iTunes for Windows is going to change the world

Apple iTunes vs. BuyMusic.com

Published on October 16, 2003 By Draginol In Personal Computing

Apple is going to get rich off of iTunes on Windows. Let me just start with that.

I downloaded iTunes for Windows. I've used it on my Mac for awhile and it's basically identical on the PC to its Mac incarnation. And it makes sampling of music, purchasing, and downloading so seamless at such a reasonable price that excuse for pirating music is gone. This makes it so easy and convenient that people will be buying music in vast numbers. It's a win-win situation that I think will eventually become Apple's main business. In time I can see this being expanded into DVD videos, software, and beyond.

Now, before the email starts pouring in, yes, I've tried some of the other alternatives already. On Windows, I've been using BuyMusic.com. It's nowhere near as seamless an experience. The integration between the player and the store makes a big difference that favors iTune. One click purchase and download is a big deal.

But BuyMusic has some advantages over iTunes that need to be brought up. To do that, let me explain the difference between the "Windows people" vs. Apple.

When you buy a song from BuyMusic.com you download a .WMA file with digital rights management on (i.e. copy protection). From Windows Media Player, you can burn a CD with it, play it, or copy it to a portable MP3 device that supports Digital Rights Management (none of my portable MP3 players support DRM WMA's -- only standard .WMA files).

What that means is that Apple and Microsoft are actually closer together in the race for mass acceptance of their formats. Sure, .WMA has a lot more support than .m4p/AAC but what you're downloading from places like BuyMusic might as well be called .Whatever because as far as the average user is concerned, DRM protected .WMA files are a totally different format. They won't play on most portable MP3 players. You can't burn them to CD with most CD ROM burners right now.

So in essence, Apple and Microsoft are starting out at the same point. The question is who will be able to get wider industry support faster? Apple with .m4p/AAC or Microsoft with DRM WMAs? Apple has a leg up because of the iPod and iTunes includes a rather nice CD-ROM burner in it.

The bottom line is that Apple is in very good shape with iTunes. It works fantastically so far (better for me than it does on the Mac where I get weird copying problems and songs aborting early for no apparent reason -- <note to Mac fanatics: Yes, I'm sure I'm the only one who is running into that despite the posts on Dejanews and on Mac tech sites of people having the same problem>). It makes purchasing easy and tempting.

Today is a good day for Apple Computer.

Comments

Mr Meistro

on Oct 16, 2003

I've been using http://www.allofmp3.com/index2.shtml for the last year or so and can't think of a reason to use anything else. It's cheaper, easier and doesn't require the downloading of any software.
They don't have all the new crap that the kiddies listen to but they have much of it...and loads of classics too.

KarmaGirl

on Oct 17, 2003

After using it for about ten minutes (which was about all the time I have had so far to play with it) I can easily see where you can spend a lot of money in a hurry using this. It's just way to easy...... The iTunes player seems extremely slick, too.

Chris

on Oct 17, 2003

I've heard that iTunes for Windows is a real CPU hog though I haven't had a chance to test it out myself. I'm interested, but not really in any rush. Most of the music I get anymore is better off in full album format and I can get them for $8-10 since they're underground.

Mr. Meistro

on Oct 17, 2003

Try www.allofmp3.com. Entire albums are about 75 cents, you can choose the format and quality and there is no bulky software to download. Selection is good and updated daily.

Lisa

on Oct 17, 2003

When is it going to be available for persons outside the US?
It's really disappointing when something like this occurs in the USA, and then us other mortals outside of the USA try to utilise said service or make a purchase only to be told we need to have a US credit card. What's the problem with our credit in the rest of the world?

Gamefreak99

on Oct 17, 2003

Exactly what I was saying the other day: Apple will become rich very fast. The iPod is pretty much the best mp3 player out there now and now has windows supposed. On top of that, iTunes for the Mac and Windows os (Linux later?). They got several things right with iTunes. First off, no sign up or monthly fee. Why should we have to pay you to be able to buy things from you? Next, the free little 10-40 second snipits of songs lets you hear it so you know what you're getting. A flat rate for each song, just a buck. And, we can burn them and do whatever else we need. Someone said something today about accessing songs from any computer with iTunes which I don't know much about but sounds very good also in case you accidently delete your mp3 or whatever. It's just like I told my friend, "[In your opinion] Macs may be better but 3/4's of the worlds computers are run on the Windows os and untill Mac can adapt to that they won't make the big bucks."

jark

on Oct 17, 2003

http://www.yellowalien.net/journal/1289949/

posted a somewhat indepth look at my first impressions of iTunes.

KarmaGirl

on Oct 22, 2003

After using iTunes for a few days, it appears to work quite well. I enjoy the features that it has, and it doesn't seem to be any type of resource hog. I wonder how th PC sales relate to the mac sales for songs?

Technician

on Oct 26, 2003

I did run into the same problem Lisa had with credit cards.
Bought DVDs for years from a US retailer then they decided Canadian credit cards are no good.

As far as iTunes I think it is great but it will hardly change the world.

I think most people do not have the time or any real reason to look for and download music from
anywhere.

I Listen to music everyday but like lots of people use a radio.

Now I buy CDs but say if I want a song like George Jones "She thinks I still care".

Will I be able to download it I really doubt it, so I buy a CD of George Jones classics
and support the artist.

It is funny Americans are always talking about how high tech they are but they still use
cash for most purchases. I think you will see more benifits being able to use bank cards
for your purchases rather than worrying about downloading stuff.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!