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Napster Mac Beta?
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Thanks I didn't know that.
Most folks I've talk to have told me the service is buggy so alot folks don't like it when they try it.
I actually today just got 2 more PC guys to buy iPod even though they were refurbished models..they got sold on it. I asked them about Napster and they said everyone says to get iTunes at college beause it's better. So thus far I've gotten almost 15 folks to buy an iPod this yr and 10 folks to buy a Mac. Alot folks are really turned off right now how MS is putting out bounties for virus makers and not patching it's OS and apps. Big thing going around alot PC users is Mac users have no viruses and Apple fixes issues fairly quick which MS doesn't.
Sorry I got off topic again...
Napster good if it's good app. But if it has all the bugs PC users are complaining about then I don't seeing it becoming anything great with Mac users since we have iTunes.
Most folks I've talk to have told me the service is buggy so alot folks don't like it when they try it.
I actually today just got 2 more PC guys to buy iPod even though they were refurbished models..they got sold on it. I asked them about Napster and they said everyone says to get iTunes at college beause it's better. So thus far I've gotten almost 15 folks to buy an iPod this yr and 10 folks to buy a Mac. Alot folks are really turned off right now how MS is putting out bounties for virus makers and not patching it's OS and apps. Big thing going around alot PC users is Mac users have no viruses and Apple fixes issues fairly quick which MS doesn't.
Sorry I got off topic again...
Napster good if it's good app. But if it has all the bugs PC users are complaining about then I don't seeing it becoming anything great with Mac users since we have iTunes.
If it comes to Canada, I'd give it a whirl to see how well it is, but from my experience with browsing the iTMS (but unable to buy 😡) from the frozen north has been quite the pleasure. Until that time comes, I'm using my government given loophole to download songs for free.
This is a copy of a post on Slashdot
"Did you even live through the dot-com bubble? Do you remember when sites like Yahoo!, Excite!, and the other titans of ad-based revenues (or lack thereov) were huge for a while and had hundreds of other companies trying to do the exact same thing fully well knowing that revenues would be slim to none? And after a few years the only services left were the ones that made a real name for themselves, brokered real, money-making partnerships, or that sold their soul to the devil?"
"That's exactly what I see going on here: We've got iTunes, MusicMatch, Napster, Wal-Mart, MTV, and the others on the horizon that are all going to enter into a market that their accountants probably would advise against but they still do it to try to get a foothold in a new and emerging market. Expect many of them to die off unless they get a viable business model to back up their technical requirements. Apple's got the iPod, Napster has their $9.99 subscription service, and the others have...."
"It'll be interesting to see the Internet music bubble burst in a year or two. In the meantime I'll keep buying music from iTunes."
That sums up my reasoning right there.
"Did you even live through the dot-com bubble? Do you remember when sites like Yahoo!, Excite!, and the other titans of ad-based revenues (or lack thereov) were huge for a while and had hundreds of other companies trying to do the exact same thing fully well knowing that revenues would be slim to none? And after a few years the only services left were the ones that made a real name for themselves, brokered real, money-making partnerships, or that sold their soul to the devil?"
"That's exactly what I see going on here: We've got iTunes, MusicMatch, Napster, Wal-Mart, MTV, and the others on the horizon that are all going to enter into a market that their accountants probably would advise against but they still do it to try to get a foothold in a new and emerging market. Expect many of them to die off unless they get a viable business model to back up their technical requirements. Apple's got the iPod, Napster has their $9.99 subscription service, and the others have...."
"It'll be interesting to see the Internet music bubble burst in a year or two. In the meantime I'll keep buying music from iTunes."
That sums up my reasoning right there.
This can only be good for us, and bad for napster. It will one more reason that will not be in peoples minds to not buy a mac. The more apps that the mac has, the better, especially big ones like this.
On the other hand, this seems to be a pretty stupid move by napster. They are going to loose money developing it, and noone's going to buy. iTunes is sooo much better than napster, its unbelievable.
We have nothing to loose and everything to gain, keep these kind of ports comming!
On the other hand, this seems to be a pretty stupid move by napster. They are going to loose money developing it, and noone's going to buy. iTunes is sooo much better than napster, its unbelievable.
We have nothing to loose and everything to gain, keep these kind of ports comming!
Sayhey
macrumors 68000
I have to cast my vote with those who say this is a good thing. The more folks who write programs for the mac the better. Even when the use WMA format. I'm all for the mac world growing and these kind of choices are part of that. Not that I'm going to use napster anytime soon.
Here is an example of why this is good. Suppose I'm living in Canada and trying to make a decision on what computer to buy. Now suppose that a critical part of that decision is access to on line music and a player that can work with my computer. Would you want me to be forced to buy a wintel machine in order to get what I want? I don't know if napster is availible yet in Canada, but the point still stands. Don't put roadblocks in front of people trying to buy a mac!
Here is an example of why this is good. Suppose I'm living in Canada and trying to make a decision on what computer to buy. Now suppose that a critical part of that decision is access to on line music and a player that can work with my computer. Would you want me to be forced to buy a wintel machine in order to get what I want? I don't know if napster is availible yet in Canada, but the point still stands. Don't put roadblocks in front of people trying to buy a mac!
Re: Zealots where?
Then people need to stop posting about things they do not understand. Have you used Napster 2.0?
It's clear from many posts here complaining about "not wanting to rent music" - people don't understand how Napster works.
Napster rights = iTunes rights.
PLUS, Napster gives you the opportunity to subscribe on a monthly basis if you choose to do so.
arn
Then people need to stop posting about things they do not understand. Have you used Napster 2.0?
