Why the iPod Should Play Windows Media Audio
Like the age-old battle between the Beta format and the VHS format we are at the very beginnings of a digital media battle. In many way things look very good for Apple—the iPod is the MP3 player of choice and the iTunes store is a hit. Apple is doing many things right, but right, as the history of the Macintosh proves, does not always win in the marketplace.
The large majority of us were introduced to digital music in the form on the MP3. Napster, Limewire and others were a source of MP3’s, as were such pre-iTunes tools as Soundjam and Audion (which still exists) allowed us to “rip” our CD’s to MP3’s. MP3’s were great because they fit a large amount of data in a relatively small file.
However, MP3’s do not allow for digital rights management (DRM), the cornerstone on any online digital music business. So Apple made a choice, and they made the right one, they went with the MPEG-4 standard, also known as AAC. The benefits of AAC are many. For one thing the compression is superior to MP3, you get more quality with a smaller file size. But more importantly the file allows for a DRM component.
Right now all the other music services, including the venerable Napster, use a Microsoft file format, Windows Media Audio (WMA). Microsoft’s format is the only in-use alternative to AAC not from an audio quality but DRM standpoint.
And so we return to the Beta/VHS comparison. While the iPod is the player of choice it does force a consumer to make a choice to use the iTunes store exclusively. Now, of course, we all know the iTunes store rocks!! However, consumers like choice and by buying an iPod they are locked into one source of buying online music. As many others jump on the bandwagon in the coming months this is going to become more and more of a concern.
The solution? Apple should avoid the potential of becoming the Beta by having the iPod able to play WMA files. Sacrilege? Perhaps. But this openness will, in the long run bode well for the iPod. Apart from WMA files the iPod should play Ogg Orbis files that some prefer.
AAC is better, we all know that. But Apple should learn from painful lessons of the past. Closed systems become the choice of the minority.
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Comments
Apple doesn’t need to give M$ more money by licensing WMA technology for the iPod.
It needs to license FairPlay (DRM for AAC) to other MP3 players - preferably ones that use Flash memory and not hard drives. That way, Apple will still have the market for the best HD-based digital music players but will expand the use of AAC files by a proliferation of less-expensive players that can use the iTunes Store.
There are two standards right now for Commercial Digital Music files. WM and AAC. Apples store is successfull and currently there is no need to support WM. By doing so now they would simply just hasten their own demise. Why would manafactures add AAC support if everyone uses WM9.
Remember too much choice can be a bad thing. Apple is making the most sense right now. It’s unlikely that there will be too much music that cannot be found on multiple services. A far more dire issue is arising that threatens the market on a whole and that is “exlusive” deals. Music should be universal. AAC DRM allows for the creation of redbook audio CDs that can be reripped to whatever format you want.
There are many better ways to differentiate iTMS than to add WM support and help your competitors. Remember apple was thumped in the media for announcing a press release and drawing attention to Napster…just imagine what adding WM support will do by comparison.
You can’t compare WMA to VHS. VHS was a fixed standard, and one that anyone could use. WMA is a moving target; M$ has shown time and time again that they can keep tweaking their formats to lock people out, or have them forever playing catch-up.
The other aspect is that with iPod’s and iTunes’ market share, Apple have the chance to affect things. Should they roll over and give M$ yet another monopoly, or stand firm and do their bit so that everyone will be able to enjoy relatively open file formats and a level playing field?
Yes, Apple should definitely support open formats like Ogg Vorbis. There’s no risk to them, and great benefit for some folks. But to support WMA hands over far too much influence and control to the opposition.
Also, I think people put far too much emphasis on paid-for tracks. Nice though that option is, I suspect that the vast majority of tracks played on iPods are either ripped from the user’s own CD collection, or downloaded for, er, free. And all those tracks will work on any MP3 player there is. The iPod is not necessarily tying you into anything. Otherwise here in Europe, where we don’t know if we’ll ever get the iTunes Music Store, no-one would be using iPods at all!
The iPod can *already* play WMA—it’s part of the basic software support for the PortalPlayer 5002 platform that the iPod is based on.
Apple have simply chosen to disable WMA support - a simple firmware recompile and it’s supported.
http://www.designchain.com/coverstory.asp?issue=summer02
http://www.portalplayer.com/products/products_01.htm
http://www.portalplayer.com/products/fact.htm
“Realtime decoding of MP3, WMA, AAC, and ACELP®.NET formats”
The only reason VHS beat out Beta was recording time. A VHS tape could record a 2 hour and longer tape when Beta maxed out at 1 hour. Since movies were all over 1 hour the rental tapes were VHS by default. There is no issue with AAC FairPlay that compares to that Beta killer.
I’m sure Apple would love to sell licenses to FairPlay to any site that wanted it!
Here’s a vague prediction on Apple’s strategy: iTunes and AAC are but a leading indicator of the real future: Movies.
Installation of iTunes and the Music Store requires Quicktime 6.2 (to support AAC) Now, does the user really really need the full QT 6.2 just for AAC support? Unlikely.
I believe this fulfills two key strategies for Apple: maintaining dominance in the portable/downloadable DRM music market, and increasing the installation base for the multimedia wonder called Quicktime. In the near future, Apple will be faced with a showdown with MS for standardizing the music market onto a file format. Both may succeed, such as DVD-R and DVD+R media have, and USB 2.0 and Firewire connection technologies have.
The really big showdown in the further future will be Windows Media Video or Quicktime for any type (tv, film, web) of motion picture compression, delivery, and playback. MS is already wooing the entertainment industry into using WMV for digitally delivering films to theaters and playback on MS projectors. Let’s hope that Apple is already doing the same in some fashion, more than just getting Quicktime installed on user’s PC’s.
A little off-topic, but what the heck.
Have you heard that you can rent DVDs through the mail? I guess you keep the DVD, but it self-destructs after a specified number of days.
What was the name of that Circuit City format that you had to unlock with a code or something?
What I’m getting at (clumbsily) is this: I would like to walk into my local Blockbuster and download the movie of my choice to my iPod. They would never be out-of-stock, and I would never incur a late fee because the file would have a playback limit of some sort. Wouldn’t that be nice?
This scheme would be popular for several years to come, since the internet is nowhere near the kind of bandwidth necessary for downloading a whole movie (at least not for the average consumer’s budget). Blockbuster, however, could firewire them to my iPod in no time, and I could pay for the number of days I want (or maybe the number of playbacks).