Folks, this is likely Apple's answer to what Microsoft is doing.
Check out the new Vail Home Server OS pre-release and Live Mesh. One of my friends at work has been playing with the new Home Server OS to see what it offers versus what he has set up at home. Using Live Mesh, he's able to watch any movie, view any picture, and listen to any MP3 that's on his home server from his office at work, or anywhere he gets an Internet connection.
the simplest approach to avoid all that would be for Apple to store and sync your iTunes library file in the cloud (with your metadata, which your purchase history that Apple already has does not include), and based on that information stream to you from its own existing iTunes store servers any purchased content you already own, anytime and anywhere. iTunes song previews and movie rentals already work this way.
that way there is no license hassle with the media content owners, and no support of piracy. but your other media content would have to be streamed from your own computer, subject to the constraints above, because Apple has no way to verify if you stole it or not. i doubt that Apple can legally include unrestricted unverified streaming ability within iTunes, given its iTunes licensing agreements with all the content owners.
I believe that this approach is Apple's reluctant second choice. Based on rumors over the past few years, Apple has been unable to get content providers to buy into a either a digital locker or subscription service. As mentioned above and by others, this is Apple working around these issues.
Apple can already access music based on any purchased content from the iTunes Store under the current licensing arrangement. The problem is with streaming content you have ripped at home which will require that you host the content and make it available to your mobile devices - this will require that some type of "server" be left on. Apple could maintain a content list on Mobile Me pointing to iTunes content or to content on your server. If the content is on your server, Apple could use a basically dedicated version of "Back to My Mac" to access your local library. Apple could also build an iTunes server into Time Machine as an alternative.
I think this may be the wedge to get some movement on subscriptions. Apple is basically thumbing their nose at the content providers saying "See, we've made your content available to users already and it's not making you any extra money. Would you like to sit down and discuss a subscription service so we can send some money your way?"
I have a dedicated Mini with 2 2TB external drives (1 backup)as a media server 10,000 songs, 800 movies plus home movies, photos, podcasts TV shows, etc.
Most of the content is Ripped DVDs and CDs, with about 5-10% purchased from iTunes.
If there were a way I could replace this with a subscription service, at say, $10-$20 month, I'd be all over it.
But I hope it would include capability for home movies, photos and other locally-generated content.
Based on rumors, Apple has been trying for several years to get a subscription service. The record companies, in all their wisdom, have allowed others to pursue subscription services but refuse to allow Apple for fear that they would have to much control (in other words, Apple would be too successful and the content companies would rather have control over money - all the while belly-aching that they don't make what they used to in the good ole days).
So they're assuming that people WANT a "home computer", and that it's always turned on as a server at home? And people with MacBooks carry their data around anyways?
And if they don't have a home computer, just buy a mac mini?
I don't want yet another computer, and I don't want a server at home. Perhaps they're gonna introduce a new TimeCapsule hardware that has more storage and is doing all this cloud business for you with iTunes configuration?
A TimeCapsule with a built-in iTunes server would be great.
The real problem is trying to actually upload a user's 30GB+ collection would take months to finish.\\ and would probably hit some caps. Just detecting what songs were on a computer based on MP3 tags would lead to rampant abuse (changed tags = new songs!). Only offering the service to songs purchased on iTunes means few people would ever use it (what about songs ripped from a CD?).
I believe that this approach is Apple's reluctant second choice. Based on rumors over the past few years, Apple has been unable to get content providers to buy into a either a digital locker or subscription service. As mentioned above and by others, this is Apple working around these issues.
Apple can already access music based on any purchased content from the iTunes Store under the current licensing arrangement. The problem is with streaming content you have ripped at home which will require that you host the content and make it available to your mobile devices - this will require that some type of "server" be left on. Apple could maintain a content list on Mobile Me pointing to iTunes content or to content on your server. If the content is on your server, Apple could use a basically dedicated version of "Back to My Mac" to access your local library. Apple could also build an iTunes server into Time Machine as an alternative.
I think this may be the wedge to get some movement on subscriptions. Apple is basically thumbing their nose at the content providers saying "See, we've made your content available to users already and it's not making you any extra money. Would you like to sit down and discuss a subscription service so we can send some money your way?"
Amnesty?
What if there were a way for the content providers and Apple to allow amnesty or legalization of existing collections of electronic media containing for-sale content.