It's clear from many posts here complaining about "not wanting to rent music" - people don't understand how Napster works.
Napster rights = iTunes rights.
PLUS, Napster gives you the opportunity to subscribe on a monthly basis if you choose to do so.
arn
MrMacMan
macrumors 604
Well yeah most don't, but some do, don't they...
I mean even if they don't... why screw yourself... the iPod is the #1 MP3 player...
Exponent -- Napster sucks because they stole the name of a good product and made it from a decent way of getting new music genres into a frikken downloading service.
Anyone who wants REAL Napster look over here
beta... arg, sad stuff, they would have so many problems, okay Napster, you would have to get the files to work, the DRM to work, have it compatible with Quicktime, IF NOT iTunes!
arn -- The difference is when you have a subscription plan and then cancel... where do your songs go?
Up in smoke? You betcha! After that, what happens?
As for Sabenth, Chealion, and the countless others who want music services in their countries it would be great... but its not Apple, Or Napster you should get mad at, get angry at the record labels, heck get so mad to call them...
Call them and tell them to stop delaying survice out of the country.
Both services seems ok deals... I just want to know what happens when you cancel, are they still on your hard drive?
Can you listen to them?
😕
I'd just like to point out that, in Friday's Daily Collegian (PSU's newspaper), Napster President Mike Bebel was quoted as saying that testing has been done using virtual PC on a Mac but its success has been "hit and miss."
If they were working on porting Napster to Mac why the hell wouldn't they have just said that they were (even if it was -way- down the pipeline) instead of saying that Mac users basically can't use the service no matter what lengths they go to?
If they were working on porting Napster to Mac why the hell wouldn't they have just said that they were (even if it was -way- down the pipeline) instead of saying that Mac users basically can't use the service no matter what lengths they go to?
hulugu
macrumors 68000
Re: Re: Zealots where?
Yes I have actually, I always fiddle before I complain, like I said I'm judgemental, not a zealot. Napster is buggy, unintuitive, the differences between subscriptions aren't clear, some songs can be bought, some can only be streamed, some cost more than others, partial albums, etc. It has all the problems of iTunes, ie partial albums, and none of the benefits. And, it uses the WMA codec which sucks bar none. We did a comparison at work one day, playing iTunes AAC and then a WMA and we could hear the difference, the WMA has all sorts of strange artifacts in the sound that shouldn't be there. So, yeah Napster 2.0 sucks. So does BuyMusic.com. iTunes is great, easy to use, has a burgeoning catalog and uses a nice codec. Would I like more from iTunes? Hell yeah, but I'm not going to get locked into the crapitude of WMA just so I can use a coopted version of Napster.
I reiterate that its great Napster wants to port to OSX, but I won't download it to my TiBook, and I won't use the Windows version either.
But that's because the program is crap compared to another program, not because iTunes happens to be Apple's. I hope this helps Apple because it's my platform of choice and whatever legitimacy it can gain is ultimately good for me (more developers, better support on the whole, etc.)
If I was a full-time Windows user and I said Napster sucked you wouldn't call me a Zealot then would you?
Yes I have actually, I always fiddle before I complain, like I said I'm judgemental, not a zealot. Napster is buggy, unintuitive, the differences between subscriptions aren't clear, some songs can be bought, some can only be streamed, some cost more than others, partial albums, etc. It has all the problems of iTunes, ie partial albums, and none of the benefits. And, it uses the WMA codec which sucks bar none. We did a comparison at work one day, playing iTunes AAC and then a WMA and we could hear the difference, the WMA has all sorts of strange artifacts in the sound that shouldn't be there. So, yeah Napster 2.0 sucks. So does BuyMusic.com. iTunes is great, easy to use, has a burgeoning catalog and uses a nice codec. Would I like more from iTunes? Hell yeah, but I'm not going to get locked into the crapitude of WMA just so I can use a coopted version of Napster.
I reiterate that its great Napster wants to port to OSX, but I won't download it to my TiBook, and I won't use the Windows version either.
But that's because the program is crap compared to another program, not because iTunes happens to be Apple's. I hope this helps Apple because it's my platform of choice and whatever legitimacy it can gain is ultimately good for me (more developers, better support on the whole, etc.)
If I was a full-time Windows user and I said Napster sucked you wouldn't call me a Zealot then would you?
Sorry, but there is a mistake on this news : Windows Media Player 9 is here, you're right, but it doesn't implement the 7.0 version of Microsoft DRM. The version used is the 1.3, as Windows Media Player 8 did. Nothing has changed on this side.
So, a Mac version of Napster would only be possible if Microsoft update DRM on the Mac.
So, a Mac version of Napster would only be possible if Microsoft update DRM on the Mac.
Personally, I welcome Napster 2.0 to the Mac.
Choice is always a good thing. It'll create competition in this market.
Personally I'd be excited to see the streaming service come to the Mac. I use Rhapsody at work on my XP box. I do not want to buy songs, but for $10/month I have access to hundreds of thousands of songs and full albums to listen to while I work. It's awesome. I wish I had the same access at home. I've often wished I could use my subscription at home.
Choice is always a good thing. It'll create competition in this market.
Personally I'd be excited to see the streaming service come to the Mac. I use Rhapsody at work on my XP box. I do not want to buy songs, but for $10/month I have access to hundreds of thousands of songs and full albums to listen to while I work. It's awesome. I wish I had the same access at home. I've often wished I could use my subscription at home.
As much as Steve says 'We make and do the whole widget" is as much as Mac users say Apple is the only one who can do it right. We are sometimes as bad as Steve is.