AAC is playable on windows, you only have to install a small plugin for winamp. I am sure there are others but winamp is what I use when I am on a PC. And the bitrate is "marginal" because it can. A 128 bit AAC file packs about the same quality as a 192 bitrate mp3. More quality in less space means more songs can fit on your iPod.
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RealNetworks vs iTunes Music Service
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AAC is playable on windows, you only have to install a small plugin for winamp. I am sure there are others but winamp is what I use when I am on a PC. And the bitrate is "marginal" because it can. A 128 bit AAC file packs about the same quality as a 192 bitrate mp3. More quality in less space means more songs can fit on your iPod.
jayscheuerle
macrumors 68020
But you'll need a Windows version of iTunes to access the iTMS, and that will handle the formats just fine.
The question is how the DRM will transfer between different players. Maybe you'll need iTunes to play anything downloaded from iTMS, otherwise other players would have to recognize the restrictions built into the songs...
I hate Real!
RealOne is annoying! It puts ads in your face and, on Windows, your taskbar, it will end up bugging you to upgrade, it's hard to go back to RealPlayer, it costs too much, overall it's a pain in the neck! I wouldn't use there music service if it were good, as long as you had to have RealOne to use it!
RealOne is annoying! It puts ads in your face and, on Windows, your taskbar, it will end up bugging you to upgrade, it's hard to go back to RealPlayer, it costs too much, overall it's a pain in the neck! I wouldn't use there music service if it were good, as long as you had to have RealOne to use it!
Originally posted by soggywulf
Apple has *once again* come up with an *awesome* idea--and *once again* it looks like they're getting screwed.Why the hell didn't they ramp up Win-iTunes for a simultaneous release? Did they think it was going to sell more Macs?
No, the record companies wanted a restricted audience for what they probably still see as a test case for the pay-as-you-go model of legal music downloads. If Apple had insisted on a simultaneous Windows launch, I bet the record companies would have nixed the whole thing.
Now, of course, they're looking at the iTMS' sales and greedily translating them into the larger Windows market. And instead of giving Apple the clear green-light on licensing content post-haste, they're apparently happier to work with all the usual suspects on the Windows side.
Like Real, who surely wins the prize for the most intrusive media player on the market today. Constant naggings to update, an installer that hijacks all media formats, a cluttered interface that tries to do everything all at once and consequently does none of them especially well, and a history of transgressions against user privacy. Yup, that's surely everyone's choice for their digital music format provider.
On the other hand, Apple is able to show why their licensing plan is working. With hard numbers. People love it, sales are beyond all expectations, and we haven't heard anything about people using it to commit copyright infringement. Apple should need nothing more than to tell the music execs that they have developed the app and beefed up their infrastructure to allow the Windows crowd to get the same experience we have been getting. And that they should expect their checks from Apple to have a couple more zeros on them from now on.
A lot of windows users are ignorant towards such things as a company's history of respecting user's privacy rights (or lack thereof).
Unfortunatly these are the cold facts and I am going to lay them out.
1. Price is a BIG factor. If Real's offering is 10 cents cheaper people are going to go that route.
2. The user probably isn't going to start noticing how crappy a software/service's UI is until after they've still purchased something (and really start to USE the software), so it is important for apple to keep up the marketing pressure if they are looking reel those consumers in that are looking for a better way.
3. People don't care what format the service uses as long as they can hear it. AAC/MP3/WMA/RM, it doesnt matter. As long as they have the song and they can play it and burn it the user most likey doesnt care what goes on "behind the scenes."
4. Quality isn't an issue for most. I know many people who listen to music through their laptop's built-in speakers and are content.
Hope that helps.
Unfortunatly these are the cold facts and I am going to lay them out.
1. Price is a BIG factor. If Real's offering is 10 cents cheaper people are going to go that route.
2. The user probably isn't going to start noticing how crappy a software/service's UI is until after they've still purchased something (and really start to USE the software), so it is important for apple to keep up the marketing pressure if they are looking reel those consumers in that are looking for a better way.
3. People don't care what format the service uses as long as they can hear it. AAC/MP3/WMA/RM, it doesnt matter. As long as they have the song and they can play it and burn it the user most likey doesnt care what goes on "behind the scenes."
4. Quality isn't an issue for most. I know many people who listen to music through their laptop's built-in speakers and are content.
Hope that helps.
Re: Re: Re: Why knock the service?
Market share is not everything. What's IBM's market share compared to Dell, compared to Apple? Now what is their stock trading at $80.28. A little down, but...
The only reason Apple is still around is not because they captured market share early (like Digital, Compaq, and countless others where are they now). No there still around because of quality products which hooks people in and keeps them. I would love to see some industry stats on repeat customers.
