Link: Apple Matters | iPod Shows Soft Underbelly? Not Just Yet
Yet Mr. Munster forgets that the iPod is much more than just another consumer gadget people can get rid of on a whim. Once you couple the iPod with songs from the iTunes music store you’re stuck (short of EULA violating hacks) using the iPod as you mp3 player until something sufficiently compelling comes along to replace it.
Sadly, Chris Seibold is completely right about this. The iPod/iTunes Music Store connection is an attempt to lock consumers into the iPod by making it harder to move to another player if you’ve bought a substantial number of tunes from the store. Yes, there are ways that you can strip the DRM out of the AAC files that you get from iTMS: but most consumers simply don’t care enough to do it (and don’t buy enough music online to justify it – yet).
