Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
That's why Apple created their "AAC" format for the iPod, and Microsoft their "WMA" format. Both because they support DRM.
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Sort-of. Note that "Apple's AAC format" is actually part of an ISO standard (it's part of the MP4 set of standards for multimedia) -- AAC itself is not proprietary in any way. Apple's "Fairplay" DRM is their proprietary add-on DRM used by the iTunes store to control use of content purchased there.
AAC is part of the MP4 standard set because it
- Provides better audio quality than MP3 at lower bit-rates
- Has cheaper IP terms than MP3 does (more accurately "than MP3 did at the time the standard was finalized")
- Supports a standardized way for anyone to add on their own DRM (a "feature" that is missing from the MP3 audio layer)
- Can be played back with less compute power than MP3, thus enabling cheaper playback hardware (although this has long been overtaken by Moore's Law hardware improvements)
Microsoft's WMA has many similar properties, but lost out in the standards game partly because it was technically not as good as AAC, and partly because Microsoft was insisting on less favorable royalty terms.
Xenophon