Apple does not have to worry about these other companies. Do you know why, it's because unlike them Apple can afford to fail (not that they will) and go back to the drawing board. They have plenty of money and also a paid for infrastructure in place.
If the iTunes Music fails Apple could always fall back on their Computer business can Real do the same thing.
What I would love to see is Apple partner with Microsoft to include iTunes with Windows.
Market share is not everything. What's IBM's market share compared to Dell, compared to Apple? Now what is their stock trading at $80.28. A little down, but...
The only reason Apple is still around is not because they captured market share early (like Digital, Compaq, and countless others where are they now). No there still around because of quality products which hooks people in and keeps them. I would love to see some industry stats on repeat customers.
Apple does not have to worry about these other companies. Do you know why, it's because unlike them Apple can afford to fail (not that they will) and go back to the drawing board. They have plenty of money and also a paid for infrastructure in place.
If the iTunes Music fails Apple could always fall back on their Computer business can Real do the same thing.
What I would love to see is Apple partner with Microsoft to include iTunes with Windows.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why knock the service?
Uh oh! We don't want the FTC lawyers contacting Apple now, do we? In reality it would only help Apple to pay MS say, $5 per copy of Windows it ships to include iTunes preinstalled with a shortcut on the desktop. It's kind of like the spam , or shotgun approach. Throw out a bunch of product and a few people will bite.
Uh oh! We don't want the FTC lawyers contacting Apple now, do we? In reality it would only help Apple to pay MS say, $5 per copy of Windows it ships to include iTunes preinstalled with a shortcut on the desktop. It's kind of like the spam , or shotgun approach. Throw out a bunch of product and a few people will bite.
Microsoft and iTunes
Keep in mind that Microsoft is about to receive more legal action (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/32196.html) from EU for bundling *only* Windows Media Player on it's computer.
This is an opportunity. Apple *might* be able to get QuickTime and iTunes bundled with the OS if it acts on this quickly. Long shot, but it is a shot.
Jaedreth
Keep in mind that Microsoft is about to receive more legal action (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/32196.html) from EU for bundling *only* Windows Media Player on it's computer.
This is an opportunity. Apple *might* be able to get QuickTime and iTunes bundled with the OS if it acts on this quickly. Long shot, but it is a shot.
Jaedreth
jayscheuerle
macrumors 68020
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why knock the service?
In case you haven't noticed, Apple's computer business isn't doing so hot. Their cross-platform iPods are doing great and they're mostly bought by PC users.
Apple has failed beforeThe Cube (from a business standpoint, you zealots!)
IBM does not have a large market-share anymore, but in the beginning of the computer revolution (think 1982 or so), they were the PC maker. Everyone else who came along was the equivalent of UMAX for the Mac, just a clone maker.
Apple is still around because of their OS, not their machines, but they need to sell machines in order to finance their OS. Many people were happy running Apple clones that were sometimes better than Apple's offerings and many people now would jump on the chance to run OSX on a cheap PC box. Their hardware is pretty, but you wouldn't buy it if it only ran Windows.
The iTMS needs Windows users to survive the long run. Artists won't be flocking to Apple's door if a better solution that reaches the other 95% of the population comes along, regardless of who delivers it.
- j
In case you haven't noticed, Apple's computer business isn't doing so hot. Their cross-platform iPods are doing great and they're mostly bought by PC users.
Apple has failed beforeThe Cube (from a business standpoint, you zealots!)
IBM does not have a large market-share anymore, but in the beginning of the computer revolution (think 1982 or so), they were the PC maker. Everyone else who came along was the equivalent of UMAX for the Mac, just a clone maker.
Apple is still around because of their OS, not their machines, but they need to sell machines in order to finance their OS. Many people were happy running Apple clones that were sometimes better than Apple's offerings and many people now would jump on the chance to run OSX on a cheap PC box. Their hardware is pretty, but you wouldn't buy it if it only ran Windows.
The iTMS needs Windows users to survive the long run. Artists won't be flocking to Apple's door if a better solution that reaches the other 95% of the population comes along, regardless of who delivers it.
- j
Ipod in your car
To loveshismac:
You might already be aware of the iTrip from www.griffintechnology.com . but if you are not I highly reccommend it, for $35 you can broadcast your Ipod to your radio. It is great, and my PC friends are buying the Ipod just for that! Heck, if you have a few cars at a park you can sett them all to the same frequency and jam on all of them at once!
Hope this was not redundant.
