3 ms·

I'm really beginning to think that views like this (which I share) are in the minority, at least so far as the "making astounding quantities of money" crowd are

I'm really beginning to think that views like this (which I share) are in the minority, at least so far as the "making astounding quantities of money" crowd are concerned. Even downloading an MP3 from Amazon--a process that used to just result in an MP3 link being presented after payment--needs a client and wants to sync to the cloud. Vendor lock-in has been a thing for as long as there have been computers, it's just that our interconnectedness has made it even more visible and incredibly more lucrative.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
Doanloading an MP3 from amazon doesn't require a client. It does sync to the cloud, but it doesn't require a client. I guess I don't see the vendor lock-in there?
- grey-area 13y ago
  I just tried a few days ago. They heavily promote their client and I couldn't find a link to just download the MP3s.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    I started my post with: Sign into Amazon. Hit this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/ays https://www.amazon.com/gp/ays View->View By Type->Music->Amazon MP3 But then tried to actually download my music or Kindle books. You're right. It's actually quite difficult to. Not pleasant. EDIT: Apparently I'm a dolt; see /u/thaumasiotes's response below.
    - thaumasiotes 13y ago
      Well, come on. You could at least go the the pages that offer the functionality you want. Hit "Manage Your Kindle" from the "Your account" dropdown and download Kindle books to your heart's content; they really couldn't make that any easier. You'd download your music through "Your Cloud Player", just like Amazon tells you to do when you buy it. Alternatively, your order history for any item will include the relevant link.
      - grey-area 13y ago
        Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for as they have download links in there under cloud player, but on purchase, I got a choice of Cloud player I think or Download Amazon music player (which also gives access to files). Your Cloud Player doesn't sound like it'll let you download files, so I ignored it, but that's where they have put it. IMO it should be called Your Music instead, because people want their music, not Amazon's software for playing their music, which is exactly what this article is complaining about.
        thaumasiotes 13y ago
        Well, I'm completely prepared to agree that downloading music after purchase is both () less convenient than it used to be and () filed under an unintuitive name. But on the other hand, the cloud player sync does let you redownload already-purchased music, which I don't think you could do before. Mainly I was responding to the idea that downloading was being obstructed, which I don't agree with.

thaumasiotes 13y ago

Doanloading an MP3 from amazon doesn't require a client. It does sync to the cloud, but it doesn't require a client. I guess I don't see the vendor lock-in there?

grey-area 13y ago
I just tried a few days ago. They heavily promote their client and I couldn't find a link to just download the MP3s.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  I started my post with: Sign into Amazon. Hit this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/ays https://www.amazon.com/gp/ays View->View By Type->Music->Amazon MP3 But then tried to actually download my music or Kindle books. You're right. It's actually quite difficult to. Not pleasant. EDIT: Apparently I'm a dolt; see /u/thaumasiotes's response below.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    Well, come on. You could at least go the the pages that offer the functionality you want. Hit "Manage Your Kindle" from the "Your account" dropdown and download Kindle books to your heart's content; they really couldn't make that any easier. You'd download your music through "Your Cloud Player", just like Amazon tells you to do when you buy it. Alternatively, your order history for any item will include the relevant link.
    - grey-area 13y ago
      Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for as they have download links in there under cloud player, but on purchase, I got a choice of Cloud player I think or Download Amazon music player (which also gives access to files). Your Cloud Player doesn't sound like it'll let you download files, so I ignored it, but that's where they have put it. IMO it should be called Your Music instead, because people want their music, not Amazon's software for playing their music, which is exactly what this article is complaining about.
      - thaumasiotes 13y ago
        Well, I'm completely prepared to agree that downloading music after purchase is both () less convenient than it used to be and () filed under an unintuitive name. But on the other hand, the cloud player sync does let you redownload already-purchased music, which I don't think you could do before. Mainly I was responding to the idea that downloading was being obstructed, which I don't agree with.