Kettle pot black
by Volker Weber
How can I get MSN Music downloads to play on my iPod?
Unfortunately Apple refuses to support the popular Windows Media format on the iPod, choosing to only support their own proprietary DRM format. If you are an iPod owner and are unhappy about this, please send feedback to Apple and ask them to change their policy and interoperate with other music services.
There are more than 70 portable audio devices that support MSN Music today, and we hope that someday Apple decides to join with the industry and support consumer choice.
John Gruber tries to unspin:
First, the Windows Media format is described as “popular”, but Apple’s “own format” (apparently AAC/FairPlay is that-which-shall-not-be-named in Redmond) is a “proprietary DRM” format. The truth is that all three words — popular, proprietary, and DRM — apply to both formats. But the only one they choose for themselves — “popular” — is the least apt for Windows Media, given that Apple’s AAC/FairPlay has 70 percent market share.
The second paragraph could effectively be rewritten as:
There are more than 70 portable audio devices that depend on technology licensed and controlled by Microsoft today, and we hope that someday Apple gives up on their own market-leading technology, bends over, and uses ours.
So who is right? Neither.
DRM is bad for the customer. It does not matter whether it is WMA, AAC or ATRAC. The popular format is neither of them. The popular format is [drumroll] MP3.
I do not trust Apple any more than I trust Microsoft. Keep your data in open formats. When you receive it with a lock-in to any particular scheme, then unlock it now. Otherwise you might regret it when it is too late.
You need to first create a CD with the music, and then you need to import that CD into iTunes or Media Player. Make sure, you chose MP3 as the target format, so you are free to use something else than iTunes or Media Player.
Comments
demnächst:
_zuhälter-für-die-befreiung-unterdrückter-frauen-front
_csu beklagt sich über unmenschlich harte gesetze (gegen betrunkene autofahrer)
_pepsi beklagt, dass coca-cola zucker enthält und die zähne schädige
_die bild-„zeitung“ fordert die wahrheit
The MSN FAQ reads like it was written by Dubya's speechwriters -- the presumptive close format ass-erting that they know what's right for the world.