Be Well
Turtle
To loveshismac:
You might already be aware of the iTrip from www.griffintechnology.com . but if you are not I highly reccommend it, for $35 you can broadcast your Ipod to your radio. It is great, and my PC friends are buying the Ipod just for that! Heck, if you have a few cars at a park you can sett them all to the same frequency and jam on all of them at once!
Hope this was not redundant.
Be Well
Turtle
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why knock the service?
Actually, I doubt any artists will pull support from any solution that brings in the revenue that the iTMS store does.
Furthermore, your assertion that Apple's computer business isn't doing so hot is barely anecdotal. It's just as easy to say their business is struggling as it is for anyone here to chalk it up to the entire economy is struggling. Purely escapist and highly cursory, neither are any closer to truth than the Megahertz Myth.
And from a "business standpoint," the only way the cube can be regarded as a failure is if it didn't reach the minimum market success planned before it launched. It's considerably unlikely that the cube was designed to be as successful as the iMac. While I'm sure expectations were higher than reality, i doubt anyone other than Steve Jobs believed the cube would be the Next Big Thing. Now if you're willing to state the Cube's 250,000 units sold failed to even return the initial investment, and prove it, then you might not have such a hard time substantiating your highly opinionated narratives to "zealots" and more level-headed individuals alike.
Additionally, Apple survives because of the Mac platform, not simply the hardware, or exclusively the OS. The Macintosh platform, as a platform, progresses far faster than the Wintel platform. It adopts newer technologies quickly (firewire, usb, wifi), eliminates legacy redundancies efficiently (serial, parallel, SCSII), transitions more effectively (Pre-PPC to PPC, OS 9 to OSX [all utilized emulation]), and integrates more seamlessly. The platform works concertedly to offset it's weakest link, the lack of raw CPU speeds, through OS optimizations(Altivec enhancement, preemptive multitasking), hardware adaptations (direct memory access, Quartz extreme), and software customizations (Altivec Enhancement).
Apple is surviving because of the exclusiveness of its brand image. Apple isn't in trouble because of its niche in the market. They're doing quite well because of it. A dedicated user-base, an appearance of quality and a reputation for elegance as well as extravagance are all qualities of a Luxury item provider, amongst the likes of Mercedes, Loiue Vaton, and Cartier, none of which are going out of business because they just sell cars, leather, or jewelry.
-Hertz
Actually, I doubt any artists will pull support from any solution that brings in the revenue that the iTMS store does.
Furthermore, your assertion that Apple's computer business isn't doing so hot is barely anecdotal. It's just as easy to say their business is struggling as it is for anyone here to chalk it up to the entire economy is struggling. Purely escapist and highly cursory, neither are any closer to truth than the Megahertz Myth.
And from a "business standpoint," the only way the cube can be regarded as a failure is if it didn't reach the minimum market success planned before it launched. It's considerably unlikely that the cube was designed to be as successful as the iMac. While I'm sure expectations were higher than reality, i doubt anyone other than Steve Jobs believed the cube would be the Next Big Thing. Now if you're willing to state the Cube's 250,000 units sold failed to even return the initial investment, and prove it, then you might not have such a hard time substantiating your highly opinionated narratives to "zealots" and more level-headed individuals alike.
Additionally, Apple survives because of the Mac platform, not simply the hardware, or exclusively the OS. The Macintosh platform, as a platform, progresses far faster than the Wintel platform. It adopts newer technologies quickly (firewire, usb, wifi), eliminates legacy redundancies efficiently (serial, parallel, SCSII), transitions more effectively (Pre-PPC to PPC, OS 9 to OSX [all utilized emulation]), and integrates more seamlessly. The platform works concertedly to offset it's weakest link, the lack of raw CPU speeds, through OS optimizations(Altivec enhancement, preemptive multitasking), hardware adaptations (direct memory access, Quartz extreme), and software customizations (Altivec Enhancement).
Apple is surviving because of the exclusiveness of its brand image. Apple isn't in trouble because of its niche in the market. They're doing quite well because of it. A dedicated user-base, an appearance of quality and a reputation for elegance as well as extravagance are all qualities of a Luxury item provider, amongst the likes of Mercedes, Loiue Vaton, and Cartier, none of which are going out of business because they just sell cars, leather, or jewelry.
-Hertz
jayscheuerle
macrumors 68020
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why knock the service?
Well stated of course, but...
I didn't say artist's would "pull" support from the iTMS. I said they wouldn't "flock" there. The difference is in the effort required. If Apple isn't compliant to a standard format, which will be determined by the % of adoption, not the quality rate, artist's will not make the "effort" to support Apple's store. Programmer's write to support Internet Explorer because everybody has it, not because it's the best browser.
