Apple was never obligated to support it, nor did Palm ask them to. However, Apple didn't have to go out of their way to block it, either.
Palm (and everyone else) would have been just fine with Apple ignoring it.
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USB Compliance Organization Sides With Apple in Palm Pre Syncing Dispute
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Apple was never obligated to support it, nor did Palm ask them to. However, Apple didn't have to go out of their way to block it, either.
Palm (and everyone else) would have been just fine with Apple ignoring it.
Palm has nothing to do with Apple or iTunes. iTunes isn't their software, and they have as much right to it as I have to your car. It's pretty simple.
Why did Apple go out of their way to block it? I don't know. Who cares? It's a moot point since it's completely up to them. Besides, anyone who sneakily attempts to circumvent Apple like that should be blocked anyway.
RIM found an equitable solution, for example, available to Palm as well. But Palm wanted to provide the full iTunes experience to users in order to somehow stimulate lousy sales. Palm got a bit too greedy for its own good and paid for it.
Open and shut case. It couldn't be simpler.
Then why is Palm fighting tooth and nail and even crying to mommy (USB compliance) that Apple isn't sharing its self earned cookies. Besides, you leave out the fact that iTunes stores its files in plain folders and not a proprietary database, ergo the syncing function is reserved for those popular Apple branded devices you mention.
I just plugged in my iPhone and it seems that from the time the Pre has been introduced, I havn't been hit in the fray (maybe time wasted due to reading about this stuff). Perhaps i'm in the minority but I usually don't expect to see products from competing vendors work well with each other, and i'm strangely ok with my PS3 controller not working on my xbox.
You may want to read up on exactly what happened.
Apple didn't explicitly block anyone, they merely strengthened the authentication methods to detect their own devices. If palm can't get in coughreverseengineercough the new detection used then that's their issue.
Of course they would. And then zunes would start pretending to be apple products. Which is probably what would have happened.
This was all about palm buying time until they wrote their own sync to iTunes software(just like RIM's). They obviously didn't have resources prior to pre launch day.
It also raised their media profile.
This sums it up. Without this controversy, the Pre would already have been forgotten.
I think it would be great to have more devices work with iTunes. This is really more sad since the decision (which I imagine isn't binding in any way) says Apple can just make iTunes work exclusively with Apple products. I have stopped buying and using iTunes for that reason.
The problem with the logic that "its Apple's software they can do whatever they want with it" argument is that iTunes has become a de facto standard for internet music purchases and management.
If Microsoft said you can ONLY use internet explorer, and purposely blocked all other internet browsers from running on the platform, using the aforementioned logic, it would be fine because it's Microsoft's software.
Apple has a near monopoly on internet music purchases, and it is their responsibility (as a market leader) to encourage competition. Apple is completely guilty of anti-competitive practices, and it's a bit frightening to me that everyone is so OK with this. You should be able to (at the very least) be able to use any device to sync your music to itunes. There shouldn't be a need for third party software to achieve this. Palm made it work, and Apple is purposely thwarting their efforts. Totally unacceptable.
If Microsoft said you can ONLY use internet explorer, and purposely blocked all other internet browsers from running on the platform, using the aforementioned logic, it would be fine because it's Microsoft's software.
Apple has a near monopoly on internet music purchases, and it is their responsibility (as a market leader) to encourage competition. Apple is completely guilty of anti-competitive practices, and it's a bit frightening to me that everyone is so OK with this. You should be able to (at the very least) be able to use any device to sync your music to itunes. There shouldn't be a need for third party software to achieve this. Palm made it work, and Apple is purposely thwarting their efforts. Totally unacceptable.
maybe its Palm you should stop buying (if you have), since they're the ones who are choosing to not support the products they are unloading on customers. instead they think it's apple's job to invest $$ in software, provide it free of charge, and sit back and let Palm reap all the benefits.
this would all go away if Palm would just support their own freakin' products and write their own software. OR, use the XML that apple does provide to gain access to the itunes library like ALL the other vendors out there not in a position, like Palm apparently, to write their own software.
i'm not even going to try and pick this apart, other than to say you obviously have no clue what you're talking about.
