News Rumour: Google woos iTMS?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/08/16/Possible_Google_ITMS/

 

*drool*

I'm the first to say I'm an iTunes fanboy. I hate the DRM, but the music quality and ease are just worth it. This would be a great step.

Now, to make a point for discussion that may actually keep us from jumping on the (anti/pro) macophile fanwagon:

Even outside of iTunes, this is a big step forward in bringing the general consciousness towards digital music as a whole. My grandma may not know about iTunes, but she does know about google. Putting the two together may bridge a gap for people who are not yet sure whether there is a predominant format that is going to be the next step forward.

Will this make .AAC the format of choice for digital downloads in the future? You have to admit, it's a huge marketing step...and though MP3 is without DRM, AAC can have it removed and has higher fidelity/size. If this happens, it's going to take an act of marketing genious to keep other companies from wanting to (at the very least) license the .AAC technology for their players.

 

But Apple does not even have a patent for iTunes, Microsoft does =DDD MS went and patented the idea 2 months before Apple. I see big storm comming up.

 

Incorrect.

A Microsoft employee filed 5 months before Apple on the iPod interface, not the iTMS. That's a seperate battle.

 

And, the patent was filed by M$ before it was filed by apple, but it was filed after the ipod came out. A little hard to say you 'invented' an interface that's already on the market.....

 

Personally I dislike this idea as I find the itunes software horrible and not very easy to use at all. I also dislike the .acc format for its DRM and the fact it doesnt play in my car MP3 player, and there is no way on this earth I am going to purchase an iPod.
However, I do feel that in some way it will be good, bringing legal downloads to the masses where before for most they probably didnt know about it.

 

Just so that nobody gets confused - AAC (The open Advanced Audio Coding developed by Dolby) does not contain DRM - it allows for DRM in the same way that MP3 allows for id tags. Not all AAC has DRM - only the legally purchased AAC music you buy from the iTunes Music Store has DRM.

This DRM is not really an argument against the format, as all music legally purchased online contains DRM. (And no - the sites in Russia don't count as 'legal' unless you live in a country that either doesn't care about copyright protections or has other methods in place to ensure that the artists get paid.)

 

Once again!!!...

 

Totally off topic -

Goo - your weird plush cthulhu avatar is really starting to creep me out.

What is he? A cthulhu tourist?

Have you read any of that stuff?


Edit - I found him - he's here:
http://www.hplovecraft-fr.com/galerie/atkinson/original/Cthulhu.jpg

 

Love google, HATE itunes with a passion. Worst software I've ever tried to use without the slightest thought of a question. Doom3 in second but for irritation, not difficulty, but in any case a different story.

But as long as me searching for song lyrics or anything that's ever appeared in any song doesn't give fifty "download the song for a buck using gTunes" sponsored links first or something, I don't really care. In fact I'd probably be well off investing in google, seeing as if it goes through their stock will most likely go up quite a bit.

I'll still pirate all my music. Since having found .flac versions of some CDs, without the DRM, and for free, I'd rather not pay Apple to give me a lossy format (or are their downloads lossless? I know most places are plain mp3 in any case) and not have the media for it. If I'm going to pay, it'll be at the store that has the CD for the lowest price, not on some legal download.

 

Apple is AAC, which is pretty much lossless without all the bloat of CDA.

 

I wonder will Apple write a check for 130 million, or will it be cash..? Anyways I've never used itunes, then only time I was confronted to that software when I was fixing one PC and iTunes was using a lot of memory even though it was turned off, only running in the background. So you get itunes, type in song, pay $0.99 and download it?.. Is that how it works? (and no, I will not just download and install iTunes just to find out)

 

How it works right now? Or with Google?

With iTunes right now, you have to use their downloadable library in software. Which really isn't all that bad...it brings it up (along with other songs by that artist), you click on it, put your account info in, it automatically fees you your $0.99, and downloads it in a matter of seconds. But, you can't even look at the library without downloading the software.

With Google, I'm guessing you just don't have to navigate the itunes music library. Not a big step for those who already have and use iTunes, but it would be great advertising for those who don't to see that "Oh, lookie here, iTunes has it for 0.99..." Since you don't have to go off google to find it, or download iTunes anymore.

 

Ehhh so instead I can open a website like wallmart, or just my Windows Media Player and buy song for the same $0.99... So what's so special about iTunes besides.... iMac...iPod...iTunes...iProud?

 

Format plus music player.

It's the only music player that I have seen that bothers to have a halfway decent search engine built right in, so it's VERY easy to find the songs you want...as well as just being able to click an artist name or a genre name (or multiple at once), and pull them into their own playlist or not even make a playlist and play it straight from your library. Honestly, if you're used to using winamp or particularly that ************** media player, iTunes will probably convert you as a music player. And then, when you want to download a new song, 4 clicks away and you have it. In AAC format, which is the highest fidelity there is AFAIK (It's CDA without being spaced to play in a CD player). Ready to burn it to a CD to go? Drag it to a playlist and hit the little "burn disc" logo on the upper right corner. Done. And don't even get me started about "smart playlists".

About my ONLY complaint with iTunes is that the search isn't boolean. I could go out on a limb and say I wish they offered more "keyword" options, but their "comments" section is fully searchable so I suppose that's because I'm lazy. The Boolean search, though, is a pain, because if I want to simply select two albums from two different artists, I can't type "Blah" && "blah2". Or if I want my Grunge collection but don't want Pearl jam...you get the picture.

However, it's the first player I've seen that even implemented a halfway useable search that didn't require playlists and all that crap. So frankly, I'm asking them to expand on something that they're the first ones to do in the first place.

Honestly, I just can't complain about iTunes compared to other music players...nothing offers even a player so robust, much less a music service to boot. I don't like the DRM, and I don't like the resource hogging, but the latter gets better every version, and DRM is sadly here to stay.

 

"4 clicks away and you have it" Have to be 18 to have a credit card.... *sigh*

 

No, cause you can open a checking account at a bank and use a debit card. Don't have to be 18 for that.

 

and you will be able to buy online with debit? How so?

 

Most debit cards are issued with a mastercard or visa logo now, they act just like credit cards...

 

I hate iTunes. I wont use iTunes. I hope google keeps this simple like they do with their current advertising scheme because I really don't want this shoved down my throat with popup or the like.

Either way i'll keep pirating my music.


O/T
Debit cards that have the visa or mastercard logo will work with any web site that takes visa or mastercard credit cards. Also you can buy prepaid visa or mastercard credit cards on the internet (basically their debit cards), A lot of stores in the states are even selling them now. Or you can even get virtual visa/master credit cards on the net where you get just the card number and CVV/CVV2 number. And no you don't have to be 18 to get those.