MacDailyNews Goes Nutso

Posted on October 15, 2005 by Ian Betteridge

Interesting little post by MacDailyNews on an interview with Dave Winer. The comments they’ve tagged on to the story stand out:

Why is it totally depressing that all the car makers are building in iPod compatible ports, Dave? Because it shoots your argument that “iPod is exclusive” all to hell? Archos? Is that a joke? If not, give us a break. It’s an iPod world, Dave. Get used to it.

Replace the word “iPod” with “Windows” and you’ll hear exactly the kind of things that Mac users used to scream and shout about about. Of course, when it’s Apple that has the market share and shoe’s on the other foot, it’s strange how people’s behaviour changes. Then there’s this:

You have to expect this type of “expert” to be all about ultimate “openness.” Too bad it’s at the expense of common sense here. Winer is flat wrong about the iPod. The iPod+iTunes is the only cross-platform (Mac and Windows) solution, for one example of inclusiveness. It’s the Windows-only Napster, Yahoo, MSN-type outfits that practice exclusion.

And Microsoft Office is the “only cross-platform” office package. That doesn’t make it open, and it doesn’t make it a good thing.

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  • Siobhan

    *waves a OOo banner in Ian’s face*

    *Does an Open Source dance*

    But yeah, I get your point. The only reason why there isn’t the same ranting and raving from Mac users when the shoe is on our foot for a change, is, perhaps, from some kind of underdog-based vengance?

    Possibly. Maybe. Perhaps not.

    But then, you’d have to be a total-nut-job to really care wouldn’t you?

  • http://www.ambivi.com Wes McGee

    wow… five times… I hope whatever went wrong between you and TypePad got fixed…

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Iam M Betteridge

    Heh- sorry about that Wes. I was getting a 500 error when posting and just assumed it hadn’t worked…

  • James Bailey

    “And Microsoft Office is the “only cross-platform” office package. That doesn’t make it open, and it doesn’t make it a good thing.”

    But none of the other music stores are open either which makes iTunes the best of a limited group of contenders.

    You make very good points on your copyright post yet here you contradict the same. To quote, “If I decide to seek payment for my labour, I have a right to protect my work in such a way as to ensure that payment happens.” Isn’t that what DRM systems like Fairplay are about? Ensuring that payment happens?

    Apple is the most open of a decidedly closed lot of music stores. As a Mac user, the also-rans have no hope of getting me or millions of other users to switch brands because they are so closed that they only work on one platform, WIndows.

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Ian Betteridge

    James, you’re missing the point a little. I’m not against DRM for anyone, and buy products which have DRM from both Microsoft and Apple. However, DRM is a different issue from attempts by market-dominating companies to leverage their position in one market (online music sales) to bolster their position in another (portable music players). I have no reason to suppose that Apple’s refusal to license FairPlay is anything other than a tie in like this.

    Let people compete on price and quality, NOT on tie ins.

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Ian Betteridge

    James, you’re missing the point a little. I’m not against DRM for anyone, and buy products which have DRM from both Microsoft and Apple. However, DRM is a different issue from attempts by market-dominating companies to leverage their position in one market (online music sales) to bolster their position in another (portable music players). I have no reason to suppose that Apple’s refusal to license FairPlay is anything other than a tie in like this.

    Let people compete on price and quality, NOT on tie ins.

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Ian Betteridge

    James, you’re missing the point a little. I’m not against DRM for anyone, and buy products which have DRM from both Microsoft and Apple. However, DRM is a different issue from attempts by market-dominating companies to leverage their position in one market (online music sales) to bolster their position in another (portable music players). I have no reason to suppose that Apple’s refusal to license FairPlay is anything other than a tie in like this.

    Let people compete on price and quality, NOT on tie ins.

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Ian Betteridge

    James, you’re missing the point a little. I’m not against DRM for anyone, and buy products which have DRM from both Microsoft and Apple. However, DRM is a different issue from attempts by market-dominating companies to leverage their position in one market (online music sales) to bolster their position in another (portable music players). I have no reason to suppose that Apple’s refusal to license FairPlay is anything other than a tie in like this.

    Let people compete on price and quality, NOT on tie ins.

  • James Bailey

    And Microsoft’s refusal to do a version of their DRM for any other platform other than windows is not a tie in? Apple at least is cross-platform.

  • http://technovia.typepad.com Ian Betteridge

    James, the difference is twofold. First, Microsoft would happily license Windows Media to Apple for use on iTMS, and as part of this deal would undoubtedly bring WM DRM to the Mac. I can’t think of a single time that MS has refused to license its technology to anyone else, so I have no doubts it would do this.

    Secondly, in this market, Apple, not Microsoft, is the monopoly. And while it’s not illegal or even immoral for a minority-share company to do the tying, it’s a very different thing for a monopoly. No one accuses Apple of tying in because it doesn’t ship Real Player on every Mac, for example, yet this was one of the key points in the EU Microsoft anti-trust case. What Apple – and its fans – has yet to realise is that what is acceptable for a company with 5% of the market isn’t acceptable when it has 85%.