Say something as simple as the Next iTunes version has an Amnesty menu item that works similar to Get Album Artwork.
Your content titles would be processed against the master iTunes index -- for any matches, a token would be created in your iTunes account indicating that you "own" a digital copy of that item.
Your MobileMe account would store these tokens and allow streaming to any of your registered computers/iDevices/AppleTVs.
The theory being: if you already "own" a for-sale digital title, you are not willing to buy it again.
However, you may be willing to pay a one-time "legalization" fee to gain the convenience of streaming anywhere, anytime from the cloud -- and elimination of local storage and backup.
As with any collection, there will be things that are not available in the master iTunes library and would need to be uploaded to MobileMe to gain the streaming advantage.
There are many ways Apple and the content-providers could assure that this amnesty/legalization is not exploited.
Going forward, any additional content purchased through the Apple Store would automatically be "legal"
Maybe, we can take the next step in "convenience" that makes it possible for us to buy, pay for, and enjoy content on all our devices while assuring that those who create and provide content are fairly paid for their efforts.
The only way this could even remotely be sucessful is if time capsule becomes the cloud server with zero config. No one is gonna run their desktop 24/7, at least not the average folk. The hard drive is spinning it is eating up power and can't really be expect to work long if left unattended (not windows anyways).
Sure you can but a Mac mini server edition and osx is server class unix, but again not the average person. iPhone is an average person business with a broad market.
Free iDisk for 2 gigs plus iTunes cloud would be enough for most users.
What if there were a way for the content providers and Apple to allow amnesty or legalization of existing collections of electronic media containing for-sale content.
Say something as simple as the Next iTunes version has an Amnesty menu item that works similar to Get Album Artwork.
Your content titles would be processed against the master iTunes index -- for any matches, a token would be created in your iTunes account indicating that you "own" a digital copy of that item.
Your MobileMe account would store these tokens and allow streaming to any of your registered computers/iDevices/AppleTVs.
The theory being: if you already "own" a for-sale digital title, you are not willing to buy it again.
However, you may be willing to pay a one-time "legalization" fee to gain the convenience of streaming anywhere, anytime from the cloud -- and elimination of local storage and backup.
As with any collection, there will be things that are not available in the master iTunes library and would need to be uploaded to MobileMe to gain the streaming advantage.
There are many ways Apple and the content-providers could assure that this amnesty/legalization is not exploited.
I like the amnesty idea - except for the prospect of handing any more money to the labels to use content I have already paid for. However, if the charge was reasonable, I would probably go for it. However, the labels will want some silly amount because they truly believe that everyone is a thief and their product is so extraordinary.
Quote:
Going forward, any additional content purchased through the Apple Store would automatically be "legal"
What happens when I rip something new? I still buy a lot of vinyl and CDs.
The only way this could even remotely be sucessful is if time capsule becomes the cloud server with zero config. No one is gonna run their desktop 24/7, at least not the average folk. The hard drive is spinning it is eating up power and can't really be expect to work long if left unattended (not windows anyways).
There are NAS devices which include an iTunes server.Here's an example:
This may have been mentioned already...but Apple should buy DropBox. Unless they are planning to offer something way better than DropBox!
Best
It has been mentioned loads of times. And that's because it's pennies to them and would be totally worth it. They only thing that's stopping that deal going through is Mr. ego.
iDisk is an abomination.
My wish would be for Apple to buy both Dropbox and Cloud App and use both technologies to make a super Folder Style iDisk 2.0 with an additional quick drop menubar. Heck they could simply buy Dropbox and use that to sync the whole Documents folder on your Mac, for free. Would be completely seamless, invisibly simple and very clever. It would make perfect sense. It should have happened 2 years ago.
I like the amnesty idea - except for the prospect of handing any more money to the labels to use content I have already paid for. However, if the charge was reasonable, I would probably go for it. However, the labels will want some silly amount because they truly believe that everyone is a thief and their product is so extraordinary.
What happens when I rip something new? I still buy a lot of vinyl and CDs.
First, the Amnesty approach wouldn't work for everyone -- hopefully, though, for the majority.
Second, this could be handled the same way as content not available from Apple/iTunes -- rip and upload to mobile me -- you pay for the storage.
Third, a hard copy CD or DVD could contain a serial number (digital or stamped into the Label) that could be registered once to become an online token.
