Music DRM was enforced by the Music Companies, not by Apple. To sell music you had to include DRM. This was the same with all other online music stores. Amazon, Microsoft with Zune Store etc.
Apple were a big pusher for DRM free music, but had to break the model of 59p for every song to keep the Music Companies happy.
Music can now be purchased through itunes and taken out of itunes and played on any device that supports the AAC codec.
iTunes has never been designed to work with other players/devices. They don't provide an API for iTunes syncing.
Palm were using a 'back-door hack' / Reverse engineered iPods/iTunes to get the Pre to sync with itunes. (source)
Many Palm engineers working on the Pre had previously worked for Apple, specifically the iPhone / iPod / iTunes departments. This actually puts Palm on extremely dodgy ground. Did they actually clean room reverse engineer (allowed) or did they use their insider knowledge from working at apple (not-allowed)? Nobody knows... It's very sneaky from palm.
If palm hadn't made a big fuss about the fact you could sync with itunes, apple disabling it wouldn't have hit the headlines as much as it did. The pre also syncs with many other music players.
Microsoft were done for Anti-Competitive behavior as 'out of the box' you couldn't get onto the internet without using their browser. You also couldn't fully un-install the browser from windows. This was deemed anti competitive, because many less-computer savvy users would just settle with using internet explorer not giving other browser vendors a look in.
Microsoft had two options. Install other browsers by default (like apple do on os x) or completely remove IE. They went for the latter.
How is this different from itunes/ipods?
You don't have to download and use iTunes or its music store. You may choose to do so because it is the superior service.
Other players can't sync with itunes, sure, but any music you purchase can be freely taken to other music players and put onto other devices. (I know this hasn't always the case but you can do this now) (source)
My thoughts on the Pre blocking: It's sneaky from both parties. You can't put the blame solely on apple. However, i feel it's a bit like the bully stealing your ice cream or lunch money. It's not anti-competitive though because you can still move tracks purchased from the music store to another piece of software and transfer them to the pre that way.
Question: If itunes didn't have a music store or one that was anywhere near as good as it is now, would anyone give a rats bum about the fact apple have blocked palm from syncing with iTunes. I don't think so.
Apple were a big pusher for DRM free music, but had to break the model of 59p for every song to keep the Music Companies happy.
Music can now be purchased through itunes and taken out of itunes and played on any device that supports the AAC codec.
iTunes has never been designed to work with other players/devices. They don't provide an API for iTunes syncing.
Palm were using a 'back-door hack' / Reverse engineered iPods/iTunes to get the Pre to sync with itunes. (source)
Many Palm engineers working on the Pre had previously worked for Apple, specifically the iPhone / iPod / iTunes departments. This actually puts Palm on extremely dodgy ground. Did they actually clean room reverse engineer (allowed) or did they use their insider knowledge from working at apple (not-allowed)? Nobody knows... It's very sneaky from palm.
If palm hadn't made a big fuss about the fact you could sync with itunes, apple disabling it wouldn't have hit the headlines as much as it did. The pre also syncs with many other music players.
Microsoft were done for Anti-Competitive behavior as 'out of the box' you couldn't get onto the internet without using their browser. You also couldn't fully un-install the browser from windows. This was deemed anti competitive, because many less-computer savvy users would just settle with using internet explorer not giving other browser vendors a look in.
Microsoft had two options. Install other browsers by default (like apple do on os x) or completely remove IE. They went for the latter.
How is this different from itunes/ipods?
You don't have to download and use iTunes or its music store. You may choose to do so because it is the superior service.
Other players can't sync with itunes, sure, but any music you purchase can be freely taken to other music players and put onto other devices. (I know this hasn't always the case but you can do this now) (source)
My thoughts on the Pre blocking: It's sneaky from both parties. You can't put the blame solely on apple. However, i feel it's a bit like the bully stealing your ice cream or lunch money. It's not anti-competitive though because you can still move tracks purchased from the music store to another piece of software and transfer them to the pre that way.
Question: If itunes didn't have a music store or one that was anywhere near as good as it is now, would anyone give a rats bum about the fact apple have blocked palm from syncing with iTunes. I don't think so.
