Slashdot Mirror
O'Reilly Holds DRM Debate at Mac OS X Conference
suzanne writes "A panel discussion was just added to the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, moderated by Dan Gillmor. He and Cory Doctorow, J.D. Lasica, Victor Nemechek, and Tim O'Reilly debate the expansive, pro-customer stance on DRM built in to Mac OS X. (Oh, and in case you don't have enough toys to play with yet, the complete conference schedule is available via iCal, Apple's latest groovy app.)"
Apple should continue providing the tools to use and manipulate media, after all, isn't thatr what the mac is? a desktop multimedia machine. I hope they don't kill the functionality of the system. They are finally recovering from the Scully years, and gaining market share.
If they do go the way of the evil empire, I suppose Linux will have to do.....hopefully functional media programs like Nuendo and Maya will be ported sometime....
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
This makes me very pleased--if anyone finds real evidence that this is merely a pr move and that Macs will take a turn for the worse, by all means let me know a bit later on from now--I want a few hours to enjoy my bliss.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
Probably so a semi-objective discussion could ensue, with people who use Macs (and therefore people who have a better chance to actually know WTF they're talking about) participating, instead of the three-ring circus which has become the /. norm.
cat
If apple goes the drm route all my posts lauding the PPC/OS X platform will die a quick death.
.Net/CLR/VB/C# this is because the classes converting to C# from Java are almost identical! Lol, MS thieves).
This could be the application that gives apple the needed boost from 5% to 10~15%.
Personally I'm betting on Apple. I know it's a risky venture but I believe they can grow beyond a niche market. My companies software is being developed concurrently for Apple/Linux/Windows and will be offered at the same time on all systems. It is specialized s/w that would never appear in BestBuy or Fry's but if Apple proves to be worthy (which I believe it will), my company will continue to develop products for it and support our clients using Apple. All that being said I'm still hedging my bet by developing for Windows and Linux (fyi the apple development is done in Cocoa/Java/Interface Builder, the linux development is all Java/JFC (cannot wait for 1.5 and cleaned up Swing, they really need to trash it and just start from scratch), and windows is
Personally if I had to dictate to the world what to use I would say go with Mac & OS X, but choice is also a good thing (keeping the megacorps on their toes).
Why wait? Join the penguin side now. Get away from the closed, proprietary, DRM, ??AA enforced fluff.
All kidding aside, just because a NEW mac comes out with DRM and other assorted crap, doesn't mean that your machine instantly becomes subject to the same.
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
Uh, excuse me, but isn't Palladium a Windows-based DRM technology? I very much doubt we'll see Palladium on the Mac. Secondly, I think the purpose of the conference is to underscore the fact that Apple is taking a PRO-CONSUMER stance with regards to DRM, from iTunes use of MP3s to the ease with which one can burn CDs and DVDs. The debate is whether Apple will continue taking this pro-consumer position or whether they'll cave in like Microsoft and Intel to the forces of the RIAA and Hollywood. At least that's how I read the announcement.
I don't think anyone has to be too worried about Apple implementing DRM on their computers. If there are two things Apple has stood for through the years, it has been a progressive, user-friendly philosophy and sticking it to M$ any chance they get (well, just so long as they don't stick it TOO bad to where they lose Office heh). Going against DRM would be in line with both of these ideas. It would still allow Macs to be the "digital hub" they are touted as without forcing the user to jump through hoops to use iTunes or anything like that. Also, don't you think it would make a very nice "Switch" commercial to have someone talking about how they can finally rip mp3's, burn DVDs/CDs, etc.?
Yeah, Apple's DRM stance is so consumer-friendly that I deleted all the music on my iPod by -- get this -- plugging it into another Mac! No warning, no dialogue, no music.
Happened to a friend of mine too... 6 GB of music wiped out. That's not what I call user-friendly.
I hope this is a correct perception of Apple's future direction (to become known as a consumer-friendly, DRM-free environment). However, apart from Apple's "Rip... Mix... Burn..." ads, they haven't really said anything publicly about this.
Meanwhile, I give Gateway credit for coming closer to explaining things to consumers than any other company so far (I'm referring to the commercial with what's-his-name and the singing cow... and the explicit statement beginning Gateway believes you have the right....
I'd sure like to see Apple have a similar statement out there in the open, in black-and-white (or translucent-blue-and-white if you prefer).
Now if someone could just convince AMD not to go along with Palladium...
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Think past the playback device and think more about the content creators.
Jack Valenti and his cronies want DRM *BAD* and will align themselves behind whomever gives them the tools to "protect" their interests.
Right now, that's Microsoft.
If Apple stays on their current path of no DRM (I think I read an interview with Steve Jobs somewhere that says they want to trust their users -- novel idea -- instead of enacting DRM), then they might have an awesome platform for playback.
But what will they have TO play back if everything is provided in WinMedia 9+/Palladium?
QuickTime 6 and MPEG4 are great for creating content, but it's distribution that'll determine a lot.
The Mass Consumer who doesn't know how their rights are being curtailed will go for "secure" systems. They're Lemmings who follow the MS PR line. Unfortunately, they outnumber those of us with Brains. They're not going to want to buy any open systems if all the latest Hollywood goodies are only available on Windows DRM kits.
I fear that Apple is going to have to implement *some* kind of DRM -- let's just hope they're going to be Smart about it.
"With Rendevous they encourage streaming version of MP3 and video sharing"
Pardon me for being picky, but aren't you describing features that have not yet been released? Rendezvous doesn't seem to do much of anything now, with the exception of the nifty iChat.
I am fairly certain Apple has more uses planned for it in the future though.
Apple should come out with a Mac that has a shiny metal finish and a tiny little bit of palladium in the alloy and call it a "Palladium Mac."
(Now that cold fusion has fizzled, the price of palladium should be dropping, right?)
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!