Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• Steve Jobs and Apple telling half-truths about DRM

  This has already been covered ad nasuem , but I thought I should mention Apple's denouncement of DRM last week. Steve Jobs summarily dismissed Apple's DRM as a result of demands from the record labels. Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices. I have no doubt that the record labels are concerned with putting unprotected music out there, but Apple is also in no rush to do away with DRM... Posted Feb 13 2007, 04:20 AM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Intellectual Property, Rants, Music, Copyright, Business, Apple, Law

• A look at Apple and Microsoft strategies

  I've been thinking about some of the interesting strategic decisions that Microsoft has made lately. I already discussed their curious IP licensing strategy , and their choices with Zune and Windows Media Player have me similarly baffled. In many ways, these moves have been something I expect more from Apple than Microsoft. Apple has always been known for delivering closed systems, controlling the experience from end to end. Apple software runs on an Apple OS on Apple hardware. Conversely, Microsoft has thrived largely because it has recognized the value in delivering not just products, but platforms. Office and Windows are both successful not just because of what they do as a product, but because they leave room for third party developers. It is those developers, not just Microsoft itself, that really enable a true ecosystem. Even the Xbox 360 has been a platform, not just for the media content providers, but now for the independent game developers. Given their history, it should come... Posted Jan 01 2007, 02:42 PM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Rants, Gadgets, Things that amuse me, Music, Innovation, Business, Microsoft, Apple, Audio