iTunes: One Billion Served Crank up the old PR and spin machine. Apple
today announced their one billionth iTunes download today. The song?
Speed of Sound by Coldplay.

"Over
one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around
the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the
future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet," said
Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Personally I’ve never bought an iTune and I don’t own an iPod. I think Apple’s DRM
is awful and represents a major step back for us all. I think those
that are investing in iTune digital libraries are suckers. You are
basically betting that Apple’s proprietary DRM laced format will be the
standard for the rest of your life. You are paying too much for your
music and tying yourself to only Apple products going forward. More
innovative ways to play your music may indeed come in the future but
unless they are marketed by Apple you will not likely be able to use
these devices with your iTunes files due to Apple’s tight proprietary
control.

Personally I want nothing to do with it. I still
collect my digital music the old fashioned way, I rip it straight from
CDs to crystal clear high bit rate DRM free mp3s. These files of course
can be played on any device and represent better value in my opinion
for today’s consumer.

What happens when the killer phone is
finally here? You know the one, built in terabyte of storage,
lightening fast file transfer speeds, full satellite radio, a
breathalyzer, your car and house key, a tiny little thing the size of
credit card with a 12 mega pixel camera on it (hey it’s the future
right, we can dream). What happens when this phone is out and you
really want it and unfortunately Apple didn’t make it? That’s right,
you’re a sucker then aren’t you. I thought so. You paid all that good
money for your iTunes and now you can’t put them on your new phone
because your new phone threatens Apple’s dominance. So who owns the
music anyway? You or them? They do. You bought nothing. You bought the
right to play their song on their product. It might work today. But I’m
not about to bet that this will be the format du jour 10 years from now.

Of
course the record labels won’t care about you being screwed because
they’ll be happy to just have you buy your same music all over again.
Just like you did when you bought it on LP, then cassette, then CD then
from iTunes. Why charge you once when they can keep charging you over
and over and over again?

By Thomas Hawk