Exchange Server Pro » Apple

Avoiding the Apple iTunes Tax

Paul Cunningham — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:45:19 +0000

Apple’s recent announcement that the iTunes Music Store is going DRM-free has enjoyed mixed reactions from the public. Most people are happy that all iTunes music purchased will be DRM-free from the end of Q1 2009, with about 80% being DRM-free now. Many people (myself included) bought iTunes music prior to (or despite) the availability of Amazon’s MP3 store that has been DRM-free since launch (although only available to US customers).

Techcrunch notes that going DRM-free may net Apple and the record companies a cool $1.8 billion dollars thanks to the 30c upgrade fee.

Anyone who wants to upgrade their entire existing iTunes Library to DRM-free versions of the same songs, can conveniently do so with one click. But it is going to cost you 30 cents a track to do so. That’s right, you have to pay again for songs you already bought. Let’s see, 6 billion songs X 30 cents = $1.8 billion in potential upgrade fees. That’s a music tax, plain and simple. No wonder the music companies finally relented.

Of course there have always been options available for converting iTunes DRM-protected music to DRM-free simply by using the “burn and rip method” or use a program like TuneClone which creates a virtual CD burner for converting music to DRM-free MP3 files.

The advantage of paying the 30c upgrade fee is you receive a higher bit rate version of the song compared to a “burn and rip” conversion. For people who notice the difference and enjoy high quality audio this may be worth the cost. Then again these people probably already ripped higher bit rate songs from CDs they purchased, or bought most of their music from Amazon instead.

I own maybe 10 or 20 purchased songs so paying the few dollars to upgrade might just be easier.

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

The iTunes Genius isn’t

Paul Cunningham — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:12:21 +0000

I get this for the dozen songs I’ve tried so far, and that includes songs I’ve bought from the iTunes Store. Great.

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

Thinking of upgrading to iTunes 8? Think again.

Paul Cunningham — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:13:56 +0000

Ed Bott of ZDNet takes a deeper look at reports of iTunes 8 causing crashes on Windows computers.

Once again, Apple is using its automatic update process to deliver massive amounts of new software to users, including a device driver that has a long and checkered history of causing the Blue Screen Of Death to appear. And it’s delivering this massive payload without even a pretense of proper disclosure and without asking consent from its users.

Read the rest here.

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

iTunes Vista x64 version

Paul Cunningham — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:52:25 +0000

This…

…does not compute with this…

Good one Apple.

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

Macbook Air vs Lenovo X300

Paul Cunningham — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:53:27 +0000

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

I don’t write about Apple products

Paul Cunningham — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:09:14 +0000

Even though I own an Apple computer (a G4 iBook) and am on my second iPod I just never write about Apple products on here. There isn’t much to write about I guess. The iBook is used for Garageband, the iPod syncs to a Windows computer to make sure I’ve got enough podcasts and music to get through the daily train ride to and from the office, and thats about it. I never use the iBook for general computing and even though iTunes runs like an old shopping trolley and regularly forgets my settings I don’t see the need to constantly complain about it here.

But that is not to say I don’t try to keep up with developments in the Apple universe. I listen to Macbreak Weekly and Windows Weekly each week (Windows Weekly includes a lot of Apple news funnily enough) and I am considering a Mac Pro for my next home computer… er, in a year or two.

So like most other people I’ve found the release of the Macbook Air pretty interesting and the mix of positive and negative press about it to be pretty amusing (the higher the expectations the worse the review basically). Until now though I hadn’t laughed at review like I did with Guy Kawasaki’s post about his purchase of an Air.

Day 7: Having read all the specs and reviews about the Air, decide that this “no-compromise” machine has way too many compromises. For example, no Ethernet, no CD/DVD drive, tiny hard disk/solid-state drive (I have forty gigabytes of pictures alone), incompatible with my 30-inch Apple monitor, and a ridiculous new power supply.

Day 22: Go to Apple store “just to look at it.” End up buying it.

Day 27: New sense of freedom because new MacBook Pro is gone. Still, man cannot live on Air alone, so what’s going to be my “main” computer with a big hard disk? Back to Apple store. Buy an iMac and while there, some bling for my Air: external drive, two power supplies, and Ethernet connector. Did Apple hire some MBA from Gilette who thinks the real money is in power supplies, not computers? The next time Steve buys a pair of New Balances, I hope his old socks don’t work with them.

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

Exchange Server Pro » Apple

Avoiding the Apple iTunes Tax

Related posts:

The iTunes Genius isn’t

Related posts:

Thinking of upgrading to iTunes 8? Think again.

Related posts:

iTunes Vista x64 version

Related posts:

Macbook Air vs Lenovo X300

Related posts:

I don’t write about Apple products

Related posts: