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November 03, 2006
Old School
I say with pride that I do not own a digital camera or an iPod/any mp3 player. It's not that I don't see the benefits of having one. I just don't see it as a good investment for me.
The iPod. It's not just an mp3 player; it is THE mp3 player, considered a necessity among the young and old. My commute to work this past summer was a total of 4 hours a day via public transportation. I was almost certain that this would force me to get an iPod, and yet, after 4 months of 4 hour-a-day commutes, I still found no need for one.
A USA Today article points out a very simple concept that the iPod is based around--it is a closed system. This means that music from Napster, Yahoo Music, Rhapsody are not compatible with the iPod. Seeing that I do not own an iPod and therefore have never encountered this situation, I had not put much thought into this until now. I had seen how iPods have monopolized the mp3 player market, but never considered other factors associated with it. Apple's ridiculously high percentage of online music sales has given other companies incentive to launch their own software. For example, Zune is offered by Microsoft and is using music sharing to compete with iPod's cool factor. All companies agree that "consumers should be able to play their purchased digital music effortlessly on a device" but this is becoming very difficult service to provide with purchase restrictions and copy-protections. These obstacles must be faced soon because online music is here to stay, but the device might not. Cellular phones are already featuring music options and this trend will only continue to grow.
I am torn between a non-monopolistic online music experience versus a user-friendly standard that the iPod has become. Relying on just one company is a risk becuase they could set unreasonable prices for consumers. However, having a standard system that consumers are familiar with, similar to using Microsoft Windows for PCs, creates consistency and eases transitions for professional to personal use. Although I currently have no worries, the time will come when I will find mp3 devices an worthwhile investment and would like to be prepared when that time does come. Zune is available, but it's not a trend that the general public is going to willingly pick up unless they do more to get into the market. Either way, I still have some time to see how everything plays out and plan on keepin' it old school in the mean time.
Posted by catchao at November 3, 2006 01:03 PM