3 ms·

Honestly, I'd like to know, can ANYONE explain that? The only thing I can think of is that reviewing or purchasing through ITMS requires more active engagement

Honestly, I'd like to know, can ANYONE explain that? The only thing I can think of is that reviewing or purchasing through ITMS requires more active engagement, instead of the more passive scrobbling. Of course this engagement requires more effort, but they want people to purchase through iTunes and review things in ITMS anyway, perhaps they like to provide an extra incentive to do so, and at the same time make you more loyal to ITMS instead of other competitive music stores online? I'm not sure I would've made the same decision (realizing that people are lazy by nature and want their music profile to be built automatically), but these are the only arguments I can think of.

mcantelon 16y ago
Also, if it relayed anything that you played, some unsavory results might be relayed (and if it only relayed Apple purchased tracks there would be complaints).
- Terretta 16y ago
  For example, why Amazon doesn't "scrobble" every physical object I use instead of only showing the things they sell that I deliberately review ... A lot of people are going to want to present a different music profile than their actual listening habits.
  - zmmz 16y ago
    Amazon is not claiming to be a social network. Social networks sell themselves to users based on what the users can share and display about themselves to their social network. The more that a user can shape his persona (by revealing different information) the more appealing a social network will be to users, a big reason why facebook is so popular is exactly for this reason: it allows you to shape your presence in a very varied way (this is why pages is a killer feature). To describe ping, apple should have really said that its a social network for ITMS, not a social network for music.
    - Terretta 16y ago
      Amazon did announce personal profile pages, etc., but then pushed them into the background a bit. Some of the social groups are surprisingly active. Someone's profile: http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2KEKKJ9CAC2KC/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2KEKKJ9CAC2KC/ Communities home page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/tagging/communities/directory http://www.amazon.com/gp/tagging/communities/directory Music community home page: http://www.amazon.com/communities/directory/music/ref=tag_tdt_dir_itdn http://www.amazon.com/communities/directory/music/ref=tag_td... A people affinity page, in this case, cats: http://www.amazon.com/tag/cats/people/ref=tag_cdp_bkt_icus http://www.amazon.com/tag/cats/people/ref=tag_cdp_bkt_icus Agree with your point that for now "it's a social network for ITMS". Seems a better way of thinking about it, and dovetails with defaulting to off and using ITMS account (a can of worms).

mcantelon 16y ago

Also, if it relayed anything that you played, some unsavory results might be relayed (and if it only relayed Apple purchased tracks there would be complaints).

Terretta 16y ago
For example, why Amazon doesn't "scrobble" every physical object I use instead of only showing the things they sell that I deliberately review ... A lot of people are going to want to present a different music profile than their actual listening habits.
- zmmz 16y ago
  Amazon is not claiming to be a social network. Social networks sell themselves to users based on what the users can share and display about themselves to their social network. The more that a user can shape his persona (by revealing different information) the more appealing a social network will be to users, a big reason why facebook is so popular is exactly for this reason: it allows you to shape your presence in a very varied way (this is why pages is a killer feature). To describe ping, apple should have really said that its a social network for ITMS, not a social network for music.
  - Terretta 16y ago
    Amazon did announce personal profile pages, etc., but then pushed them into the background a bit. Some of the social groups are surprisingly active. Someone's profile: http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2KEKKJ9CAC2KC/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2KEKKJ9CAC2KC/ Communities home page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/tagging/communities/directory http://www.amazon.com/gp/tagging/communities/directory Music community home page: http://www.amazon.com/communities/directory/music/ref=tag_tdt_dir_itdn http://www.amazon.com/communities/directory/music/ref=tag_td... A people affinity page, in this case, cats: http://www.amazon.com/tag/cats/people/ref=tag_cdp_bkt_icus http://www.amazon.com/tag/cats/people/ref=tag_cdp_bkt_icus Agree with your point that for now "it's a social network for ITMS". Seems a better way of thinking about it, and dovetails with defaulting to off and using ITMS account (a can of worms).