Should Apple adopt Real's AACs to work with iPods?

[dukemeiser]

Apple has already said that the iTMS isn't for making a profit. Its purpose is to sell iPods. If that truly was its purpose, then wouldn't it make sense to support Real's music too? That would certainly push AAC into greater adoption, and WMA into greater obscurity. Or should Apple just support their own DRM only?

 

[Sun Baked]

How much would you be willing to pay Apple for using Real's DRM?

Unless Real is willing to give it away for free, which is doubtful -- since they're probaby making money on each Real DRM player sold.

 

[dukemeiser]

How many Real audio players do you know of? But if they released their own player, then I could see why they would keep the DRM to themselves.

But does anyone actually think Real will succeed with their own player? I think the only way their store will succeed is if they open it up to the iPod, or Apple opens the iPod up to them.

 

[Nermal]

I don't know how Real expect to succeed without iPod compatibility. However, they do have one thing going for them - their AACs are at 160 kb/s. I have one, but unfortunately can't get it to play on my Mac (QuickTime says it's not a valid MPEG-4 file, and RealPlayer says it can't find a decoder for "raac").

 

[rainman::|:|]

Overall, i'd say Apple shouldn't touch real's aac. since it has a proprietary DRM on it, it's going to fail-- there's not enough incentive in Apple trying to promote it simply because it's AAC as well. at this point, i don't think AAC needs to be proven as a good standard, it's accepted as one of the next-gen formats... so it all comes down to DRM.

It's cute that Real did this. but especially with the lawsuit that they're engaged with against MS, they should be saving their money and looking into something new and revolutionary, rather than trying to creep into markets that they can't compete in.

paul

 

[Edot]

Quality

Originally posted by Nermal
I don't know how Real expect to succeed without iPod compatibility. However, they do have one thing going for them - their AACs are at 160 kb/s. I have one, but unfortunately can't get it to play on my Mac (QuickTime says it's not a valid MPEG-4 file, and RealPlayer says it can't find a decoder for "raac").

I'm sure Apple has encoded all of the songs on iTMS at multiple bit rates. When faster internet connections start to become popular and competition on quality like Real are issues then Apple will update the store to reflect high quality songs. They are stupid not to have done the encoding already. It would be cool to be able to upgrade all of your songs for a small fee or for free! I think that would be unlikely though.

 

[Nermal]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
Overall, i'd say Apple shouldn't touch real's aac. since it has a proprietary DRM on it, it's going to fail-- there's not enough incentive in Apple trying to promote it simply because it's AAC as well. at this point, i don't think AAC needs to be proven as a good standard, it's accepted as one of the next-gen formats... so it all comes down to DRM.

Interesting, you're taking a different approach than me.

As I see it, Apple should support the Real AAC. Apple has stated that iTMS doesn't make money, and that it exists to sell iPods. If the Real music store is compatible with the iPod, then surely it would also help to sell iPods?

 

[jholzner]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
Overall, i'd say Apple shouldn't touch real's aac. since it has a proprietary DRM on it, it's going to fail-- there's not enough incentive in Apple trying to promote it simply because it's AAC as well. at this point, i don't think AAC needs to be proven as a good standard, it's accepted as one of the next-gen formats... so it all comes down to DRM.

It's cute that Real did this. but especially with the lawsuit that they're engaged with against MS, they should be saving their money and looking into something new and revolutionary, rather than trying to creep into markets that they can't compete in.

paul

Apple's DRM is proprietary as well. I think they should support it. At least Real is suing a standard...even if the DRM does make it basically worthless (the use of the standard that is).

 

[slowtreme]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
Overall, i'd say Apple shouldn't touch real's aac. since it has a proprietary DRM on it, it's going to fail--

How is Real's proprietary DRM different from Apple's proprietary DRM different from Microsoft's proprietary DRM? It's Rights Management, and no one shares. It's kinda the point.

All these companies are locking you into using thier system to authenticate a protected file. So are they ALL going to fail? Am I going to lose the ability to listen to my music? Probably. Who is going to fail first? Usually it's the first to market company that get's burned when another creates a bigger better cheaper product.

 

[ITR 81]

Originally posted by Nermal
Interesting, you're taking a different approach than me.

As I see it, Apple should support the Real AAC. Apple has stated that iTMS doesn't make money, and that it exists to sell iPods. If the Real music store is compatible with the iPod, then surely it would also help to sell iPods?

Agreed. Apple will more likely include Real's AAC DRM for the iPod then include say the WMA DRM.

Apple is looking for support with the AAC format and Real maybe that support it needs.

 

[dukemeiser]

Although Apple says the iTMS doesn't make a profit, this could change very soon. I would say it doesn't make a profit now because it hasn't broken free of the initial setup cost, and other costs associated with starting something new. But very soon, those costs will be surpassed by the volume of downloads. At 2 million a week, they should be at least breaking even pretty soon. And with the Pepsi promo, HP promo, AOL promo, [someother company] promos in the future, the I think the iTMS will start turning a profit. And when it does that, then Apple won't want to support it's competitors like Real if it can make money with its own store.

So for right now, I'd say we won't see any Real support in iPods. I think once these other companies (like Real and the other WMA services) start to realize they will never catch up to the leader (Apple), or make money with their current format, we might see those companies switching to AAC with Fairplay. Then it would be compatible with the iPod, and then people would take them seriously. This is probably Apple's current hope, since (I assume) it would license Fairplay to those companies and make money from their sales.