Exactly! Here in Australia, cell phone companies sell ringtones ( a midi file usually less than a minute long ) for $3 to $5 each for download over their mobile networks, cutting out the computer. They would never want users to be able to download full songs with their computer at $1 to $2 each to put on their "phones" because that would cut out the source of the revenue from their cellular networks and would undercut the lucrative ringtone market.
I do support the licensing of Fairplay to other stores, however I fail to see how the "linked sales" law applies to iTunes and iPod.
If I want to buy a song at iTunes, I don't have to buy an iPod to play it. I can play it on a Mac, a PC, a Motorola Phone, a CD player or convert it to an MP3 for another media player.
If I want to buy an iPod I don't have to buy any music from iTunes as many other posters have pointed out.
The link is only that iTunes and iPod work together the easiest and consumers take the path of least resistance. The French stores like FNAC and France Telecom (owned by the French Government) feel disadvantaged.
All businesses operating in a given terrritory, irrespective of their country of origin, contribute taxes to the government of the host country if they earn income in that country. The French objection is like the "not invented here" attitude to technology and culture. They are trying to promote their stores like FNAC and France Telecom ( owned by the French Government).
The French proposal would force the situation of Apple having to license WMP for both the iPod and the Macintosh since they could not promote playability on the iPod without playability on the Mac. The effect would be to force the extension of the Microsoft virtual monopoly in operating systems to an absolute monopoly in DRM media software.
This is Steve Ballmer's dream. Microsoft talks the same line about choice of music suppliers and player manufacturers as long as you have no choice in DRM and formats. For Ballmer and the French Government, interoperability means a Microsoft software monopoly. Ironic, non?
The French may find that this proposed law contradicts the efforts by the EU to enforce anti-monopoly rules against Microsoft since the effect of their action would be to extend the application of the Microsoft WMP DRM scheme to the entire music download market including iTunes, which along with Real constitutes the only effective competitor to Microsoft in DRM media encoding for digital distribution.
Apple would certainly exit France rather than be forced to run Microsoft DRM on it's devices, just as they would exit the French PC market if they were forced to licence Windows OEM for every Macintosh sold.
The linked article covers the previous EU anti-monopoly actions against Microsoft. Which contrasts mightily with the new French proposal.
Apple is selling a competitive vertical solution against Microsoft which is attempting to create a new horizontal virtual monopoly in DRM just as they did in operating systems.
I can only see one way Apple would make any money selling Mac OS X for Intel PCs without a hardware sale. They would have to bundle it with their Pro Apps for installation on suitably well equipped PC workstations.
The "Apple Pro Studio Suite" would include Mac OS X 10.5, Aperture, Logic Pro, Final Cut Studio and Shake. The likely market would be video and music production and effects houses who run SAN systems and PC workstations. The software bundle would likely sell for over $2,999 and replace the profit on a MacBook Pro or PowerMac. Would this impact the consumer market? No. Would Apple rather sell Xserves and Powermacs, maybe, maybe not, depends on the margin and their future market share potential in the Pro hardware space.
Wasn't he also responsible for the Wallstreet/Mainstreet PowerBooks with the "Armani Suit" shell? A ground-breaking design at the time, but 2 years later the hinges also broke. I believe this was fixed in the following Lombard and Pismo models.
I agree with other posters that there is a pattern at Apple of releasing revolutionary first or second generation designs which though stunning, leave one or two physical wear and tear problems to be rectified in later generations. The iMac G5 is another example.
The Mac mini IS Mac OS X for Intel in a metal box instead of a cardboard box for $499 including a free ( as in beer ) computer.
Here's the bundled software that comes in the metal and plastic box: Mac OS X 10.3.7 = $129 Mac OS 9.2.2 = $99 iLife 5 = $79 AppleWorks = $49 Quicken for Mac= $59 Nanaosaur 2 = $20 Marble Blast Gold = $20 Apple Hardware Test = $0 Apple Developer Tools = $0 TOTAL =$455 Apple Hardware Tax = $44 ( including 1 year warranty ) Sale Price = $499
To use Mac OS X for Intel connect Apple box to KVM switch to Intel Box and press power.
Apple has clearly shown that it must sell Mac OS X for Intel at $499 to make up what it would otherwise make from hardware sales. Even if they released it for real as a bunch of DVDs in a cardboard box ( which they could do if they wanted 'cause they have the parallel version for Intel in development ) they would still charge $499 a copy with the bundle above to make it usable. The only way they would drop to $200 would be at the point where the market share v's Windows approaches iPod-like market share.
