iLounge

“‘Most of the money goes to the music companies,’ admitted Jobs.

‘We would like to break even/make a little bit of money but it’s not a money maker,’ he said, candidly.

So now we have it on record: the music store is a loss leader. Jobs said Apple would pay its dues to the RIAA, then seek to make money where it could, from its line of hardware accessories. When the conversation turned to rivals such as eTunes and Napster, Jobs said: ‘They don’t make iPods, so they don’t have a related business where they do [make money].’”

“For the past year, the media has been clamoring about iPod killers on the horizon—new MP3 players with more features, longer battery life, and designs nearly as svelte as the iPod’s. However, this oversimplifies the situation; in truth, while the iPod rocks, it’s not now, nor has it ever been, perfect for everyone.

We too have run our fair share of iPod-centric headlines—for a good reason. With about 1.5 million units sold, the iPod is the most popular MP3 player in the world, and it still makes other players look and feel inelegant in comparison. Don’t get me wrong; it’s still our favorite overall MP3 player. Although everyone can think of reasons why they want an iPod, I’ve decided to use this column to list a few reasons why not to buy one.”

“One of Apple’s latest gimmicks is the iPod Music Bus. Four buses - they come in yellow, purple, blue, and green - are digital music stores on wheels. Each bus represents a consumer’s taste in music - yellow for hip-hop, purple for dance music, green for inspirational and family tunes, and blue for R&B and jazz. Those iPod buses will be plying Taipei’s 3C areas - Hsimenting, Kuanghwa, and Pateh Rd. to name a few - until the end of December. [...]

‘Every iPod bus passenger will also get a raffle coupon from us,’ he said. ‘We will hold the raffle draw in InfoMonth, the biggest consumer electronics show in Taiwan. We will give away tons of products including Mac computers, digital cameras, digital printers, and of course, iPods. So, who says there’s no such thing as a free ride?’”

“Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has told the music industry it expects to unveil an online music store this month, The Post has learned.

The company is still finalizing deals with the five major music companies and has told music industry executives it could launch the service by Nov. 15. If it doesn’t meet that date, the company hopes to launch the service by Thanksgiving, sources say.”

“Less than a month after Pepsi announced a blockbuster deal to give away 100 million downloads from Apple’s iTunes music service to its customers, McDonald’s is close to a announcing a much bigger deal, The Post has learned.

In a dramatic move that gives a thumbs up to the music industry’s efforts at creating legal alternatives to file sharing, McDonald’s plans to give away up to 1 billion songs in a marketing campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter.”

“The e-mail seems to imply that iTunes sabotages MusicMatch by “deleting critical files,” and some in the iPod community have speculated on whether Apple may be trying to hinder MusicMatch now that iTunes is available for Windows.

Based on our development work with our own iPod management software, Anapod Explorer, we do not believe that Apple intentionally tried to hinder third party software, nor does iTunes delete any “critical files” necessary to properly manage the iPod.”

“Sony will take Apple head on next year with the launch of new portable music players that pitch directly against the Mac maker’s iPod.

So much the consumer electronics giant admitted at its Transformation 60 conference yesterday. But early reports that it will do so with a $60 device seem highly unlikely, unless Sony has managed to rewrite the rulebook of hard drive economics.”