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"Is Reisinger's 2nd-grade level of economics understanding and business analysis really the best CNET can muster nowadays??

In a word, Yes!!

the new, formidable competitors are not Amazon... they are the music companies by way of giving Amazon preferential treatment.

First, they demanded DRM... against apple's request, but Apple had to give in. In Europe, they demanded tiered pricing and different pricing for different countries against Apple's request, but Apple had to give in.

There is something to this whole thing... yesterday, Apple's store was "indecent" and today, a more "indecent" store opens up, and the music companies are happy about it?

Why? What changed in 24 hours? Why are non-Apple online retailers getting a better deal than Apple?

Something is afoot, and i wonder who will step up to find out how the RIAA has just allowed the musical equivalent of a MLB Steroid Store

(drm-free music at fixed prices are going to be the death of the music industry as steroids would be the death of Major league baseball - come on... keep up, people.)

Seems a tad extreme. Qualifies as a Think Before You Click.

Don't bother with a response Reisinger's blog. It's not worth the pixels.


mw=response... unbelievable!

long live the hackers, jobs once said "its better to be a pirate than a navy"

the only perceptable gain from the Amazon MP3 Store (AMS) is that they get to tell Jobs to fsck off...

other than that, why didn't they give Apple the same loosey-goosey DRM-free files at sub $1 prices?

I can't figure this out. Something is going on here - and we're not getting the whole story here.

+"to"


mw='word' ...again... I'm flabbergasted at how they do that!

Shall we say Microsoft influenced.

F#$K Clown

Hmm, selling DRM-songs at Apple for 99c ist indecent but selling DRM-free-songs at amazon for 99c is ok?

What the hell are they smoking at Universal??? Are they part of the axis of evil? Bomb'em out...

Damn I wish I could get a gig telling everyone that grass is blue and the sky is green. All this sky is falling shite. Such critics have all the long-term perspective of a fruit fly.

This is the first year of the iPhone, which will prove much to be much larger in Apple's story that the iPod. And we're looking at Macs doubling their market share in the not so distant future. And as far as poor sinners like me, the Apple customer, I'm elated with my $600 iPhone. All is well in Apple Nation, but if you make your living shoveling such nonsense, good on ya' mate!

iPod sales especilaly with the "little video" everywhere - watch for the numbers to be truly skyrocketing.
Also the reason apple will announce a softwar update for iPhone after the quarter is over is because this quarter did extremley well.
the update will give another boost to iPhone sales next quarter christmas et al

Competition is good. I welcome Amazon's DRM free store. The songs are 256k Mp3 at 89 cents. Who cares if they don't have 6 million songs if they have the one you want at a better price than iTunes and they'll play on your iPod?

MW: press... as in never trust it, especially if its name is CNET.

(@7over: It is weird, isn't it?)

Have the mental patients taken over the insane asylum? WTF!?!

The “problem” with iTunes is Apple is holding down prices for consumers while the content providers want to RAISE prices. The “problem” with the iPhone is that Apple reduced prices for consumers—too much and TOO QUICKLY. No, the problem isn’t that AT&T;raised its monthly fees by charging per megabyte of downloaded data—something that is currently free and which could be laid at the feet of Apple. Instead, the “problem” is that Apple is asking for less money.

Total insanity.

Remember that Apple doesn't make much money from the music downloads - they make money from the iPods so this Amazon hing is a blessing. Most people are aware of Amazon as a retailer so they will visit and buy songs - then they will want a player and go to Amazon's top selling players and buy an iPod - WooHoo go AAPL

Once again CNet lives down to it's sordid reputation, which is on the level of bottom-feeders.

Makes me wonder why MacFixit thought it was a good idea to get into bed with these imbeciles.

You forgot to add that Amazon does not allow you to re-download a song... if you accidently delete it or lose your HD, yup, you guessed it - your songs are gone too.

This alone makes it worth using iTunes.

This is not competition. This is the RIAA (music industry mafia) worried with the power Apple has, and wants Amazon to take a big bite out of Apple. If only Apple would buy Apple records and become a label, then musicians could produce under them and actually get paid.

its too early in the week for fud

Since when does Apple allow you to re-download your songs if your HD goes south??

Basically, he is an asshole.

The guys a cret.

Saw a new nano in the metal yesterday.

Gawd I want one, but... have four pods in the family already.

Argh!

"...Mac sales are still strong, but the iPhone has become the topic of heated debate..."

Well, my gosh. Heated debate. I know this always sends stocks spiralling down and was the reason for more than one company folding.

I know at the next Apple Board meeting there will be a lot of strategizing regarding how to deal with the such heated debate. I really wouldn't want to be Steve Jobs when there are pointed questions about how Apple is dealing with heated debate about the iPhone. That would be rough.