Many PC people and others on Slashdot and elsewhere have been complaining that Apple hasn't released Mac OS X for x86. The reason for the demand was presumably that they couldn't afford or didn't wish to buy a Macintosh to have access to OS X.
Now you might say that the release of the Mac mini is the release of OS X for Intel by stealth. Mac OS X for Apple hardware costs $129 and comes in a box about 10 inches x 8.5 inches x 2 inches.
Mac OS X for Intel is $499 and comes bundled in a box that's only 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches. ( Bundle includes: Mac OS X Panther $129, iLife $79, Quicken $79 AppleWorks $49, Mac OS 9 $99, DVI to VGA adapter $19, plus $45 Apple hardware tax* )
To run Mac OS X for Intel:
1. Place box next to Intel PC
2. Disconnect display, mouse and keyboard from Intel PC
3. Connect power, display, mouse and keyboard to Apple box or to optional KVM switch
4. Optionally connect KVM switch to Apple box and Intel PC
5. Press power button on Apple box
6. Optionally press power button on Intel PC, ( or not )
Why the $45 Apple hardware tax? Because hardware is what makes Apple money, but software is what makes Apple great. I predict a large number of Intel PC users will be prepared to pay the $45 Apple hardware tax* and experience Mac OS X for Intel for themsleves.
*NB: Mac OS X for Intel includes free PowerPC G4 1.25GHz processor with Velocity Engine, free 40 GB HDD, free 256MB DDR RAM, free ATI Radeon 32MB video card, free CDR/DVD Combo Drive, free FireWire400 port, 2 free USB2 ports, 1 free sound card with speaker and audio out port, free Ethernet10/100 card, free Developer Tools CD, 2 free games, discount off.Mac membership, free brushed aluminum and white Apple case.
Apple and open source technologies available in Mac OS X for Intel include QuickTime, QuartzExtreme, OpenGL, Rendezvous, FireWire, Aqua, BSD Unix, AppleScript, Mach0, Native PDF, Java, Cocoa, Classic, Carbon,.Mac, iSync, iChat, 5.1 surround sound, speech recognition, text to speech, WebDAVE, CUPS, X11, SAMBA, AppleTalk, TCP/IP, IP over Firewire, OpenFirmware,.... er, you get the picture!
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly! Here in Australia, cell phone companies sell ringtones ( a midi file usually less than a minute long ) for $3 to $5 each for download over their mobile networks, cutting out the computer. They would never want users to be able to download full songs with their computer at $1 to $2 each to put on their "phones" because that would cut out the source of the revenue from their cellular networks and would undercut the lucrative ringtone market.
I do support the licensing of Fairplay to other stores, however I fail to see how the "linked sales" law applies to iTunes and iPod.
If I want to buy a song at iTunes, I don't have to buy an iPod to play it. I can play it on a Mac, a PC, a Motorola Phone, a CD player or convert it to an MP3 for another media player.
If I want to buy an iPod I don't have to buy any music from iTunes as many other posters have pointed out.
The link is only that iTunes and iPod work together the easiest and consumers take the path of least resistance. The French stores like FNAC and France Telecom (owned by the French Government) feel disadvantaged.
Forcing Apple to license WMP is not the solution.
All businesses operating in a given terrritory, irrespective of their country of origin, contribute taxes to the government of the host country if they earn income in that country. The French objection is like the "not invented here" attitude to technology and culture. They are trying to promote their stores like FNAC and France Telecom ( owned by the French Government).
The French proposal would force the situation of Apple having to license WMP for both the iPod and the Macintosh since they could not promote playability on the iPod without playability on the Mac. The effect would be to force the extension of the Microsoft virtual monopoly in operating systems to an absolute monopoly in DRM media software.
This is Steve Ballmer's dream. Microsoft talks the same line about choice of music suppliers and player manufacturers as long as you have no choice in DRM and formats. For Ballmer and the French Government, interoperability means a Microsoft software monopoly. Ironic, non?
The French may find that this proposed law contradicts the efforts by the EU to enforce anti-monopoly rules against Microsoft since the effect of their action would be to extend the application of the Microsoft WMP DRM scheme to the entire music download market including iTunes, which along with Real constitutes the only effective competitor to Microsoft in DRM media encoding for digital distribution.
Apple would certainly exit France rather than be forced to run Microsoft DRM on it's devices, just as they would exit the French PC market if they were forced to licence Windows OEM for every Macintosh sold.
The linked article covers the previous EU anti-monopoly actions against Microsoft. Which contrasts mightily with the new French proposal.
Apple is selling a competitive vertical solution against Microsoft which is attempting to create a new horizontal virtual monopoly in DRM just as they did in operating systems.
