM does not have a 'consumer line' and a 'office line' like HP does.

HP has the Presario that is only sold at best buy, etc, and then has the Deskpro line 'for work'.

While IBM has the ThinkCenter and THinkPad. None of them targeted at Best Buy, etc.

They used to with the Aptiva, but it's long gone.
 
Re: iTMS in front of even more eyeballs

Originally posted by restiffbard
Open up the iTMS and at the top are ad banners highlighting new music and the like. That ad space could just as easily highlight new products from Apple.
Click to expand...

Just checked the ITMS too see that they are in fact advertising iPod mini's in rotation on the banners at the top of the store. Definitely potential for other products, but I would guess that Apple would keep it restricted to music-related products so as not to cheapen the ITMS.
 
awesome...

A weird world we live in as far as tech goes - who would've imagined a pairing such as this?... I think (like many others) that this is great news for Apple! I'm not sure how this would positively affect our favorite computing platform, but hopefully it bodes well. Now if we can get G5's (and G6's) in everything - match or beat intel on mhz, and get some high profile users of xServe (Pixar, or Hollywood in general), we'll be sitting pretty... I think ALL of this will happen within the next year - an exciting time to be a Mac enthusiast!
 
A rebranded iPod is nothing to get excited over at all. No innovation, just a new brand name molded into the plastic. I don't see it as a potential huge seller at all; HP isn't a huge CE name, despite their aspirations ...
Click to expand...

I think it goes a long way to adding value to both brands. Think about GM's decission to rebadge import cars in the early to mid nineties. At the time they couldn't really compete with the imports in terms of quality and they were losing lifelong customers and it turns out that people who bought a Toyota would come back to buy another or upgrade to a Lexus.

GM striking a deal allowed them to stock reliable compact cars in the showroom and make them available to people who wouldn't dare step foot into a Toyota dealership. More importantly it kept people from having to leave the car dealership.

Same thing with HP rebadging the iPod and iTMS, it helps them attract customers who might otherwise go to Dell or Gateway and provide a total solution for their needs. Apple gains a lot more credibility as a manufacturer and some mindshare within HP's market.
 
Windows iTunes

Originally posted by brywalker
3) There is no windowshade or small player mode. It is far too large to make it manageable while using other applications. If there was a small player mode you could just drop it into the corner while you surf, photoshop, etc.

4) I will NEVER purchase anything from the iTms. I am very much against DRM music, I should be able to do whatever I want with it when I purchase it.
Click to expand...


3) Go to Advanced, and chose "Switch to Mini Player" or use CTRL-M

4) Thats not a problem with iTunes, only the iTMS. Just buy a CD and rip it.
 
GM has rebranded the Toyota Matrix and Echo for sales in the states. Mazda rebrands their B-series trucks off of the Ford Ranger platform. The Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Seabring are both built on the Mitsubishi Eclipse body frame. In fact, a bottom of the line Dodge Stratus two door has a Mitsubishi engine. Honda/Acura had rebranded Isuzu SUVs for a long time.

Rebranding is nothing new. If anything the price to manufacture the ipod will decrease because of parts ordered in increased quantities.
 
well rebadging aside…

I think this alliance is what Apple needed to help break the WMA coalition being advocated everywhere else.

A month ago everyone was talking about AAC vs WMA and player compatibiliy and the future looked sketchy with Apple as the sole advocate on this front. Apple can't really do it by itself.

I think this partnership with HP will go a long long way in legitimizing the AAC format and hopefully other music services might acknowledge AAC and make that available to iPod/hPod owners. If they don't they forfiet 50% of the digital player market to iTMS.
 
Other players support encoding in AAC.

Winamp5 on the PC side does. Its a good format, but I would say that it isn't leaps and bounds better than MP3. Its all lossy.

These companies have to step up and support SHN and FLAK. Nice lossless codecs. :)

Sad thing is, no one cares about audio being compressed and lossy anymore. The audiophile is a dying breed. Everything from satellite, digital cable, even Dolby Digital and DTS are all compressed lossy formats.
 
Originally posted by brywalker
The audiophile is a dying breed. Everything from satellite, digital cable, even Dolby Digital and DTS are all compressed lossy formats.
Click to expand...

It's because something has to give. Technically, nothing sounds better than a vaccuum tube amp either, but people just got tired of a) expensive tubes that constantly need replacing and b) a sheer lack of mobility considering the amps weighed over 20lbs.

Everything comes at a price. The difference with audio is that everything is subjective, and technically it's all crap anyway compared to in-the-flesh music.

So who cares?

5000 songs easily navigable in a sleek bit of industrial design that's smaller than a pack of Camels. I'd say that's worth a bit of (subjective) lossiness.

All this to say that yes, audiophiles may very well be a dying breed. But generally we're all benefiting from their dire sacrifice. :p
 
How about...

polishing up the Newton OS and stuffing it into an iPaq.

This is good for the mindshare. People unknowingly will see an iPod attached to a HP machine, look at how cool this HP/Apple product is, get kinda curious about what it Apple is all about, walk over to the apple section and checks out the other Apple products. This is good.

I think I am clairvoiant. I was looking at a design magazine and saw the HP 17" laptop. And for the last few days before this announcement, I was thinking about HP for some dumb reason. I did not know why, but I was just thinking about their products. I need to work on harnessing this power.

I might have to buy that see-thru HP scanner just as a thanks for taking a big chance on a smaller, but totally cool company.
 
well!!!

this is a nice surprise! HP PCs are sold everywhere, and they also advertise their PCs alot. With the new emphasis on their Media Center PCs, iTunes and the future HP iPods will be very hard to miss.

I'll still get my iBook G4, and this summer I could consider an HP media Center PC as well. That will be mainly for recording sports games on the dvd r recorders, and perhaps the few PC games that aren't released on my Xbox.

Can Gateway be next? It'll make aot of sense for them to jump on the iPod/iTunes bandwagon too...
 
Re: well!!!


Can Gateway be next? It'll make aot of sense for them to jump on the iPod/iTunes bandwagon too...
Click to expand...

They can't, HP has an exclusion deal for a while. Now I'm not sure on the bundling iTunes deal...
 
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