When Napster shut down in July 2001, remember how loudly the recording industry cheered?
After working long and hard to defeat Enemy No. 1, the music moguls celebrated their victory over the renegade download Web site.
Funny how the wheel turns. Three years later, the music industry is looking to digital downloading to help it end a years-long slump. At just less than $100m, the digital music market still constitutes a relative drop in the bucket when compared with the nearly $12bn CD business. But downloaders are now projected to make up 20 percent of the music-buying universe within the next five years, according to JupiterResearch.
That shows how far the needle has moved. During the height of the Napster controversy, the sides remained too far apart to figure out how to make it work: you either believed that bits and bytes should be free or dismissed Napster as the epitome of corrosive cyberanarchism.
What a stale conversation -- and one that missed the bigger point: Napster had the technology, Hollywood had the music, and something big was on the horizon. If only the opposing sides could ever see the forest for the trees. That was not to be. The music industry was too afraid of losing control, and Napster couldn't run away from the fact that it was a clearinghouse for stolen intellectual property.
The future was put on hold until Apple Computer helped break the stalemate with the introduction of the iTunes Music Store. Just as only Nixon could go to China, Steve Jobs had the credibility with both the Silicon Valley and Hollywood communities to change the debate terms. Apple deserves the kudos it's gotten -- but will squander a lot of that good will if it goes ahead with an ill-considered war against RealNetworks.
The company had a classic hissy fit last week, after RealNetworks released its Harmony software.
RealNetworks had sold songs from its digital song store since the start of the year. But the files only ran on a handful of portable devices. With Harmony, songs sold from RealNetworks' online store will now work on a variety of portable players, including the iPod.
Apple came unhinged. A few days after the RealNetworks announcement, Apple hinted about possible legal action and threatened to block Harmony from access to the iPod the next time it updates the device's software.
The truth is that RealNetworks poses little competition to Apple, which has a huge hit on its hands with iPod. Ditto for the company's music store, which has rung up more than 100 million downloads.
A history of bad blood between Steve Jobs and Rob Glaser, his opposite number at RealNetworks, no doubt plays into this developing novella. But ego takes a back seat to a bigger consideration: power. Apple would like nothing better than to exert Microsoft-like domination of the music business.
Too bad. In the struggle over Napster, the music companies turned out to be their own worst enemies. So intent on kneecapping Napster, they ignored the best interests of their customers -- which would have been to find a way to coexist with the new Internet technology. Is Apple going to go down a similar path?
Maybe big companies periodically can't help conducting business as if Tony Soprano were running the show. But I can't figure out who's looking out for the best interests of the user in this cockamamy story. It's a question that Apple can't answer with a straight face.
Talkback
So why aren't you taking Real to task for making Harmony a WIndows - only technology? If they're so worried about 'freedom of choice', why ignore over half the iPod market.
Oh wait, this is Real, they want to lock you in just as badly as MS or Apple.
Silly me, reading behind the hype.
For those of us who can see beyond Real's press release and an actual understanding of the specific technology here ...
To convert Real store files to my ipod, without Harmony, all I need to do is burn it to a CD and then back into my ipod using one of 6 formats - my choice!
Unlike Real's store - which only works with a PC and where is REal's converter for the thousands of RM & Real's RAM fies scattered across the internet - where's the consumer's choice there? How about a converter and a mac & PC store before you defend them as the bastion of consumer choice?
So, why would Real need to hack another company's files before their own? To get attention because they are slipping into obscurity both financially & market share AND you fell for it.
Like the fake beheading video, it behooves you to keep up with technology & learn the actual issues before going off on some tangent - the real loser are consumers who actually depend on CNET for NEWS and factual opinions - and all they get are wrong assumptions based on incorrect facts. YOu have to get with the times or stick to older technology that does not change so much.
It's no coincidence you look like Lenin, because what you are suggesting is communism.
Apple introduced neither the first MP3 (and other formats) player nor the first legal downloading service, yet they've taken over fair and square.
We Apple shareholders see our company develop a system that gains the popular market share we believe that Macs should have and you want us to let those jackasses at Real get in on the action?
The iPod/iTMS integration was a bold move and asked people to voluntarily enter into a so-called closed system. Well, Jobs predicted correctly and they came in droves. Where are the capitalists who believe that reward is proportional to risk?
It's absurd to ask Apple to "open" its format -- I've never heard anyone demand MicroShaft open its .doc or .xls formats (which BTW would have been fair remedies to their anti-trust violations). And just because the Darwin core of OS X is open-source doesn't mean that Apple is committed to open standards for everything: they are simply choosing where to do so when it makes sense.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rob Glaser's "perp walk" as he gets frogmarched to jail for hacking FairPlay.
Companies like Real and Virgin bring nothing to the table that's of any value to Apple. They failed miserably with their cockamamy software and hardware and now Real is about to go down the tubes unless it can grab Apple's coattails. Why should Apple license anything to companies who are so clueless? Apple already has an excellent player, software and song catalog and everything is cross platform. No other company seems to be able to come up with anything which can actually compete with Apple's "whole widget" approach.
Apple has shown it is willing to work with companies who have something to offer, like HP (big PC installation of iTunes/Quicktime) and Motorola (new market).
Maybe Apple should offer Virgin a Fairplay license at $.25 a song or something and call their bluff..
Oh, yea, and if you are going to talk about the best interests of the user, check out the limitations of music downloads before Apple joined the party. Sheesh!
It is absurd to suggest Apple should be happy, that Real has Hacked it's way in to the iPods DRM, without proper support from Apple. Apple, at times, must change their Fairplay DRM, to protect themselves. This means that the first time Apple updates Fairplay, and breaks the Real Harmony encoded songs, not allowing customers to play these songs, the customers will be pissed. Will they be informed enough, and lay the blame where it belongs, on Real? NO! They will believe Apple is to blame.
Apple cannot afford the liability of a hack to access their DRM system.
Real needs to have serious negotiations to license Fairplay, not just an email to Steve from Rob. The recent Motorolla deal, obviously suggest Apple is willing to license Fairplay.
Mr. Cooper, it is quite apparent that you are definitely a Wintel shill spreading more FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt ) spreader of misinformation...
I've come to expect this from CNET/ZDNet "journalists" such as yourself.
Why in god's name, now that Apple finally has an upper hand in something for once, should it be blamed for trying to cash in on something IT took the risk of developing ???
Now these "others" want to horn in, and in fact are illegally doing so, and you of course make it sound as if Apple's the one to blame... - the one who's "not playing fair"...
Go rethink your career choice.
Please.
What's all this? Reas has NOT "hacked" the Apple system. They are interoperating with the Apple iPod.
We are NOT asking Apple to open up their formats. Just don't sue someone for interoperating with their equipment.
This is NOT a hack into the DRM syste - the DRM system remains intact.
Jeez, just because it's Apple, anyone looking askanse at them are crucified! Get A Life!
PS The *really* annoying thing about the iPod is the users who say "well, the interface is so good. How ceom sobody else can come up with one as good". Maybe the answer is that Apple would sue the pants off them (similarly Photoshop and other UI's that are "unintuitive" for PS users - sued if you do, damned if you don't).