Apple's tower sales had been flat before the introduction of the G5. iMac sales have fallen off dramatically as well. Only their notebooks have been doing well. The lack of tower sales had nothing to do with the state of the economy. A large part of the appeal of a computer like the iMac is its cutting edge design. Unfortunately, products like this need to be externally upgraded more often as they lose that appeal relatively quickly.
The cube was a failure in that it didn't live up to the numbers that Apple was hoping to sell. Not even close. Aside from that, it's still a beautiful machine with a devoted fan base and its design made the current iMac possible. It was simply priced too high and would have sold far more machines at 2/3 the price.
You really can't separate the Mac platform, but the desire to do so is widely heard. PC boards are full of people who would love to run OSX (providing it would run their Windows programs). Apple wasn't so quick at adopting USB2, CDRW, DDRAM or video-conferencing. Integration is expected when you control the hardware and the OS. Though I love OSX, its high overhead and system requirements only made the lack of raw CPU speed more evident. Many are hoping that the dual 2gHz G5 with 2 gigs of RAM can give OSX the snappiness that OS9 had with a 233 iMac.
Apple's brand image doesn't seem to permeate or resonate with many others than the installed fan base. Sure, there are switchers here, but the numbers show that many others have switched the other way. Unlike luxury car makers, Apple is dependent on others companies for its survival, namely software writers. If Apple's market share drops too low, software will not be written for the platform (save the iApps). Luxury cars drive on the same roads as econo-boxes. This is an often-used, but flawed analogy. There are some ultra-high end cars of which a half-dozen may be produced per year, but you can drive them anywhere. An OS without software feels a lot like loading up the OSX public beta gee, this is neat, but what can I do with it. Market share is important when you are depending on other companies to make an effort for you.
- j
Well stated of course, but...
I didn't say artist's would "pull" support from the iTMS. I said they wouldn't "flock" there. The difference is in the effort required. If Apple isn't compliant to a standard format, which will be determined by the % of adoption, not the quality rate, artist's will not make the "effort" to support Apple's store. Programmer's write to support Internet Explorer because everybody has it, not because it's the best browser.
Apple's tower sales had been flat before the introduction of the G5. iMac sales have fallen off dramatically as well. Only their notebooks have been doing well. The lack of tower sales had nothing to do with the state of the economy. A large part of the appeal of a computer like the iMac is its cutting edge design. Unfortunately, products like this need to be externally upgraded more often as they lose that appeal relatively quickly.
The cube was a failure in that it didn't live up to the numbers that Apple was hoping to sell. Not even close. Aside from that, it's still a beautiful machine with a devoted fan base and its design made the current iMac possible. It was simply priced too high and would have sold far more machines at 2/3 the price.
You really can't separate the Mac platform, but the desire to do so is widely heard. PC boards are full of people who would love to run OSX (providing it would run their Windows programs). Apple wasn't so quick at adopting USB2, CDRW, DDRAM or video-conferencing. Integration is expected when you control the hardware and the OS. Though I love OSX, its high overhead and system requirements only made the lack of raw CPU speed more evident. Many are hoping that the dual 2gHz G5 with 2 gigs of RAM can give OSX the snappiness that OS9 had with a 233 iMac.
Apple's brand image doesn't seem to permeate or resonate with many others than the installed fan base. Sure, there are switchers here, but the numbers show that many others have switched the other way. Unlike luxury car makers, Apple is dependent on others companies for its survival, namely software writers. If Apple's market share drops too low, software will not be written for the platform (save the iApps). Luxury cars drive on the same roads as econo-boxes. This is an often-used, but flawed analogy. There are some ultra-high end cars of which a half-dozen may be produced per year, but you can drive them anywhere. An OS without software feels a lot like loading up the OSX public beta gee, this is neat, but what can I do with it. Market share is important when you are depending on other companies to make an effort for you.
- j
A reason why it won´t? The link to the support page doesnt work, but it seems the pleasure of RealOne mp3´s with the following SD/MMC card capacity @128Kbps is
32MB 30 minutes
64MB 60 "
128MB 120 "
Re: Not on a bet.
or you can go to bbc.co.uk then to audio/video and then download realplayer without the hasle. isnt amazing how another website promotes the simplicity of realplayer installation
or you can go to bbc.co.uk then to audio/video and then download realplayer without the hasle. isnt amazing how another website promotes the simplicity of realplayer installation
While I am a big fan of iTMS, I woudln't knock the listen.com service as a"knockoff" or anything, since it's been around before the iTunes store was. It's actually not a terrible service, especially if you have an always on service, like I do at college. you can listen to cds without downloading, and the quality is good. However, since I got my iPod, I like to listen to my music in the car. This makes the iTMS the better service for me. It's whatever works best for people.