I can only see one way Apple would make any money selling Mac OS X for Intel PCs without a hardware sale. They would have to bundle it with their Pro Apps for installation on suitably well equipped PC workstations.
The "Apple Pro Studio Suite" would include Mac OS X 10.5, Aperture, Logic Pro, Final Cut Studio and Shake. The likely market would be video and music production and effects houses who run SAN systems and PC workstations. The software bundle would likely sell for over $2,999 and replace the profit on a MacBook Pro or PowerMac. Would this impact the consumer market? No. Would Apple rather sell Xserves and Powermacs, maybe, maybe not, depends on the margin and their future market share potential in the Pro hardware space.
Wasn't he also responsible for the Wallstreet/Mainstreet PowerBooks with the "Armani Suit" shell? A ground-breaking design at the time, but 2 years later the hinges also broke. I believe this was fixed in the following Lombard and Pismo models.
I agree with other posters that there is a pattern at Apple of releasing revolutionary first or second generation designs which though stunning, leave one or two physical wear and tear problems to be rectified in later generations. The iMac G5 is another example.
Thanks for the spacing but my version 1.9 Script Editor on Jaguar won't compile this beyond "mail action".
Any help anyone? I looked in the dictionary for "Mail.app" only to not find the word mail defined.
The Mac mini IS Mac OS X for Intel in a metal box instead of a cardboard box for $499 including a free ( as in beer ) computer.
Here's the bundled software that comes in the metal and plastic box:
Mac OS X 10.3.7 = $129
Mac OS 9.2.2 = $99
iLife 5 = $79
AppleWorks = $49
Quicken for Mac= $59
Nanaosaur 2 = $20
Marble Blast Gold = $20
Apple Hardware Test = $0
Apple Developer Tools = $0
TOTAL =$455
Apple Hardware Tax = $44 ( including 1 year warranty )
Sale Price = $499
To use Mac OS X for Intel connect Apple box to KVM switch to Intel Box and press power.
Apple has clearly shown that it must sell Mac OS X for Intel at $499 to make up what it would otherwise make from hardware sales. Even if they released it for real as a bunch of DVDs in a cardboard box ( which they could do if they wanted 'cause they have the parallel version for Intel in development ) they would still charge $499 a copy with the bundle above to make it usable. The only way they would drop to $200 would be at the point where the market share v's Windows approaches iPod-like market share.
Many PC people and others on Slashdot and elsewhere have been complaining that Apple hasn't released Mac OS X for x86. The reason for the demand was presumably that they couldn't afford or didn't wish to buy a Macintosh to have access to OS X.
.Mac membership, free brushed aluminum and white Apple case.
.Mac, iSync, iChat, 5.1 surround sound, speech recognition, text to speech, WebDAVE, CUPS, X11, SAMBA, AppleTalk, TCP/IP, IP over Firewire, OpenFirmware, .... er, you get the picture!
Now you might say that the release of the Mac mini is the release of OS X for Intel by stealth. Mac OS X for Apple hardware costs $129 and comes in a box about 10 inches x 8.5 inches x 2 inches.
Mac OS X for Intel is $499 and comes bundled in a box that's only 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches. ( Bundle includes: Mac OS X Panther $129, iLife $79, Quicken $79 AppleWorks $49, Mac OS 9 $99, DVI to VGA adapter $19, plus $45 Apple hardware tax* )
To run Mac OS X for Intel:
1. Place box next to Intel PC
2. Disconnect display, mouse and keyboard from Intel PC
3. Connect power, display, mouse and keyboard to Apple box or to optional KVM switch
4. Optionally connect KVM switch to Apple box and Intel PC
5. Press power button on Apple box
6. Optionally press power button on Intel PC, ( or not )
Why the $45 Apple hardware tax? Because hardware is what makes Apple money, but software is what makes Apple great. I predict a large number of Intel PC users will be prepared to pay the $45 Apple hardware tax* and experience Mac OS X for Intel for themsleves.
*NB: Mac OS X for Intel includes free PowerPC G4 1.25GHz processor with Velocity Engine, free 40 GB HDD, free 256MB DDR RAM, free ATI Radeon 32MB video card, free CDR/DVD Combo Drive, free FireWire400 port, 2 free USB2 ports, 1 free sound card with speaker and audio out port, free Ethernet10/100 card, free Developer Tools CD, 2 free games, discount off
Apple and open source technologies available in Mac OS X for Intel include QuickTime, QuartzExtreme, OpenGL, Rendezvous, FireWire, Aqua, BSD Unix, AppleScript, Mach0, Native PDF, Java, Cocoa, Classic, Carbon,