I also assume that you could sell or reassign your tokens to another user ID, invalidating the existing ones.
I think that there are ways to do this and satisfy most of the users and providers -- there is a lot to be gained to get around the current stalemate between Apple, providers, and users.
There is money to be made!
Other than that, a subscription service is a good second choice.
I just want iDisk to actually work... I watch it spin it's little wheel of death when I haven't changed anything all day... then go back to using my free DropBox account.... but, soon I will need to decide where to spend my $100 a year, and DropBox 'just works'.
Agreed. Totally. iDisk is a laughably poor product.
Without Steve around 100% of the time, I'm afraid the Mac, MobileMe and iTunes divisions will be floundering for a while over the next few years. iOS would remain stellar for at least a while since it seems that's where Steve really put a lot of energy into it.
Without Steve around 100% of the time, I'm afraid the Mac, MobileMe and iTunes divisions will be floundering for a while over the next few years. iOS would remain stellar for at least a while since it seems that's where Steve really put a lot of energy into it.
Why do you think that all of this emanates from Steve. Apple is loaded with talented engineers who have been working on all that you mentioned. In someways, I'd actually like to see Steve gone because it would become clear that he is the (most excellent) face for the company but that there are actually other people at Apple that make things happen.
At any rate, Steve specifically said that MobileMe would see big improvements which means those would already have his approval.
Daft idea - what's the point in Appled esigning their computers to reduce their energy demand with efficient components, sleep functions, spinning down the hard disk and reducing screen brightness only to trash the lot by requiring me to leave my Mac awake?
And of course when I go on holiday or away for the weekend and switch it off ...
Who suggests this crazy stuff? Do they ever think it through?
Comments
Check out the new Vail Home Server OS pre-release and Live Mesh. One of my friends at work has been playing with the new Home Server OS to see what it offers versus what he has set up at home. Using Live Mesh, he's able to watch any movie, view any picture, and listen to any MP3 that's on his home server from his office at work, or anywhere he gets an Internet connection.
the simplest approach to avoid all that would be for Apple to store and sync your iTunes library file in the cloud (with your metadata, which your purchase history that Apple already has does not include), and based on that information stream to you from its own existing iTunes store servers any purchased content you already own, anytime and anywhere. iTunes song previews and movie rentals already work this way.
that way there is no license hassle with the media content owners, and no support of piracy. but your other media content would have to be streamed from your own computer, subject to the constraints above, because Apple has no way to verify if you stole it or not. i doubt that Apple can legally include unrestricted unverified streaming ability within iTunes, given its iTunes licensing agreements with all the content owners.
I believe that this approach is Apple's reluctant second choice. Based on rumors over the past few years, Apple has been unable to get content providers to buy into a either a digital locker or subscription service. As mentioned above and by others, this is Apple working around these issues.
Apple can already access music based on any purchased content from the iTunes Store under the current licensing arrangement. The problem is with streaming content you have ripped at home which will require that you host the content and make it available to your mobile devices - this will require that some type of "server" be left on. Apple could maintain a content list on Mobile Me pointing to iTunes content or to content on your server. If the content is on your server, Apple could use a basically dedicated version of "Back to My Mac" to access your local library. Apple could also build an iTunes server into Time Machine as an alternative.
I think this may be the wedge to get some movement on subscriptions. Apple is basically thumbing their nose at the content providers saying "See, we've made your content available to users already and it's not making you any extra money. Would you like to sit down and discuss a subscription service so we can send some money your way?"
Now, there's the idea... we have a winner!
I have a dedicated Mini with 2 2TB external drives (1 backup)as a media server 10,000 songs, 800 movies plus home movies, photos, podcasts TV shows, etc.
Most of the content is Ripped DVDs and CDs, with about 5-10% purchased from iTunes.
If there were a way I could replace this with a subscription service, at say, $10-$20 month, I'd be all over it.
But I hope it would include capability for home movies, photos and other locally-generated content.
Based on rumors, Apple has been trying for several years to get a subscription service. The record companies, in all their wisdom, have allowed others to pursue subscription services but refuse to allow Apple for fear that they would have to much control (in other words, Apple would be too successful and the content companies would rather have control over money - all the while belly-aching that they don't make what they used to in the good ole days).
