Robert Scoble recently initiated another flurry of discussion about the iPod, iTunes, DRM, choices in digital music, and Portable Media Center devices. I really like the views of Alan Graham and Dare Obasanjo.
I really agree with their bottom line: choice as such doesn't do people much good, unless the options are really worth it. It's great that there are over 500 devices that support the WMA format. But how many of those products are actually good ones? For example, I have gone through a multitude of MP3 players from big companies like Creative, Philips, and Rio. Right now I have the Rio Karma. Technologically it is much more sophisticated than an iPod. It even has a light-up cradle that can pulse to music, and hooks into your Ethernet network. It supports four audio formats, including WMA and Ogg Vorbis. Sounds great, right?
Well, maybe. I still wish I had the simple and friendly functionality that Monica enjoys with her iPod, iTunes, and PowerBook. No drivers to install, the software is easy to use, synchronization is seamless, and it all just works. My Karma? I had to install drivers, Creative's not so elegant software, which doesn't tie into any music store, and I still get three pop-up windows whenever I dock the player. Windows XP seems to think three different devices just connected to the computer.
But sure, I have a choice. Say, the Philips HDD100 - a pretty looking sleek player, with completely unstable firmware and disastrous music synchronization software. But wait, it supports WMA!
The reason that the iPod is selling so well is because their whole user experience just works. No configuration, no drivers, smooth functionality - just a pleasant experience overall. Who will guarantee this for a comparable WMA-based setup? Microsoft? The maker of the player? The third-party music store? Will Microsoft do some sort of thorough usability testing to certify that, say, the Creative devices have stable firmware, don't crash, work well with different versions of Windows and online music stores? Of course not. Thus I will always have to hope for the best - it's back to "plug and pray".
However, with Apple, I know it will all work, and I won't have to spend a lot of time poking things around to get it up and running. And all I "lose" is the ability to play WMA files. That seems like a good bargain to me.
The same thing goes for Apple's iLife. I always drool over Monica's iLife applications. Why can't my Windows XP computer so seamlessly integrate music, pictures, movie playing, DVD and CD burning, and video editing? And no, it's not some sort of anti-trust issue. Make sure it is an add-on application and don't integrate it into the OS. Charge $70, and make it the best Windows media experience out there. It's not anti-competitive, because anybody else can come up with a better solution for the same price or less.
But wait, that wouldn't work, because it would cannibalize the market for Windows Media Center PCs. After all, Media Center is the one that ties in movies, pictures, and multimedia all together. But it doesn't address movie editing or DVD creation. And Tablet PC users are out of luck too. Speaking of, the minute Apple comes out with iLife for Windows, I'm first in line to get it for my tablet, no matter what it costs.
And you know what, if Apple ever makes a Tablet PC, I think it may very well be better than the Windows ones. Maybe it won't have as many features. And you will only have one vendor to buy it from, rather than the dozens that now make Windows tablets (and really, how many of those are actually good designs anyway?). But it will look better, be simpler to use, run iLife, and synchronize with your iPod. No choices, just a great computing experience.