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Now that we have a 3G network...

H

Honest Truth

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 9, 2007
35
0
Why can't we buy musique anywhere now? I mean, it's able to handle more than the 2G network. That's what they were worried about, overloading the system, right? How does verizion and sprint do it then?

I seriously wouldn't even mind paying an extra $0.50 either.
 
We had a 3G network before. Orange, Vodafone, O2, Three and T-Mobile have all been running them for some time.
 
Honest Truth said:
Why can't we buy musique anywhere now? I mean, it's able to handle more than the 2G network. That's what they were worried about, overloading the system, right? How does verizion and sprint do it then?

I seriously wouldn't even mind paying an extra $0.50 either.
Click to expand...

because the 3G network is hardly everywhere, it's actually absent from more places than present...

There's going to be quite a few upset users come Friday who neglected to check the 3G map only to find they don't have 3G coverage in their area... :eek:
 
Honest Truth said:
Why can't we buy musique anywhere now? I mean, it's able to handle more than the 2G network. That's what they were worried about, overloading the system, right? How does verizion and sprint do it then?

I seriously wouldn't even mind paying an extra $0.50 either.
Click to expand...

Probably because it would still be putting strain on AT&Ts network. Which is something that AT&T + Apple couldn't work out, so they kept it Wifi only. (Just my guess, take it or leave it.)
 
It's my understanding that the music store is wifi only not because of the iphone or AT&T, but because of the way the music is licensed. The music is available for download at home, but downloading over the cell network right to the phone has a different set of rules and payments. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...
 
But there is still no explanation as to why other cell services can do it. (like verizon)
 
I doubt if thats it. I download itunes over my 3G network. given its Sprint EVDO rev A. on my wireless card to my macbook air, but still the same huh. I think its because ATT 3G network couldn't handle all that traffic. I lot more people buy songs from itunes than any other service combined. Can you imagine if everyone was down loading from ATT 3G that would crash the system overheating issues, basically a train wreck.
 
Honest Truth said:
But there is still no explanation as to why other cell services can do it. (like verizon)
Click to expand...

Apple would have to change the pricing for over-the-air downloads to comply with licensing rules and fees. Wouldn't you be pissed if you had to pay $1.99 for a song over 3G that you can get for 99 cents over WiFi? They can do it, they choose not to because of the stupid licensing restrictions.
 
Honest Truth said:
But there is still no explanation as to why other cell services can do it. (like verizon)
Click to expand...
Other cell carriers operate their own music download services, as their own complete separate entity. iTunes is wholly controlled by Apple, including everything from the pricing to selection. AT&T has music download services in place through Napster and eMusic, but they also charge $1.99 per track I believe. If they were to allow iTunes to be available over the cell network they'd more than likely want a cut of the revenue, and some say in pricing so it wouldn't undercut their own services.

When a carrier can have uninformed people paying $2.49 for a 20 second midi ringtone, they're not going to necessarily want Apple coming in selling songs for $.99 no matter what. Hopefully, some arrangement can be made because I'd love to be able to download new songs while im in the car/out 'n about; but I wont pay a significant premium for it when I can just wait until I'm in range of a wi-fi network.
 
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