I’ve got a problem with reducing the quality, effectiveness, and userfriendliness of a service to its ability to play on a single platform. True, napster won’t play on mac, won’t play on ipod. Is this a problem with napster? They did not want to rely on ipod drm technology. There are a number of other mp3 player manufacturers who produce quality products, at lower cost, and dare I say it , better functionality than the ipod. I’m not an Ipod hater by any means, but given the choice of downloading 99cent tracks or having an unlimited amount of music per month for 15$, I personally would choose the latter. If Itunes was able to finagle the licensing for this kind of deal, people would be ecstatic!
That being said, I’ve been trying out the napster to go service for two days- on their 7-day demo period. I at first was very happy, there was great selection, songs downloaded and synched easily. Unfortunately, my second day of experience has been less than satisfactory. I’ve had a number of connectivity problems, multiple signins necessary, and synching problems. I’m using xp home, wmp10, and a playsforsure mp3 player, the sandisk m240.
Good points Matthew. But I am an optimist, and as such, I think “things should just work” (and I get irritated when they don’t). But it is certainly true that it’s not all Napsters fault and I think apple should be a bit more open with the iPod.
As one of the millions of people who has purchased an iPod, I just wish companies like Napster and Apple could hold hands, sing some kum-ba-yah, and sort it all out. But like I said, I’m an optimist =)
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:25 pm
I’ve got a problem with reducing the quality, effectiveness, and userfriendliness of a service to its ability to play on a single platform. True, napster won’t play on mac, won’t play on ipod. Is this a problem with napster? They did not want to rely on ipod drm technology. There are a number of other mp3 player manufacturers who produce quality products, at lower cost, and dare I say it , better functionality than the ipod. I’m not an Ipod hater by any means, but given the choice of downloading 99cent tracks or having an unlimited amount of music per month for 15$, I personally would choose the latter. If Itunes was able to finagle the licensing for this kind of deal, people would be ecstatic!
That being said, I’ve been trying out the napster to go service for two days- on their 7-day demo period. I at first was very happy, there was great selection, songs downloaded and synched easily. Unfortunately, my second day of experience has been less than satisfactory. I’ve had a number of connectivity problems, multiple signins necessary, and synching problems. I’m using xp home, wmp10, and a playsforsure mp3 player, the sandisk m240.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Good points Matthew. But I am an optimist, and as such, I think “things should just work” (and I get irritated when they don’t). But it is certainly true that it’s not all Napsters fault and I think apple should be a bit more open with the iPod.
As one of the millions of people who has purchased an iPod, I just wish companies like Napster and Apple could hold hands, sing some kum-ba-yah, and sort it all out. But like I said, I’m an optimist =)