Tech Industry
07/29/2003, 6:00pm, EDT
Tuesday, July 29th[::FROM::] [::SiteName::]
Apple to fight piracy by competing
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The way to go after illegal file sharing services is to compete with them, says Peter Lowe, Apple's Director of Marketing for Applications and Services. This can be done by offering quality and speed that is greater than that of file-swapping services, Lowe says. In the view of Apple, people use these services because they are quick, not because they are free. Lowe also stated that "we fundamentally believe subscriptions are the wrong path," because "that's not what consumers are doing offline [when they buy music]."
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But "quick" does not necessarily trump "free" all the time, particularly if you are a teenager with loads of free time. I mean, people are spending HOURS upon HOURS ripping, transcoding, uploading or downloading mainstream movies they could buy at OmniBlobCorp for $10-15. This makes NO SENSE -- unless you make less than $5/hour.
I think Apple's strategy will work well with people who have any level of discretionary income, some ethics, and taste.
But that still leaves about 50% of America unaccounted for. :)
posted by MacNN.com Reader
posted by MacNN.com Reader
Heck, say you're only going to watch the movie once; then you might as well rent it for a dollar or so--even at my relatively low wage, that's only 5 minutes of time.
That said, if you get that much of a kick out of theivery, then iTMS or anything else isn't going to stop you. The business iTMS wants is mine--I download songs occasionally, simply because if there's something I want to hear it's worth the few minutes of hunting to save myself $15 on a CD I don't want, and the week of waiting for the CD to be delivered or the time to go to a store and buy it.
But let me find the song in 30 seconds and buy it for a buck, and why not--it's easier than a fileswapping network, the quality is better, and it's legal.
What Apple hasn't addressed (yet) are the situations where file swapping is essentially the ONLY choice; I'm an anime fan, so let's say I want an obscure foreign soundtrack that isn't available in the US. If, on the off chance I can even find it here, it's going to cost me upwards of $30 for a legal import CD. Give me the chance to buy THAT for a dollar, and I'll be spending piles of cash willingly.
Apple's nowhere near that level of ultimate selection yet, but I can dream, and hope.
posted by MacNN.com Reader
absolutely. if i could download import albums (anime or otherwise) for $10-15, instead of going to places like cdjapan.co.jp and paying $30+ that would be fantastic...
posted by MacNN.com Reader
posted by MacNN.com Reader
Think about it. Even the entry level iPod holds 2,500 songs. So to fill it up (legally) with music from the iTunes store would cost an astounding $2500. That's a lot of money to spend on music.
And this is exactly why people steal the music. They either don't have the money or don't want to part with the money to get it legally. Make it easy and cheap and people will use it.
posted by MacNN.com Reader
posted by MacNN.com Reader
posted by MacNN.com Reader
posted by MacNN.com Reader
stop it.
its a slow tax on the rest of us.
posted by MacNN.com Reader