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I'm constantly amazed by how many informed people have allowed themselves to be locked into the iTunes ecosystem. Apple has made it pretty clear in recent years
by MatthewPhillips 14y ago
I'm constantly amazed by how many informed people have allowed themselves to be locked into the iTunes ecosystem. Apple has made it pretty clear in recent years that iTunes for Windows was the exception, and that they are never going to build software for other platforms ever again.
I know that there is some convenience to buy iTunes if you are using Apple devices. Of course, most of that convenience is due to restrictions in the platform that make in impossible for others to be profitable and convenient at the same time.
But nevertheless, it amazes me that some people are so content with the Apple world that they can never foresee themselves leaving it. I've never been that content with anything I purchase, so maybe it's just me.
Remember that Apple makes its money selling hardware. So they'll never have a reason to make it easy for you to use iTunes-bought content anywhere else. That's why I buy from Amazon. It's content selection is just as good, but it is available on nearly every platform imaginable. It does this because content is its business. So I can feel confident when I buy a new tablet or set-top box that I can probably watch all of the Amazon content I've purchased over the years.
- blub 14y agoI don't see what you mean. All my music in iTunes is neatly organized inside the Music folder - DRM free and easily copied to any device. The iPhone is a different matter, you have to accept that you will lose (a lot of) freedom for the syncing convenience. There are some apps that allow you to exchange data over wifi through FTP/WebDav when one does not want to use iTunes at all.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoI guess I'm thinking of TV shows and movies, which are DRMed.
- WiseWeasel 14y agoAnd Amazon's downloadable videos aren't? All online video "purchasing" services are DRM-laden crap. Blame the publishers.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoAmazon's videos are available on a wide-variety of hardware platforms, so I'm much more confident purchasing from them.
- WiseWeasel 14y agoMeh, I don't see much difference, and I won't kid myself into thinking that I'm actually "purchasing" anything from either of those services, rather than a semi-long-term rental at a higher price. I'll stream DRM video for a cheap monthly fee but I won't "buy" it since it's never mine, given that the purchases can be rendered worthless at the flip of the service provider's switch. If I want permanent access to a movie, I get the shiny disc and rip it to a standard format.
- blub 14y agoThe only DRM-free providers of Tv shows/movies that I know of are pirates. It's especially sad outside of the US because a ton of content is simply not legally available.
- WiseWeasel 14y agoiTunes Music Store sells standard format AAC files which can be played anywhere, freely converted, etc.; there's no DRM or anything. How is iTunes locking you in?