By silicon.com, 7 April 2005 16:50
To interoperate or not to interoperate?
That is the question to which Apple said 'no' and which the US Congress is now debating.
A mandate is under discussion across the pond which would oblige Apple to ensure iTunes and its other digtal music products worked with offerings from archrivals including Microsoft and Real.
There's been no love lost between any of the companies involved on the subject of interoperability. From Real sledgehammering its way onto iPods to Microsoft's none-too-subtle suggestions that consumers on the hunt for a new flash music player should avoid getting locked into one online store, DRM has been a battleground for digital music companies.
Despite some attempts and overtures made by other tech firms to get Apple to open up its file formats, those self-same rivals are the first to say they'd rather the door to the iPod was opened voluntarily than kicked down.
Still, the news isn't ideal for consumers - anyone thinking of swapping their iTunes-bought music from an iPod to a Zen Micro, or transferring their Napster-bought music the other way, will have a real problem. For the less tech-savvy, one standard platform could be an answer to their prayers and make the whole music and music player buying experience less of a hassle.
So is it time for a little bit of government-sponsored friendliness between the Cupertino and Redmond DRM folk? As hard as it may be for consumers to swallow, we have to say no.
No-one from Capitol Hill stepped in when Betamax and VHS went head to head or when USB and Firewire slugged it out. And while debates may still rumble on about whether the best man won, consumers had the choice and voted with their cash.
It's the same with the Apple-versus-everyone-else battle. The non-DRM-literate could do with more information on what works with what - a nice sticker on music players that says 'does work with Napster, doesn't work with iTunes' would be a start - but ultimately the choice should be left with digital music buyers. If they're so worried about iTunes music not working with their MP3 player of choice, after all, why have Apple's online music sales done so well?
For those seeking a more agnostic solution, there's always the CD - remember them?
It's down to the public, not the government, to decide whether Microsoft and Apple interoperate. If customers start to complain loudly enough, you can bet Apple will sit up and take notice. Or at least take more notice than it did of the Congressional debate, at which rivals such as Real and Napster testified but from which Apple was conspiculously absent.
Comments
There are 7 comments. Join the discussion
1. Anthony Frausto
I find it incredulous and hypocritical that companies like Microsoft would actually stand for government intervention of the DRM battle. I hope what they showed up for was to tell the government to stay out of it and let the market decide. Lord knows that if Gates & Co. were the leader with DRM -- and not Apple -- they would be hell bent on letting the government force down a monopoly on their digital music dominance.
And why should the government be concerned with this to begin with? How about forcing interopability with technologies that affect businesses and would actually benefit entire industries. Take Autodesk's lock on their proprietary DWG CAD file format, a de facto industry standard that everyone else has to collectively reverse engineer to provide a level of interopability. If the US Government wants to be of some good, focus an effort on DWG and its lock on a $3.2 billion a year design/construction industry.
2. anonymous
It should be obvious to anyone with an active brain cell. Just as Microsoft won the desktop war, Apple won the music war. The consumers have voted with their cash, Game, set, match. Maybe someday Jobs will decide to license the tech to MS and others. Gates of all people should understand that scenario.
3. anonymous
Keep Governement out of Private Enterprise as much as possible! The Feds wanting to get into DRM, figures. And of course, count on some Fed. DRM tax thrown in for good measure!
Apple and MicroSoft will NEVER work together on DRM. Rather, if Apple starts losing the online music battle to MS and it's HW partners, you can bet Apple will start to play an open ended game with HW manufactures, or give them Napster and others the DRM key to sell Apple's Fairplay music from their online stores in order to keep iPod sales strong.
Bottom line is the consumer will decide if they like a vertical solution in the iPod/iTunes scenario, or if they find other players and stores with MicroSoft's technology the better route. So far, consumers don't seem to be minding either direction they have gone.
4. anonymous
Hear, Hear!
It is also about time they make their file formats and players compatible! Why do I need to install 3 players to be fully covered?
5. Michael Reiland
Why does noone mention the fact that Apple's DRM works on Windows and Mac OS, but Microsoft's and Sony's only works on Windows?
I think it's more important to have inter-platform support than inter-player support. I guarantee if it was Microsoft's DRM that was dominating the market, we wouldn't be having this discussion even though it doesn't work on Macs.
6. anonymous
Firstly, I agree that the consumer should decide. The parallels with VHS and Betamax are strong. But I think that the parallels with Sony Minidisc are stronger. Apple has a proprietary format with a proprietary player. Apple will only remain in the lead in the market for as long as they have an edge in both content and device.
We have only just hit mass adoption for digital music. I think that the mass market adoption of digital music, and therefore the decider on the winning format, will probably kick off properly on mobile phones.
7. Gregory Casamento
No US Gov't interventions in private enterprise.
This kind of action should be restricted to monopolies only to prevent a takeover of a given market by one company.
GJC