Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Look at iTunes. How did they made it at Apple's? They created an mp3 player (iPod) that perfectly blends into their mp3 shop (iTunes). The average customer won't even notice that their is something like DRM. Ever thought about what will happen if Apple goes out of business one day? Well, I hope you have saved your licenses somewhere.
Alan
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Well, I think you got it reversed. They created a great mp3 player called iPod, marketed it with the famous, "Rip, Mix, Burn" slogan and then to
placate the labels and not get sued (
remember that the VHS makers were sued by the movie studios which attempted to stop the manufacturing of video players/recorders - luckily for everyone including the studios, the studios lost in court - without iTunes I am pretty sure RIAA would have sued Apple to stop the manufacturing of iPods)
Then Apple lost money on iTunes for a long while, and while it became profitable in 2006 I think, it's still marginal for them. Now that music goes drm-free, I am pretty sure iTunes will become a studio, sign artists and produce their own music since they have absolutely no reason to cooperate with the studios anymore.
Again, it's irrelevant what you, me, or publishers want and think; the marketplace has spoken resoundingly against drm and that's that; people can fight the tide, but it's going nowhere, so this is why I am confident that when e-books will become mainstream they will be drm-free.