On 2009-06-30, Todd Allcock <elecconnec@aNOoSPAMl.com> wrote:
> Yes, but Palm took it a step further, didn't they, and added syncing as well.
> That's what triggered the threat- if the iTunes store is more about
> supporting high-margin iPod hardware sales than a profit center in its own
> right, Apple has a vested interest in keeping it "in the family" rather
> than allow it to become a generic music sync tool like Windows Media Player
> is.

Well, yes, of course. That's my point - even though it's not
necessarily in their own interests, Apple did what was in their
customers' interests and changed iTunes to deliver DRM-free music.
Once they did that, it became impossible for them to prevent other
companies making their devices sync with that music - whether
directly through iTunes or through some tiny add-on makes little
difference.

>> > If Palm had built the Pre to sync with Zune, MS would be dancing in the
>> > streets because it would mean someone might actually use it!
>>
>> I thought Microsoft had shut down their music sales business?
>
> Not at all. They're stil pushing their $15/month unlimited download
> subscription service.

I was thinking of "MSN Music store", which they shut down.
When they did so, they screwed over everyone who had ever bought music
from it, by shutting down the DRM servers too.

>> Apparently it does make a difference, because as you say people
>> wouldn't tolerate it on a desktop computer, but most people seem to be
>> fine with it on the iPhone or on games consoles.
>
> I'm not so sure. The jailbreak community is small by comparision, but it
> exists because NOT everyone is "satisfied."

I did deliberately say "most people" not "all people" ;-)

> The iPhone is a huge success _despite_ its flaws and limitations,
> not _because_ of them!

I think you have that wrong. Everything about the iPhone is a
compromise between the competing interests of mobile phone companies,
media companies, consumers, and Apple itself. I think Apple have done
a pretty good job of balancing these interests, and this is what has
lead directly to the iPhone being a success.

For example, the iPhone has the "flaw/limitation" that you can't
tether it (or, in 3.0, you can but only if the carrier lets you).
This is obviously done to make the carriers happy, but in return
it means that iPhone carrier contracts tend to offer genuinely
unlimited data access (barring roaming). So this "flaw" enables
a benefit for the consumer (no hidden/unexpected charges).

> I'm certainly not making a case to close the app store! It's a
> phenominal idea, executed well. I'm just asking why distribution
> is _limited_ to it (for all intents- I'm ignoring internal corporate
> distribution as outside the point of this discussion.)

Why are you asking this when you know the answer? (a) Apple want to
protect the reputation of their product (which is a reasonable goal),
and (b) they make a margin on all sales (which in my view is
reasonable for the service that they are providing the app developer).

You're perfectly free to disagree with their decision and say they
should have done something else, but it's fairly obvious why they
have done things the way they have, and I don't think any of it
is particularly consumer-hostile.

> Those ARE wiped out with every upgrade!

Ah, OK, I haven't tried jailbreaking my phone. I just haven't heard of
any complaints from jailbreak users due to Apple going out of their
way to stop them. At the very least, for example, when updating the
iPhone OS iTunes could detect the jailbreak and refuse to update
("phone in non-standard state, warranty voided, cannot upgrade").

With other phones, unlocking them was always a rather nervous affair
as there was the possibility of bricking the phone or causing some
other hard-to-undo problem, but with the iPhone as far as I'm aware it
doesn't matter what you do, you can always just reset and restore from
backup. It practically encourages hacking! ;-)

> (Though you can't really blame Apple- an pgrade wipes the entire
> device, and only Apple's excellent backup/restore mechanism in
> iTunes gives the illusion the OS is upgraded "in place" without
> disturbing data. The data, in fact, is simply restored.

Indeed, it is very pleasing when I get a replacement phone and
I take it out of the box, plug it into iTunes and twenty minutes later
it's magically turned into "my" phone. So much better than previous
phones I had where I had to spend ages re-entering my entire contact
list.