Apple iTunes drops DRM all together.

Announced today at MacWorld Expo.
Here's a link to the story:

http://www.macworld.com/article/137946/2009/01/itunestore.html?lsrc=top_1

Is this the beginning of the end for cd's? Of course, iTunes is not the first online store to offer DRM-Free content. Amazon launched it's online album store a while ago with impressive results. What makes this story big though, is that Apple is the no.1 music seller, beating "brick and mortar" giants like best buy and virgin . How do you see this translating to video rentals / downloads?

P.S.
i think i found the solution i was looking for to setup a media home server. check it out, really cool product.

http://www.hp.com/united-states/digitalentertainment/mediasmart/serverdemo/msserver.html

Coaster, I've read some very positive reviews on that HP server. I think one of them can be found at cnet.com and another on engadgethd.com?

You can also download songs on the iPhone using the Edge and 3G Network!

apple should just drop everything, period.

Talk about another company that overprices their products!

We got a MAC not too long ago where I work. One of our employees raved how great they were and they "never crash" he tells me. When I first turned it on, I began to run some media program and guess what? IT CRASHED!!! LOL!!!

I feel sorry for my friends with iPods being everything they download is 99-cents a song. My Zune has up to 9000 songs on it right now and half of them I own on CD the other half I got from the Zune Market Place at about $14 a month. Gee, I wonder which one is the better deal???

Now if iTunes offered an option to get everything DRM free in lossless format (FLAC, OGG, WAV etc.) I would actually care a little. I can imagine downloadable videos of 200x300 pixel offerings being quickly popular for portable media devices (iPhones, iPods, etc.) however... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0

Tim Raynor:
Did your zune crashed on january 1st? apparently a version of the player got all messed up with the internal clock and couldn't start for a period of time.

on Macs being overpriced: I Do agree with you completely. We edit and manipulate video were i work every day. I only touch a mac when i have to edit. that's it. If it's photoshop, compositing or any other work i do it on a PC that costs the same as a mac Pro but it's 3x times faster. People do pay much more for a mac, cause it's tech-illiterate friendly. All the hardware that make a macbook pro or a mac pro can be found on pc's. what really makes them "special" is their OS, which, ironically, is very cheap to purchase. Sure, windows Vista was a flop. i still run on XP. But recently tech reviewers visited microsoft and left with a built version of the next windows system, simply called Windows 7. Everyone was amazed. A LOT faster than vista, slicker interface, less cpu and memory requirements and a lot more responsive. Microsoft basically said this is what vista was supposed to be. Btw, there was no release date announced, but the reviewers said it's close to a beta release. And Bill gates hinted a 2009 release. Apple can brag that it's OS is "stable" and working great on their machines, but don't forget, OS X is designed to run on only a hand full of system configurations (the 2-3 product lines apple offers which are compiled preety much using the same hardware).
Windows has to work for EVERYONE. and when your market is literally billions of people and millions of system configurations...you're allowed to screw it up sometimes.

Not to mentioned how your apple hardware feels old only after 3 months of life. 3 months ago apple released their new slicker and shinier line of mac book pros. it's now january and the 17inch got a facelift and a new built-in battery already. and let me tell ya smt, if you know anything about laptops, the words "built-in battery" sends chills up your spine.

SkyHawk: If ur a bitrate junkie like the most of us in here, check out this stores mentioned in a previous posting:
http://www.dvdtown.com/messageboard/topic/7398/2/0

Quote:
Did your zune crashed on january 1st? apparently a version of the player got all messed up with the internal clock and couldn't start for a period of time.

No, but I heard something about that happening to one of their new models. I did have an issue one time when they automatically downloaded a software update. I couldn't play anything I downloaded from the marketplace and had to reformat the Zune and re-sink everything from my computer. What sucks is it literally takes about three-hours to re-sink about 9000 songs. Then again, it's typical Microsoft, so don't expect perfection when it comes to their software. Nevertheless, cost wise, it is a better deal but you just have to put up with MS screwing things up from time to time. lol

On the MAC thing, you probably know as well as I do that there is a lot of "myth" behind all the buzz. I've been in computer graphics for the past 15-years and I can assure anyone that the MAC is NOT faster than a smoking fast graphics (gaming, multimedia) PC. The Velocity Micro I have at home can stomp the crap out of any MAC out there, and in my opinion, the MAC is no better than your average office desktop PC. It's certainly not fast enough to justify a system over a couple grand. The other myth is the "all people in the art industry use MACs"! Not true! I've worked in sign shops, print houses and CAD shops, all of which were 99% MAC free. I always remember "artsy" snobs that would come into the sign shop with their MAC discs and they would be shocked to find out we worked on PC only. And why? Because PCs, at the time, were the only systems that worked directly with plotters. Not to mention, interior designers, industrial engineers, home designers . . . all of them on the PC! And as far as being easier to use, that also is a myth. That-them-there Winders is just as easy and has a far better file management system, IMO. The MAC just looks like a gorified iPod, if you ask me.

As Eddie said, apple should stop making anything. The only reason they've been getting some new buzz is pure and simple because of the iPod -- which has given them enough money for all their cute TV ads, which I do find entertaining. Nevertheless, MAC people have always cracked me up because they act so pompous, as if they have something above you, the PC user. I guess they need to feel better about themselves for buying an overpriced office desktop. In the mean time, the rest of us live in the "real world".

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[Post edited by Tim Raynor on Jan 6, 2009 - CST 8:47 PM]

I loved my 30 GB Zune, and I would NOT trade it for an iPod (even when I use an iPhone). I like the ease of use of the Zune software, and the 'retro' look of the machine. It has its faults, but it's nothing that would keep me from maybe getting a 160 GB one.

Good for Apple to give us DRM free music, it's a big step for these tough times.

Quote:
Good for Apple to give us DRM free music, it's a big step for these tough times.

Now that's something I can agree with. The whole DRM crap is the biggest pain in the ass and needs to go away altogether! I can only hope MS follows Apples lead.