edit:
okay, the pressure is getting to me. i can't let this slide.
apple DOES allow third party access to itunes through XML. educate yourself about it, then come back here and provide a response to the rest of us.
secondly, when did Palm, or anyone else for that matter, fork over one cent to Apple to help pay for continued development of itunes. it's hands down Apple's software, and they can write it to support whatever devices they want. period, end of story. there is no argument on the planet that can upstage that one simple fact.
thirdly, just because apple has been successful means that they should encourage competition?!?!?! what?!?!?!?! do explain where you see this done in ANY industry on the planet.
lastly, i'm glad you came by today. had you not been here none of us wouldve ever noticed that apple is "completely guilty of anti-competitive practices...." i highly encourage you to report this to the authorities, i'm sure theyll love to hear all the juicy evidence you'll be able to supply them, that i'm sure they've NEVER tried to find, since as all of us know Apple has never been looked at with a fine toothed comb before.
OBJECTION! Sorry I had to do it.
Anyway, see the relevance:
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
Microsoft Windows
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml
All in plain sight just waiting to be touched.
But they can,...
Some choose to other don't.
Apple doesn't even charge a fee*, all the documentation is right there for your use. Just sign up for a Developer Account. They want you to do it that way not to protect themselves but to protect the user from things breaking.
You do it the right way, they promise not to break stuff. Well not deliberately or without telling the public/mailing list.
Maybe had to switch on vendor code checking to avoid confusion between devices that worked the right way. We don't really know.
So many people just want to do it the easy way instead of the right way.
*Depending what your doing you may need xCode which requires you to buy a Mac. New or Second hand is fine.
Try telling that to Apple when the first few Pre users who have trouble with Palm-iTunes syncing go to them for support.
You can take non-DRM music from iTunes and put it on any player (you can even do it with DRMed music, although the process isn't nice). Direct connection to iTunes is never required. There really is no basis for complaint here. It's all just whining from entitlement.
Edit: And actually, encouraging competition would be to have Palm write their own software. That's kind of the point of competition; copying everyone else or freeloading off their investments isn't competition.
Heck, Palm could always just use Apple's open and accessible iTunesMusicLibrary.xml file and standard directory structure, like all the other developers whose products already sync with iTunes.
There's a company that sells an application to sync iTunes with lots of devices, including the Pre. Their program has Mac and Windows versions, and doesn't violate the USB standard.
Makes me wish I'd thought of the idea to write the software that Palm wouldn't, then sell it to Pre users.
Rumor: webOS 1.2.1 Delayed, but Will Fix iTunes Sync
Precentral Just Posted This:
Quote:
From: http://www.precentral.net/
Oh, and though it's not the source of the delay, webOS 1.2.1 should re-enable iTunes sync.
"Why isn't iTunes sync the cause of the delay? Because so far it's taken very little of Palm's resources to keep it up and running, says the tipster:
Time it took for Palm Developers to re-enable iTunes sync for webOS 1.1: about five minutes (they just had to change the Vendor ID, after all)
Time it took for Palm Developers to re-enable iTunes sync for webOS 1.2.1: just shy of two and a half hours (we'll be extremely curious to see if this is true and how they did it)
Time it will take the next time (and there will be a next time): totally unclear, but Palm is committed to keep doing it until that time estimate gets to be something over a 40 man-hours or so."
I wonder how this will Pan Out?
Precentral Just Posted This:
Quote:
From: http://www.precentral.net/
Oh, and though it's not the source of the delay, webOS 1.2.1 should re-enable iTunes sync.
"Why isn't iTunes sync the cause of the delay? Because so far it's taken very little of Palm's resources to keep it up and running, says the tipster:
Time it took for Palm Developers to re-enable iTunes sync for webOS 1.1: about five minutes (they just had to change the Vendor ID, after all)
Time it took for Palm Developers to re-enable iTunes sync for webOS 1.2.1: just shy of two and a half hours (we'll be extremely curious to see if this is true and how they did it)
Time it will take the next time (and there will be a next time): totally unclear, but Palm is committed to keep doing it until that time estimate gets to be something over a 40 man-hours or so."
I wonder how this will Pan Out?