Napster Digital Rights Management (DRM)

That is pretty good, competence will be the best for us as a costumer.

Let see if Apple can do something better than that.

Of course all this is at a glance.

dont forget the napster client does not allow you to import your cd's either.. and of course iTunes does...

The basic service is an iTunes rip-off and the "Premium" service is just a complete rip-off (most people don't want to rent music!).

I think iTunes doesn't have anything to worry about.

I don't understand the point of the subscription service. iTunes already provides streaming, on-demand, commercial free radio and it doesn't cost a dime. Also, if I'm going to pay money for music, I don't want it to "expire" if I choose not to renew my subscription.

And are they supposed to make themselves competitive by knocking four cents of the price of an album? Give me a break.

Apple needs to adopt this feature...

If you sign into another computer under your user account, you can use the "Sync/Restore" feature to download tracks you've already purchased onto the other computer.

Users should be allowed to re-download files they've purchased on to their computer. Files corrupt, get thrown away accidentally, etc.

If Apple is going to maintain it's marketshare in the "legal download music" biz, it needs to take a best practices approach. Learn from the competition, adopt the new functionality when it makes sense and laugh all the way to the bank.

C'mon, Apple, don't let iTunes/iPod go the way of the Newton.

Originally posted by ColoJohnBoy
I don't understand the point of the subscription service. iTunes already provides streaming, on-demand, commercial free radio and it doesn't cost a dime.

I should have figured someone would mis-read that.

The point isn't the radio.

The point is... I want to download 1000 songs this month and see which ones I like, then buy those. These songs act just like other songs you have on your computer. Play them over and over. Throw them in a playlist. etc....

Don't like it? That's fine. It's optional

arn

Here's my take.

Napster's rights are "iTunes Rights" plus offer additional rights (subscription). Therefore is "better"... as in more flexible. (It's certainly no worse)

I don't care if you think the Subscription plan sucks or not. It's optional.

There are other reasons to not like Napster's service, but their DRM is not one of them.

arn

Originally posted by brhmac
Apple needs to adopt this feature...



Users should be allowed to re-download files they've purchased on to their computer. Files corrupt, get thrown away accidentally, etc.

If Apple is going to maintain it's marketshare in the "legal download music" biz, it needs to take a best practices approach. Learn from the competition, adopt the new functionality when it makes sense and laugh all the way to the bank.

C'mon, Apple, don't let iTunes/iPod go the way of the Newton.

I agree, being able to redownload your songs that you buy is really needed. Then you won't have to worry about acidentally having your music deleted or going through all the trouble of having to back it up.

I can't think of any reason not to implement this unless it would be techincally impossible with the way Apple's service works?

Originally posted by arn
I should have figured someone would mis-read that.

The point isn't the radio.

The point is... I want to download 1000 songs this month and see which ones I like, then buy those. These songs act just like other songs you have on your computer. Play them over and over. Throw them in a playlist. etc....

Don't like it? That's fine. It's [b]optional

arn [/B]

At first glance, being able to download loads of songs for $10 a month sounds like a really good deal.

(Unless I am understanding incorrectly) You can't transfer them to a MP3 player or burn them to a CD (without paying). You will be confined to playing this music on your computer.

So IMHO, the premium service is just like an internet radio in which you can choose the songs you want to listen to. And for $10 a month, this isn't a good deal. (my opinion)

Originally posted by arn
Napster's rights are "iTunes Rights" plus offer additional rights (subscription). Therefore is "better"... as in more flexible.

Hmmm....Doesn't this go against the entire Apple/Macintosh mantra? I thought the whole idea was quality over quantity? We purchase our computers with relatively little (in some cases, no) flexibility regarding who we purchase them from, the options they come with, the operating system installed, etc. Furthermore, are not the majority of Apple's programs "inflexible"? Practically the whole OS/iLife/etc apps revolve around the philosophy of "adapting yourself to Apple's workflow because it is more efficient/easier/etc", not "Apple adopting itself to your workflow because you know yourself best". If we want more flexibility/options, wouldn't we all have PC's already? After all, they have far more choices and "flexibility" in their hardware and software....

Just a thought, anyways...