BenRoethig said:
Possible options here:
1. Sony figured that iTMS compatibility is more profitible than connect. Why would Apple grant Sony such compatibility? It would be a disaster if Sony pulled its labels from the iTMS.
2. iTunes PSP edition. Yes, the PSP can play music, but its more of a jack of all trades than a true music player. Its too big to act as a flash player, the large capacity memory sticks cost as much as a iPod shuffle, and the capacity is too small to compete against the HD based iPods. However it is better for Apple if the PSP can play iTMS music.
3. PS3. The more closely tied the Mac is to the PS3, the better. Imagine a Mac/PS3 media center combo. The more Sony money that goes into advertising Apple technology the better for Apple. The more publicity the better for Apple.
Sony is one of the top five companies in the world. Apple wants them on their side.
Its all good what you are saying but the iTunes store and the iPod is as successful as it will probably ever will be... You say that the more publicity for Apple the better but people still buy PCs because they are basically cheaper and about equal in speed with Macs, Apple can advertise all they want but in the long run they better come out with innovative new products (with attractive price points) rather than colaborating with other companies on existing technlogy where they alread are successful without any helping hands...
From what you are saying there wouldnt be a whole lot of benefit to Apple, most people who will have a PS3 probably already have a PC at home that do all the iTunes downloads from (the beginning price of a PS3 will probably be higher than the cheapest Dell you will find)...
So all in all I don't think Apple has a lot to gain just from making iTunes PS3 compatibile, PS3 first and foremost will be a gaming console and secondly a media device... Sony has to offer more than just PS3 iTunes/iPods compatibile....
I believe that Apple, more than anything, is somehow tied up with the Cell chip as it is the most attractive item that currently Sony can offer them, other than that Apple is doing just fine and are showing all the other music "experts" how to run the MP3 world and they certainly don't need anyones help... The more they will colaborate with other companies the more money they will start losing because what once was hot will start to fade away anyway because sooner or later someone will come out with a more innovative product...
Apple is doing fine in the music business, all they need to do is stay innovative... Apple has colaborated a lot of times with a lot of companies and I cant think of one example where Apple would benefit from it over the long run (except the processor manufacturers where they are simply dependant on)...