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iPod and WMA Functionality
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It's great to have alot of iPod news on this site. It's probably my main reason for visiting this site.
alset
macrumors 65816
Right. I forgot that it's Apple's fault for supporting a standard. Read it again.... It's a variation on an industry standard. WMA DRM formats are a variation on a proprietary format.
I'm going to guess that you can't hear the difference between and MP3 and a CD. If that's the case, lemme end your suspense and let you know that WMA sounds terrible. OGG is the only challenger to AAC, among lossy compression schemes. I'll say again, WMA sounds god-awful. If the world switched to WMA and I couldn't get around using it, I would encode all my music to AIFF and chew hard disk space to avoid mangling sound.
So use those and stop whining. Personally, I don't leave my iPod sitting around when I take it to a gym, but if you can't be asked to guard your possesions, maybe the more expensive player isn't for you. Sounds like you would rather buy a lot of cheap units than spend money on one quality player.
Nobody is blaming M$ for AAC not taking off. What has been said, and what you should realize, is that AAC is an industry standard. M$ has created an inferrior (doesn't sound as good, remember?) compression scheme and has begun to move into a market where their help isn't needed. Don't kid yourself, this isn't because they think they can do a better job. They just want a bigger piece of the pie.
As for your bit about other players supporting AAC, you say it as if Apple controls the liscensing for AAC and can shut everyone out of the market to keep the format iPod only. I won't respond to this, other than to say that you should pay attention to the market. Oh, hell, I'll provide some links, too. (1 , 2 , 3 ) These are without digging. But feel free to use a weaker compression scheme, pay license royalties to M$, and allow yourself to get locked-in to a format controlled by a company who is known for bullying distributors. It's the smart move. Really.
Dan
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nuckinfutz
macrumors 603
Yes but the Dell DJ and Rio Karma are still being outsold by the iPod. Therefore we must attribute that to other beneficial qualities of the iPod.
iTunes plays AAIF, MP3, OGG with a plugin as well as AAC. Sounds like lot's of choices. ipods play AAIF, MP3, and AAC. I can transcode my AAC files into whatever I want. You're "lack of choices" statement is borne of laziness rather than ability. I DO have the ability to have my music meet the needs of my playback device. To say otherwise is disingenuous.
Easy. Go to www.phatnoise.com protected WMA is not supported...yet.
Perhaps people want more than "good enough" Jake. There is a reason why the iPods are selling well and it's not based on flashy looks. It works
I got a few "CDs" that don't play in my CD player because of copy protection. WMA is no better than AAC in this regards. Again without a universal standard it's all for naught.
Life is really pretty simple. If the value proposition you get with Apple or whatever company doesn't suit you...vote with your dollars. I don't have an iPod but it will likely be my first choice when I do look for portable players. I use both platforms daily....and sometimes I want something to work ....and work right. Choice is great but it can be a hinderance too.
Le Big Mac
macrumors 68030
Re: WMA works everywhere but the iPod
See, and that's why it doesn't really make sense not to include it if they're not going to license fairplay. As it is, they're using iTMS to sell the iPod. What does it hurt apple to allow folks to buy music elsewhere adn put those tunes on the ipod? They're already selling the ipod because it's better. Putting WMA on makes it only that much better.
See, and that's why it doesn't really make sense not to include it if they're not going to license fairplay. As it is, they're using iTMS to sell the iPod. What does it hurt apple to allow folks to buy music elsewhere adn put those tunes on the ipod? They're already selling the ipod because it's better. Putting WMA on makes it only that much better.
The problem is we as consumers are idiots
We shouldn't be purchasing any music whatsoever that is not CD quality or contains DRM. We should be insisting on pure CD quality music to download without any DRM restrictions whatsoever. Hell, I'm as guilty as the next person. I've spent over $100 on iTMS. Its convenient. But it almost makes me sick to think I'm paying for inferior quality music. We're paying almost the same price to download music as we would pay for the CD. Now there is no room to offer us CD-quality download without it costing us more than actually going out and purchasing the CD itself. Something's wrong here and once again, we the consumer, are being led around by our purse strings.