Well, at least Apple is not getting negative glares. That would be the certain end of the company.

The Amazon store shows one thing very clearly:

Microsoft is NOT running the digital media show.

Apple doesn't care where the content comes from, as long as it plays on an iPod and as long as MS doesn't get royalties.

Mmmm... cheezburgr . .

Notice how this guy doesn't make any hard predictions which would prove his points.

For example, does anyone think that Apple is not going to have another record-breaking iPod holiday sales season?
Does anyone think the iTunes store will not dominate the online download business?
Does anyone think Macs are not going to have a record holiday season?

Lets all fall in line behind MDNews take. They continue to lick the bbots of apple.

As for the iTunes Store, which according to Reisinger is supposedly now under some massive threat from Amazon's DRM-free MP3 store:
-The threat is real, heres why... - .89 cent downloads.

• Amazon does not offer Wi-Fi download direct to iPod touch and iPhone (and future iPods which will undoubtedly gain Wi-Fi downloading capabilities)
-How important is this really! How often am I going to run over to Starbucks to grab some bandwidth to download a song. - .89 cent downloads.

• Amazon does not offer the convenience of iTunes Store's integration into the iTunes application or it's user interface and features.
- .89 cent downloads. People will get used to it. Just adds two extra steps to get music. I tried it and it works great! MP3 vs AAC who cares, sounds the same to me.

• Amazon currently offers less than 1/3rd the library of iTunes Store
- .89 cent downloads. TIme will solve this issue.

• Amazon's store was created by Steve Jobs. Because he wants more stores to sell iPod-compatible content (as long as Microsoft and their DRM is not involved), so he can sell more iPods. He did not want the responsibility of licensing FairPlay to a broad range of licensees, and upholding the integrity of the DRM as called for in contracts with the music cartels, so he did even better by calling for and precipitating the end of DRM itself.

- Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh BUY the way - .89 cent downloads.

• One more time, dumbed down for Reisinger-level IQs: Steve Jobs doesn't much care if you buy tunes at Amazon or iTunes, as long as you don't buy something encoded with Microsoft DRM and you play it on Apple hardware.

- Now I can buy the MUCH less expensive players (sandisk) NOT FROM APPLE + buy the less expensive music NOT FROM APPLE = $ in my pockets.
One more time. - .89 cent downloads.

This guy must be on crack or he has AAPL puts and if the latter is true, then as of today he is getting ripped a new one. Heated debate for iphone? where? when? why? this guy sounds like he wants some negative news to drive the stock down...LOL yea this guy is def on crack!

@Synthmeister, EL OH EL :-D

Bill Maher said that people need to stop complaining about the iPhone price cut. He said it's not a price cut, it's a repeal on the Nerd Tax : )

Hey... those shake machines at Mickey D's are not that simple to clean... you have to take them apart to do so.

Dark days of cnet seems more like it. Once Veronica Belmont moved on... (Okay did they ever have golden years?)

I took my 6 year old into the Apple store to see the iphone and new ipods and believe me this is a NEW golden age. The ipod generation's hearts and minds lead to substantially higher mac sales. It is only beginning. And THAT is where serious money remains to be made.

Apple just has to keep their eye on quality for those of us that have to pay for the things.

and, no, i didn't click, of course not...

These tunes from Amazon are not DRM free. DWM is DRM. Are we to believe that these files are not marked just because some company (Universal, BMG, whatever) say so? Please!

Troll

Everyone look at how today's AAPL stock reflects this guy's stupid comments. Enough said.

At least give a bonafide rebuttal of your lame "Troll" expository. At least I took the time to address each of the isssues and show why they were wrong.

One of the thousands employed by MS.

It's making mountains outta mole hills.

Don Reisinger suffers from what the rest of the MS clowns are suffering from... the pre-release of Leopard jitters.

He should also brush his teeth, his breath smells like ass.

I would be curious to know if these tracks are marked with a virtual RIFD? So maybe the RIAA or Music SIGS could track where these songs go and how many times they have been duplicated? This is a test for DRM free tracks, at least according to Universal. "Apple" is the control in this little experiment if I remember right. Oh, by the way. Does anyone know if I have the right to resale one of my downloads at say 49 cents to someone else, as long as I do not listen to it again or have it on my computer? I know I can resale my cds.

Okay, here is a bona fide rebuttal:

.89 cent downloads are good because it broadens the market for MP3 players. iPods play MP3s as well as AAC, so people with MP3 collections can manage them with iTunes & play them on an iPod.

Downward pressure on music prices puts upward pressure on player capacities. This equals new player purchases.

Note, none of this is inherently bad for iPods. iPods have in the past, and will in the future continue to sell as an excellent line of MP3 players with nice software. The iPod line stands up very well without the iTunes store.

