Apple put up a teaser on their website yesterday, telling visitors to come back tomorrow for a big a
Apple put up a teaser on their website yesterday, telling visitors to come back tomorrow for a big announcement from iTunes. I visited the site promptly at 10AM today and was elated to see that The Beatles' entire catalog was finally being offered for sale in a downloadable digital format.
As you might expect from any Beatles fan, I already had a full collection of their albums on CD. As you might expect from any nerd, I already ripped these albums to my computer so that I could listen to them on any music-playing thing I own. In other words, I already had the music I love in the format I wanted it in, so I didn't buy it again. It's simple logic.
What excited me was the fact that their catalog was escaping the clutches of a dying format. The Beatles were essentially the only major musical artist not available in a digital format (apart from Kid Rock, and honestly, who cares?). This hurt sales of their music, and more importantly, it hurt discovery of their music.
I don't know about everyone else, but nowadays, I don't buy CDs at all. I only buy music online. I don't steal music either. This means that if an artist does not publish their music via digital download services, I'll never have a copy. (In fact, the last CD purchase I made was the remastered Beatles box set.)
I had the misfortune of reading blogs and Twitter postings today surrounding the announcement, and I'm sorely disappointed for two reasons:
1) No one understands why this is a big announcement. It's not for the fans that already own the music--it's about the future of the music. Digital downloads are now the way that music is distributed to the masses, because this announcement puts the final nail in the coffin for CDs.
2) People don't think before they write. I'm willing to bet that if all the people who published negative comments about this announcement had stopped to think about the significance, they wouldn't have published what they did.
We expect a routine. When I wake up, I always take a shower first before feeding my cats. It feels weird to do it in any other order. Similarly, we've grown accustomed to Apple making extremely theatrical announcements about revolutions in the world of technology, and it's odd to see them break away from their pattern.
Change is good.
But I don't see it as change. I remember in September 2005, just after Hurricane Katrina, Apple's homepage had a button that allowed people to donate to the relief fund. (Incidentally, I donated $50, which at the time, was a very big number for me.) They also use their homepage to pay homage to influential people who pass away. Why wouldn't they use it to announce a technological revolution in music?
The only reason people are angry is because they didn't see it coming. Apple created hype, and then the announcement didn't align with what they were expecting. Get over it.
I'm going to reword today's announcement: The musical revolution that Apple started in 2001 is now complete nearly a decade after it began.
"The times, they are a-changin'."
As you might expect from any Beatles fan, I already had a full collection of their albums on CD. As you might expect from any nerd, I already ripped these albums to my computer so that I could listen to them on any music-playing thing I own. In other words, I already had the music I love in the format I wanted it in, so I didn't buy it again. It's simple logic.
What excited me was the fact that their catalog was escaping the clutches of a dying format. The Beatles were essentially the only major musical artist not available in a digital format (apart from Kid Rock, and honestly, who cares?). This hurt sales of their music, and more importantly, it hurt discovery of their music.
I don't know about everyone else, but nowadays, I don't buy CDs at all. I only buy music online. I don't steal music either. This means that if an artist does not publish their music via digital download services, I'll never have a copy. (In fact, the last CD purchase I made was the remastered Beatles box set.)
I had the misfortune of reading blogs and Twitter postings today surrounding the announcement, and I'm sorely disappointed for two reasons:
1) No one understands why this is a big announcement. It's not for the fans that already own the music--it's about the future of the music. Digital downloads are now the way that music is distributed to the masses, because this announcement puts the final nail in the coffin for CDs.
2) People don't think before they write. I'm willing to bet that if all the people who published negative comments about this announcement had stopped to think about the significance, they wouldn't have published what they did.
We expect a routine. When I wake up, I always take a shower first before feeding my cats. It feels weird to do it in any other order. Similarly, we've grown accustomed to Apple making extremely theatrical announcements about revolutions in the world of technology, and it's odd to see them break away from their pattern.
Change is good.
But I don't see it as change. I remember in September 2005, just after Hurricane Katrina, Apple's homepage had a button that allowed people to donate to the relief fund. (Incidentally, I donated $50, which at the time, was a very big number for me.) They also use their homepage to pay homage to influential people who pass away. Why wouldn't they use it to announce a technological revolution in music?
The only reason people are angry is because they didn't see it coming. Apple created hype, and then the announcement didn't align with what they were expecting. Get over it.
I'm going to reword today's announcement: The musical revolution that Apple started in 2001 is now complete nearly a decade after it began.
"The times, they are a-changin'."