We shouldn't be purchasing any music whatsoever that is not CD quality or contains DRM. We should be insisting on pure CD quality music to download without any DRM restrictions whatsoever. Hell, I'm as guilty as the next person. I've spent over $100 on iTMS. Its convenient. But it almost makes me sick to think I'm paying for inferior quality music. We're paying almost the same price to download music as we would pay for the CD. Now there is no room to offer us CD-quality download without it costing us more than actually going out and purchasing the CD itself. Something's wrong here and once again, we the consumer, are being led around by our purse strings.
in reply to original post:
Didn't we already know this? Why is this suddenly information of interest? Not trying to start trouble, just wondering why this story landed on the front page.
Didn't we already know this? Why is this suddenly information of interest? Not trying to start trouble, just wondering why this story landed on the front page.
MorganX
macrumors 6502a
I'm really not to interested in this topic. If Apple needs to, rest assured they will enable WMA playback. They won't unless they need to.
The the ferocity of your comments is distrubing. Let's see, if you go with WMA you can choose from how many players? from how many different vendors? from how many music stores?
If you go with iTMS, you can go with how many players? from how many different vendors? how many music stores?
nuckinfutz
macrumors 603
1. AAC offers plenty of portability. Being able to burn Red Book Audio means you can transcode into whatever you want. All it takes is a modicum of effort.
2. Universal formats are preferred. CDs DVD's wouldn't have had their huge success without becoming "Universal" it is indeed important.
3. Apple restricts their service to narrow parameters because they seek to make a profit. That's not a dirty word. As long as their is mutual consideration for both parties the deal is fine.
4. Ripping CDs isn't fun. Therefore Caveat Emptor....choose your download service wisely.
Re: actually
Wait, VLC plays WMVs?
Wow, maybe I should uninstall Windows Media Player.
.....only if it wasn't for the streaming media.
Wait, VLC plays WMVs?
Wow, maybe I should uninstall Windows Media Player.
.....only if it wasn't for the streaming media.
Re: The problem is we as consumers are idiots
I guess I just don't understand why your upset. The reason that ITMS is so popular is because of the reason you suggested, it's convenient. Also, the music downloading craze taught the music industry that people wanted a way to selectivly by tracks that doesn't involve buying countless overpriced cd singles. Not once has anyone claimed that AAC is superior to cd (in ITMS encodings), but for most people the sound is more than good enough. I don't feel I'm being led around by my purse strings, I'm fully aware of what I'm getting, and I find myself buying music more often than I used too.
I guess I just don't understand why your upset. The reason that ITMS is so popular is because of the reason you suggested, it's convenient. Also, the music downloading craze taught the music industry that people wanted a way to selectivly by tracks that doesn't involve buying countless overpriced cd singles. Not once has anyone claimed that AAC is superior to cd (in ITMS encodings), but for most people the sound is more than good enough. I don't feel I'm being led around by my purse strings, I'm fully aware of what I'm getting, and I find myself buying music more often than I used too.
nuckinfutz
macrumors 603
Re: Re: WMA works everywhere but the iPod
Again ....you two share the same fallacious logic. iPods are the #1 portable player device. iTMS is the #1 service. You're asking the Majority to add the features of the Minority to "better" itself. Doesn't that sound silly to you??
Apple has succeeded "despite" not having WMA support or a plethora of portable players. This tells me that consumers who are purchasing music and players are savvy and keen on getting a system that works for them and not against them.
Again ....you two share the same fallacious logic. iPods are the #1 portable player device. iTMS is the #1 service. You're asking the Majority to add the features of the Minority to "better" itself. Doesn't that sound silly to you??
