I work primarily with Hardcore Apple Partisans. When they'd ask what Ping was, I'd say "It's this thing where you can buy a song and then talk about it with you

I work primarily with Hardcore Apple Partisans. When they'd ask what Ping was, I'd say "It's this thing where you can buy a song and then talk about it with your friends." Their eyes would be fluttering away by the end of the sentence. Nobody, not a one ever, cared at all. There are a thousand other venues to discuss music with friends, most of them involving alcohol. I personally feel Ping could have been amazing were it a rewards shop that rewarded you with extras for buying tracks. You buy a top single - a free remix of that song is offered on the side. Nothing obligatory, just extra. You buy an album - Ping provides that album's music videos and a writeup from the band. You buy a pop song from a hot entertainer - you're entered into a raffle for show tickets. You buy a karaoke standard - Ping asks for your best Photo Booth karaoke version that gets uploaded, shared, and voted on next to that standard. If it was value-adding what you were buying, I think that would be interesting. But hearing your Address Book chime in on a trashy single you bought? No thank you.