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Napster - R.I.P

You people at MDN just love that word "Beleaguered" don't you. Can't you come up with some other descriptive words for you columns?

Napster still exists? I thought Judge Patel dealt them a death blow years ago.

-jcr

Leader, you must be a recent switcher.

About a decade ago, Apple was struggling and just about every article penned about the company referred to it as "beleaguered." Using it in reference to Apple's flailing competitors today is MDN's not-so-subtle way of saying "Ha-Ha!"

@ MR

I was just going to say that. I always love how it sounds.

@MR... Nope been a Mac user since '94 and I work for Apple, so I'd say I'm pretty much a veteran. I realize that it's a pun. It's just old.

How about this...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6480692069022896188&q=triumph+of+the+nerds&total=50&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

Subscription music + FairUse4Wm + mirakagi= What the labels deserve.

I've been a MacUser since '91 and I must say I've heard for years that the Mac was dying. I laughed.
I laughed as I fragged my friends while playing Unreal Tournament on my Mac and they were on PC. They accused my Mac of lagging.

I laughed when the iMac came out.
I laughed when the iPod came out.
I laugh as Apple is the 2nd fastest growing stock in this past decade.

They say they don't care what I say. They say they don't care what the industry mags/media is saying about Apple and its products these days. Apple is on the rise and they STILL say it sucks?

I'm the only one pursuing Apple certification at my job.

I'll still be laughing when I'm still working and they are looking for employment.

HMV Unlimited's PC music subscription service also shut down with plans to relaunch "some kind" of subscription service next year.

See http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/mulligan/

Bravo, Murasaki. You're the stuff that Apple is made of, and I commend you for your courage and tenacity.

May your tribe increase!

Yep, Now Napster is down and Zucker and others are preaching the old ways. Cause , well, cause its all they know and if you make buggy whips long enough, someone must want to buy one.

This is all Apple's fault. If they hadn't ruined the music business with their pay-per-download model, we'd still be ruining it with our promotion of pira- oh, wait. Never mind.

I actually feel sorry for Napster. They virtually started the MP3 revolution, got sued into oblivion by the labels, who then turned around and have now started offering free ad supported MP3 downloads. The labels just didn't like someone else controlling the money flow.

@ Leader

The word "beleagured" has a special meaning to us Mac users, i'm sure you'll agree.

I never get tired of hearing/seeing it, especially used in the context of the current IT industry situation. But that's just me...

Sorry, i meant to spell it "beleaguered".

I think Rebecca Romijn would make an excellent business model....

Hah ha ha hah. You're so lame, Napster.

Wow at the list of Related Articles. We've been at war with Napster for almost four years now.

Brau,

Don't feel sorry for Napster- The Napster you see today is NOT the Napster that started your revolution.
The Napster you see today, is simply a NAME bought at auction by Roxio.
The original "Napster" went belly up after being sued into oblivion, and Roxio thought that they'd be able to con people into thinking that somehow Napster somehow got a new business model and had gone legit.
The "Napster" that exists today is the height of corporate cynicism.
MW "club", as in "Join the failed subscription model club, Napster,

One of those links, MDN coined the term "DirtNapster™" as in buried 6 feet under.

I don't see Napster as being around too much longer, myself.

"Beleaguered" was only getting old when it was applied to Apple. Now, it's just fine. Dell and Napster can be beleaguered any time!

Napster should have just stayed an illegal download site and not gone legit.

Making Napster a viable and commerical brand was the worst thing they ever did. Even now it has the stigma attached to it for its illegal download days.

Its never been able to shake that off.

The brand should have died years ago.

"You people at MDN just love that word "Beleaguered" don't you. Can't you come up with some other descriptive words for you columns?"

They use it because for many year the media used the word beleagured to describe Apple, and so, they use it as a taint to other companies who have challenged Apple's business approach and failed.

You must be new to the Mac or a PC user.

@Leader
".... I realize that it's a pun. It's just old."
It's not a "pun".
And it's not old!

"Napster has concluded that PC-based music subscriptions aren't a growth business -- the same conclusion that Yahoo! Music, RealNetworks and MTV have already come to."

I guess this means the NBC U is going to try a subscription service..

strangely enough, people really don't know about Napster, I have a purportedly competent friend who actually believes that it's the same 'old Napster' with a new business plan.
But then again if you don't read MacDAILYNews daily, how are you really going to be able to sift through the hype ?

Lyle in The Italian Job. Best Napster reference ever!

Music subscription services are just a failed model. People don't want to rent their music. I know it's what the music industry is pinning their hopes on, as the savior of the big mega music empires.

My opinion is it's past time for the big music monopoly cartel to die. All Artists need to make a fair return on their work. Consumers need to pay a fair price for all the music they buy (physical and digital download). And it needs to be unrestricted, DRM free.

Only support Independent Artists & if your favorite Artist is with the cartel tell them to get out and be independent..

I know there's been lots of replies already, but with my MDN handle, I simply have to reply to Leader.

Agreed, it is old, and MDN has used it over and over again recently. Much like the mainstream media did, as I'm sure you will you recall, in the dark years. I would say MDN's gloating coverage of failed rivals uses the b-word in their headline about 50% of the time. If you were a tech press reporter covering Apple in the late '90's, that ratio would be much closer to 100%.

So, in the words of Red Sox manager Terry Francona, asked about how it felt for his team to win their second World Series in four years: "It never gets old."

Beleaguered, eh! How original.

Here's an idea. Let's call the dwindling number of music subscribers by names that so many tech writers love.

Napster cultists and zealots.

Beleague it or not.

Gorog: "We have to save 'Napster'! Let's go to the cell phone industry!"

McCoy: "No. No one is interested."

Gorog: "But... if we don't 'Napster'll die!"

Scotty: "Napster's dead already."

anxiously awaiting the dirt napSter.

Way back when, Napster was used to suck money away from the business suits. Now, it's kind of doing the same thing.

Gorog very sad. Why no like Napster? Gorog like Napster. Why no like Napster? Napster not hurt you.

Gorog head hurt.

Wonder what their churn rate is? That would be more telling than just raw subscriber numbers, which tend to have seasonality.

So, ya'll whine, moan, and complain to high heaven, but NONE of you have offered a better word. So until then PUT UP or SHUT UP

How about 'buggered'?

Hey, instead of "beleaguered", use "Commodore-like", as Commodore was dragged thru the mud, (and still are actually). Get more old C64-heads to switch.

BJ