Apple has succeeded "despite" not having WMA support or a plethora of portable players. This tells me that consumers who are purchasing music and players are savvy and keen on getting a system that works for them and not against them.
mrsebastian
macrumors 6502a
you got a good point there and it's the kind of thing that'll make conumers say [bleep] you to companies. i like mp3 simply because that's what i converted my entire album collection to and become a well enough accepted standard. even at high bit rate mp3s for good sound quality, my 2000+ album collection now rests comfortably on 200+ mp3 cds and they are efficiently archived so everything is easy to find.
we finally as a group accepted mp3s as the mainstream, so why do companies keep giving us new formats? considering that many stock car players now support mp3, why do they think we are going to change formats again? i love apple, but i think even aac was not such a great move. they would have been better off with figuring out a protection scheme for mp3. though itms is really cool and i have bought a couple of albums from there, it's just too much of a pain to convert to mp3 library. i believe in legally optaining my music, so that's not the point, but why am i going to bother with aac or wma, when i can't put on a cd (or other format) and play it at home, on my laptop, at work, and in my car?.. and yes i have an ipod, but that's not the point. i want one format and it better be mp3!
I agree with others that the music industry itself should have championed a format/DRM that was compatible for everyone. Then, both players and services would have been left to compete on their merits.
I would encode all my music to AIFF and chew hard disk space to avoid mangling sound.
Other than the songs I purchase at the iTMS, my entire iTunes music library is AIFF. While my iPod certainly can't hold the entire library, I don't need to bring a 1,000 songs with me when I take off for a weekend either, so it's not an issue.
In the meantime, I'm just going to sit back, enjoy my music and watch this entire mess unfold.
I would encode all my music to AIFF and chew hard disk space to avoid mangling sound.
Other than the songs I purchase at the iTMS, my entire iTunes music library is AIFF. While my iPod certainly can't hold the entire library, I don't need to bring a 1,000 songs with me when I take off for a weekend either, so it's not an issue.
In the meantime, I'm just going to sit back, enjoy my music and watch this entire mess unfold.
Encoded formats are not the answer
If Apple really wants to keep WMA from winning, it needs to just sell us the music in its original format. Forget AAC. Forget WMA. Forget MP3. Forget OGG. Offer it to us in either AIFF, WAV, or better yet, FLAC.
Nobody can tell me that an AAC encoded song sounds as good as a CD on good equipment. Its just not the same. Let me be the one to decide what compressed format I want to listen to my music in. But give me my music in its original clarity.
But what about DRM? We shouldn't be buying music with that either. How many of you refuse to purchase a CD that has copy protection on it? If you won't buy a CD with it, why is it ok to purchase music online that has DRM?
Fairplay and Microsoft's DRM have nothing to do with rights. They are designed to "lock you in".
If Apple really wants to keep WMA from winning, it needs to just sell us the music in its original format. Forget AAC. Forget WMA. Forget MP3. Forget OGG. Offer it to us in either AIFF, WAV, or better yet, FLAC.
Nobody can tell me that an AAC encoded song sounds as good as a CD on good equipment. Its just not the same. Let me be the one to decide what compressed format I want to listen to my music in. But give me my music in its original clarity.
But what about DRM? We shouldn't be buying music with that either. How many of you refuse to purchase a CD that has copy protection on it? If you won't buy a CD with it, why is it ok to purchase music online that has DRM?
Fairplay and Microsoft's DRM have nothing to do with rights. They are designed to "lock you in".
Re: Re: actually
VLC plays some wmv files, older ones (wm 8 and below) mostly. Most new files won't play on it.
VLC plays some wmv files, older ones (wm 8 and below) mostly. Most new files won't play on it.
Probably quite true. Oops.
I think they will. But they are "working the market" right now. Trying to skim as much profit as possible. Then, when margins would naturally tend down...license Fairplay. Let every Tom, Dick and Harry make $5/device...while Apple makes the same amount from the Fairplay license.
Re: Not entirely accurate
It is certainly possible, but not sure it is plausible. That is a matter of opinion.
It is certainly possible, but not sure it is plausible. That is a matter of opinion.
damn right! i dont want to have to think where something can play when i buy it!
now why wont this vhs tape work in my dvd player? 🙄
f you've invested $9,900 in music then it seems like quibbling over the paltry $50-$100 difference in price from an iPod (or Mini) to any competitor is just laughable. Sorry, it is.