Apple bites

[greatbear]

I finally have to raise a half-hearted cheer to Apple for finally releasing their iTunes music from the shackles of their ironically named FairPlay DRM. Millions of people have bought their music over the years from the iTunes music store and most have been pretty happy as long as they remained in the walled garden (or is that 'orchard'?) of Apple. Sure, there have always been ways to jailbreak one's tunes from the iTunes/iPod ecosphere, the easiest being to burn the purchased songs to CD then reconvert to other digital formats, but that introduces varying degrees of degradation depending on the desired outcome. There are also less-than-legal means as well, ones that strip the DRM from the songs leaving the original AAC coding generationally intact. But now that Apple has seen the light of unencombered musical nirvana, they are allowing those who have been faithful to the iTunes musical universe their own way out of the darkness.

The problem is, it's all or nothing.

The current deal to rid ones self of the FairPlay encoded songs for the unencumbered (and higher-bitrate) versions is 30 cents per song, albums for 30% of the album price and 60 cents per video. Not exactly huge, especially if there are certain albums, tunes or vids that you truly enjoy, want higher quality or would like to play on other equipment. The problem is that you dont have the choice. It's all of your collection, all at once, or nothing.

Here is yet another example of how Apple has become all those things that Microsoft was being accused of being by the Appleistas and more. This policy of all-or-nothing punishes the biggest users/purchasers on iTunes the worst, as those with the most purchased songs will end up having the highest 'upgrade' price handed to them. The early adopters get smacked down once again, the same as those who purchased the first iPhones and iPod Touch models had to pay for feature upgrades that later buyers got included with their purchases. This latest cash grab is likely to go over like a turd in a punch bowl, especially by those who have been loyal, long-time customers.

Then again, all this infusion of cash could help keep The Jobs from collapsing into a cosmic string wearing a black turtleneck. Or not.

Comments

[bigreddee.livejournal.com]

Eeep. Mine will cost $150 to do the full upgrade, and didn't even include several albums I have purchased over the years.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Are you planning on making the upgrade?

[bigreddee.livejournal.com]

I have to think about it. Some of the stuff I have I don't know that I necessarily need in DRM-free status, others (like dance music) it might be useful. I don't think I will do the "all at once" thing, that's too much money to shell out right now (and especially given how many of the LPs I've bought there that aren't on the list).

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

It's what I just read is why I refuse to drink the kool-aid of apple and do the whole convert thing.

I will have to ensure I have I-Tunes on my PC and I'd love to upgrade the very few tracks I DO have to the higher bit rate, which might have me redoing a couple of CD's I'd made with downloaded content (a track here, a track there) for I did that strictly as a last resort thing for obvious reasons.

[cpj.livejournal.com]

My upgrade cost something like $2, across 6 or so songs.

For me, the best way to purchase music was to always go to a second hand CD store, like "Cheapo Records", buy a used CD and just import it. The cost per song ratio ends up being something like twenty cents. I've never been someone that impulsively buys music.