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About this siteFor six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul Wednesday, August 04, 2004Finding Harmony in the World of Online MusicConnected Home Media: "It's a classic case of lock-in. If you want an iPod, you're stuck with Apple's online music store. If you want to buy music from Apple's online music store, you have to buy an iPod. This lock-in is a key part of Apple's strategy. It's also decidedly antichoice, which is what rankles me. Looking at Apple's financials, you can see pretty clearly that the company makes little or no money on its online music store, but the company is raking it in with the iPod. Why not open up the iPod so that users can purchase songs from other stores? That would benefit consumers, and it would arguably rejuvenate the music industry, since various online stores would be able to attract iPod owners. And it certainly wouldn't hurt Apple. Apple, so far, has said that it wants no part of that plan, and it's a curious decision for a company that has touted its pro-consumer roots. Fortunately for consumers, however, another company has called Apple's bluff."With the understanding that this is going to cause a lot of negative feedback, I've taken Real's side in the Apple/Real "Harmony" debate. My take on this is that Apple's closed system will ultimately harm users and that, in an open world, the best solution should have to compete in order to win. Heck, iTunes might very well be that winner, and that'd be just fine. But in the end, I have to side with consumers, and not with any one company. We should at least have a choice. [ Posted at 3:52 PM | Permalink ]
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