People who want cheaper players can already buy a Sandisk, and only a few do. With ubiquitous MP3 purchases, the iPod can become even more universal because more stores carry music that works on the iPod.

So there is a basic assumptive flaw in your doom n' gloom assessment.

But you are still a troll.

Apple may not care where we get our tunes, but we should! What does not change in this situation is the ability of content providers to control which companies can participate in digital downloads. If they split the market between Apple & Amazon, that becomes leverage for subsequent price increases (variable rates and "package" [album] sales requirements. Watermarking will help to stamp out file sharing (the content providers hope). The rational strategy for consumers is to give iTunes, and not Amazon, your business, because Apple has the least to gain from high music prices. This is the only explanation for why Amazon is being granted the (short-term) flexibility to underprice iTunes.

The people that make up MacDailyNews are so full of it. First off, the pro-Apple bias is horrendous. While I understand that this is an Apple fan site, the writers (god knows I wouldn't refer to them as journalists) defend everything Jobs and company do to the death. Regardless of the fact that it may be bad for consumers, or even detremental to Apple in the long run. Let's face it, Apple has gotten greedy. From the suspension of student discounts on all iPods, right down to shortening the USB dock connector cable by a foot. Small details, but they play a big part. Now they're riding on their laurels. Quality had been dumped as a virtue, in exchange for profitablity.

The "MacDailyNews Take" is a pathetic attack on anyone who takes a hit at Apple, whether they're right or wrong. Rather than spending all your time figuring our ways to defend Apple, maybe you guys should be slightly more critical and actually question some of these decisions. This site is the Fox News of the Apple universe.... without all the flashy graphics. If readers are really interested in news about Apple, I would recommend AppleInsider, or ArsTechnica. If you want op-ed, check Engadget or Gizmodo. At least they have sense of humor.

I guess the scales have tipped...

Congrats to Apple Inc.

Amazon store or no…
1. Apple still sells boatloads of iPods (where the real $$$ is.)
2. Apple has totally set the rules for music downloads—cheap, simple, forget subscritptions, less and less DRM
3. Apple will still control >60% of the music download market for the foreseeable future.
4. Who has anything close to an iPod touch? Oh yea, no one.

The only hope of the record companies to free themselves from Apple's iron grip is to set up DRM-free downloads on as many sites as possible which will only help sell more iPods.

To the "lemming" who crowed over the 89 cent offerings on Amazon...first off, 89 cents as a price point is not new. Walmart, with mediocre results, has been hawking 89 cent songs for a while. In addition, not all of the offerings on Amazon are that low price. The most popular titles are 99 cents (or more).
The record labels are looking for ways to charge more than a dollar not less. So enjoy the "bait" for now, I'll sit back and wait for the "switch".
I'm sure Univeral/Vivendi absolutely loves you as a cusotmer.

I was downtrodden. I had a mishapened cranium and blunted brain and then I met Don Reisinger who had unusually large feet ..hideous feet ..oh, yeah and an article that I will never read. I mean what happened ..earlier this year he seemed to be just fine ...and now this, an article so lacking in interest as to weary the brain of my cold rigid roach. Put yourself back together Don. Someone said you just weren't trying but I think it's worse than that. I think you've descended to my level and I'm a moron. I'm not complementing you, Don. How could I ..I've got a poor self-image ..and now I've got a poor Don image.

Wow....doesn't it figure that the fanboys that make up this site will respond with "he who bashes apple is an infidel....and all out wrong". i own an iPhone and am thinking about getting a mac....but you guys really need to start looking below the surface. The fact of the matter is, Apple has ways to go to catch up to Dell and HP. More copies of Vista have sold this year than Macs....period. Look it up, it's true. To think that Apple will catch up, anytime soon anyways, is absurb.

http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
Another sign of the decline: LAWSUITS!
"In what may be the clear sign of an emerging trend, a second suit filed this past Wednesday in California's northern district alleges that Apple and AT&T;knowingly withheld information about the iPhone's true battery replacement costs until after the June 29th launch, effectively misleading some customers into buying the device when they would have otherwise refrained."
It has been my contention that the Apple people have an "above the law" mentality for quite some time! Others are starting to see this pattern of deceit and treachery and sueing over it. That's right guys hit them where it hurts, the wallets!
Remember you guys, MS is your friend, sue Apple.

He tells it as if the story began 4 months ago?

Perhaps he's on drugs

One more thing for Lemmings... the wi-fi iTunes Store will work with any wi-fi connection, the Starbucks relationship gives users access to the wi-fi iTunes Store via wi-fi for free... but you can't use safari unless you pay. get your FUD 'right'.