Job's Thoughts on Music

[noddin0ff]

Apple's Steve Jobs put out a statement suggesting that the music industry drop DRM. It's a good primer on why Apple and others don't license their DRM systems and why things are the way they are. Generally and interesting read.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

[kexodusc]

More finger pointing. Jobs is good at spin doctoring when he needs to be. The EU nations are poised to challenge Apple for attempting vendor lock-in, the same way Windows tried it with IE.
I don't really care if the 2 are comparable situations, but Jobs is deflecting the criticism of his own company here more than offering himself to be champion of the anti-DRM crowd. Let's not canonize him yet.

He's got a few good points though. That's why this will probably resonate with alot of people.
On the flip-side, if the record companies abandon DRM attempts, I wonder if that will just be seen as them throwing in the towel and consenting or accepting piracy implicitly? I think it would. That's probably why they're fighting a battle they know they can't win.

Oh well, wonder how or if Bill Gates will respond to this? Vista is all about DRM.

Interesting - Microsoft positions itself as champions of "intellectual property" and rights, to the pleasure of the big media corps, now Apple endorses the opposite. Man, that's marketing.

[basite]

... and that's why sooner or later, it will dissappear automattically.

people don't want it, and it only makes your pc slower, and makes your pc stored songs harder to play...


it's already on it's death row...


Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[noddin0ff]

Well, I don't think the two are comparable. But I do think it is a timely remark in light of the EU challenge.

However, I don't think the EU challenge has any legitimacy. There’s no monopoly on what music you can play on an iPod. People can buy the same music from another source and play it on an iPod. If you go to a Honda dealership, they only sell parts for Honda automobiles; you go to the iTunes store they only sell music that works on an iPod. The iPod still works if you never by the music from the store. The software to interface with the iPod is free and cross-platform.

But, yeah, he’s certainly playing to the masses that want an end to DRM. He’s not the leader/visionary in this regard. But he’s certainly prominent and like any businessman, he’s shrewd and says things that could benefit his company. No crime that.