iPod and WMA?

[nuckinfutz]

Oh let's debunk this faulty logic

but if the ipod supports WMA apple no longer controls the store, napster, wallmart, buymusic, et al will have their music playable on ipods (can you imagine the advertising campaing, "walmart music is now ipod compliant, and only $.89 for the same songs!).

Apple only controls the iTunes Music Store. They don't receive royalties from AAC unlike WMA and Microsoft.

the problem with apple is they will never be able to compete with dell or microsoft for leveraging cheap manufacturing deals. the ipod will always be more expensive than competitor's products.

Why would you say this? Apple can obtain the same manufacturing deals and may do better do to outstanding iPod sales.

then as a death blow to microsoft you could offer WMA... though i think WMA would already be dead by that point

Here is were your logic fell off the charts. You cannot deal a "Death Blow" to a company if your very success lines their pocket as well. NO WMA...is your best chance at a DB.

 

[mustang_dvs]

Re: wma support is good

Originally posted by rweidmann
why no add wma support. there are people in the windows world that have their music encoded this way. Why make the reencode? You also wouldn't want them to drop MP3 just because AAC is better now. Also it is quite clear that there will be consolidation in the online music market and i think it would be good if apple put itself in a position to aquire customer bases of those going out of buisiness. Therefore they need to give these people a way to play the songs they bought with old service. Nobody will switch to itunes if it means losing all the music you have already paid for.

Nowhere is there any hint of Apple dropping MPEG Layer-3 audio (MP3), but there is no real reason for them to adopt the WMA standard, especially when it gives Redmond and the competing music stores a leg up.

The fact of the matter is that Apple's MP4/AAC-encoded files dominate the legal download market and very few of the P2P network users emphasize WMA over MP3 or MP4.

With over 70% of the legal digital music business in Apple's control, there is no reason for them to support the "minority" codec. (Feels good to turn the tables, doesn't it?)

 

[Purple Worm]

Apple will never support WMA, there is no reason to support this non-standard, inferior format and doing so would harm iPod sales IF the iTunes store remains the market leader. Nuff said. The End

 

[nagromme]

MS wants to control music. Apple won't help them.

WMA is a tiny fraction of the music download market, and may be safely ignored. Apple won't help Microsoft's bullying attempts to change that!

HP looked at their options and chose AAC/iTunes/iPod. They have made the decision to turn their back on WMA. That doesn't mean they won't support their old WMA products, just that it's not the future for them. Why sell an iPod that won't work with WMA? Because the non-WMA iPod is a runaway success!

Plus there already solutions for WMA on iPod: burn your songs and re-rip them: bingo: your WMA purchases are iPod-friendly. You can even do so with zero loss, if you can spare some extra HD space. (Select WAV in iTunes.)

There are many other possible reasons to wait for summer. Such as a new marketing campaign, or bigger iPods expected cheaper, or making a splash before back-to-school, or allowing Apple time to ramp up to higher-volume production, or to coincide with HP putting iTunes pre-installed on all HP and Compaq consumer lines.

These articles rumoring WMA support from Apple are not coming from remotely reliable sources.

So no WMA iPods, or iTunes, for a long time if ever. Microsoft lost this one. And thank goodness... if someone has to put DRM on my music, I'd rather it be ANYONE but Microsoft!

 

[pbreit]

What are the big players defaulting to for ripping? Still MP3 or do they default to WMA?