Apple Locks Out Real
There was quite a stir when Real announced that they would make songs for their new online music service available for use on iPods. What made this so provocative was that their music service uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to prevent copying, exactly as Apple does with FairPlay and Microsoft does with their own scheme. However, Apple didn’t license FairPlay to Real.
That was the rub. Real was maintaining DRM without a license to use FairPlay. In order to accomplish this feat, they reverse engineered FairPlay. They got to use software that Apple supplied without paying for it in some way. The fact that Apple didn’t want to license at any price is a moot point. They are the legal owners and it is their decision whether to sell licenses or not. Just because I’m not willing to sell my car to you doesn’t give you the right to jack it.
Well, it should come as no surprise that Apple has intentionally broken compatability with Real’s Harmony service with both changes in the iPod Photo’s firmware and the latest round of firmware updates to click-wheel iPods. Real itself knew this was coming, as did any well read user. However, many of Real’s customers may not have known this and may now be irrate that their music that previously played is now useless (at least until Real figures out how to remedy the situation). First they’ll blame Apple for breaking their iPod (even though it’s not broken at all) and then they’ll come to loathe Real as they find out iTunes songs and MP3’s play fine. The true loser in this situation is going to be Real, having committed themselves to a goal that is not only underhanded but nearly impossible to ever achieve over the long run.
You make it sound so clear and actually I think you are right. An important side point to me, though, is that Apple’s policy seems to be against my best interests as an iPod owner. It seems to me that Apple needs to do a better job of explaining to iPod customers why they are doing what they are doing - and it needs to be a good reason. Not just a - I don’t feel like sharing answer. We are losing access to music from other services and I want to know why I should put up with that or actually I would like to know why I shouldn’t be unhappy about it. That’s all.
Apple probably should be more up front about why they don’t support other services. I think an explanation of why they don’t support Windows DRM would be good. As for breaking Real compatibility, I think they might explain how Real is in violation of using their software without a license. If Real wants to offer iPod compatibility, they could just convert to MP3 (but I doubt their record company partners would much appreciate it).
At the same time, should Apple even consider offering a license a company that is offering a Windows only music service? If Real wants to offer choice, why are they locking out Mac users? I think until these companies start taking Mac compatibility seriously, Apple is forced to deny all access to FairPlay.
[...] In the last 24 hours, there have been two times when I’ve wanted to know why companies are doing what they are doing: Now that I know that Apple has deliberately broken iPod support for Real Networks-purchased music, I want a good explanation from Apple on why I should put up with limited choice for where I buy music to play on my iPod. And it better be a good reason. Help me feel better about what looks like a customer-be-damned move.” As those of you have been following along know, I’ve been on a digital camera kick lately. My limited research into the current state of the art in affordable pocket cameras has left me with a lot of questions. Wouldn’t it be nice if the major camera players would give us a clue as to what they are up to? They could tell us about the trade-offs they are making between picture quality and portability. They could tell us why Canon’s SD300 camera is better than Minolta’s X50. They could go into detail for those of us who want more than the number of megapixels and size of the LCD. If companies would bother to explain what they are doing, they would give bloggers the information they need to further explain this stuff to everyone else who cares. Bloggers are a curious lot as a general rule. We want to understand not just sort and list. The era of corporate silence is over. Come on people, at least tell us your side of the story in enough detail so we don’t have to speculate blindly. [...]