So they're assuming that people WANT a "home computer", and that it's always turned on as a server at home? And people with MacBooks carry their data around anyways?
And if they don't have a home computer, just buy a mac mini?
I don't want yet another computer, and I don't want a server at home. Perhaps they're gonna introduce a new TimeCapsule hardware that has more storage and is doing all this cloud business for you with iTunes configuration?
A TimeCapsule with a built-in iTunes server would be great.
I believe that this approach is Apple's reluctant second choice. Based on rumors over the past few years, Apple has been unable to get content providers to buy into a either a digital locker or subscription service. As mentioned above and by others, this is Apple working around these issues.
Apple can already access music based on any purchased content from the iTunes Store under the current licensing arrangement. The problem is with streaming content you have ripped at home which will require that you host the content and make it available to your mobile devices - this will require that some type of "server" be left on. Apple could maintain a content list on Mobile Me pointing to iTunes content or to content on your server. If the content is on your server, Apple could use a basically dedicated version of "Back to My Mac" to access your local library. Apple could also build an iTunes server into Time Machine as an alternative.
I think this may be the wedge to get some movement on subscriptions. Apple is basically thumbing their nose at the content providers saying "See, we've made your content available to users already and it's not making you any extra money. Would you like to sit down and discuss a subscription service so we can send some money your way?"
Amnesty?
What if there were a way for the content providers and Apple to allow amnesty or legalization of existing collections of electronic media containing for-sale content.
Say something as simple as the Next iTunes version has an Amnesty menu item that works similar to Get Album Artwork.
Your content titles would be processed against the master iTunes index -- for any matches, a token would be created in your iTunes account indicating that you "own" a digital copy of that item.
Your MobileMe account would store these tokens and allow streaming to any of your registered computers/iDevices/AppleTVs.
The theory being: if you already "own" a for-sale digital title, you are not willing to buy it again.
However, you may be willing to pay a one-time "legalization" fee to gain the convenience of streaming anywhere, anytime from the cloud -- and elimination of local storage and backup.
As with any collection, there will be things that are not available in the master iTunes library and would need to be uploaded to MobileMe to gain the streaming advantage.
There are many ways Apple and the content-providers could assure that this amnesty/legalization is not exploited.
Going forward, any additional content purchased through the Apple Store would automatically be "legal"
Maybe, we can take the next step in "convenience" that makes it possible for us to buy, pay for, and enjoy content on all our devices while assuring that those who create and provide content are fairly paid for their efforts.
Sure you can but a Mac mini server edition and osx is server class unix, but again not the average person. iPhone is an average person business with a broad market.
Free iDisk for 2 gigs plus iTunes cloud would be enough for most users.
Amnesty?
What if there were a way for the content providers and Apple to allow amnesty or legalization of existing collections of electronic media containing for-sale content.
Say something as simple as the Next iTunes version has an Amnesty menu item that works similar to Get Album Artwork.
Your content titles would be processed against the master iTunes index -- for any matches, a token would be created in your iTunes account indicating that you "own" a digital copy of that item.
Your MobileMe account would store these tokens and allow streaming to any of your registered computers/iDevices/AppleTVs.
The theory being: if you already "own" a for-sale digital title, you are not willing to buy it again.
However, you may be willing to pay a one-time "legalization" fee to gain the convenience of streaming anywhere, anytime from the cloud -- and elimination of local storage and backup.
As with any collection, there will be things that are not available in the master iTunes library and would need to be uploaded to MobileMe to gain the streaming advantage.
There are many ways Apple and the content-providers could assure that this amnesty/legalization is not exploited.
I like the amnesty idea - except for the prospect of handing any more money to the labels to use content I have already paid for. However, if the charge was reasonable, I would probably go for it. However, the labels will want some silly amount because they truly believe that everyone is a thief and their product is so extraordinary.
Going forward, any additional content purchased through the Apple Store would automatically be "legal"
What happens when I rip something new? I still buy a lot of vinyl and CDs.
The only way this could even remotely be sucessful is if time capsule becomes the cloud server with zero config. No one is gonna run their desktop 24/7, at least not the average folk. The hard drive is spinning it is eating up power and can't really be expect to work long if left unattended (not windows anyways).
There are NAS devices which include an iTunes server.Here's an example:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...ge/blackarmor/
It should be simple enough for Apple to add this capability to Time Capsule.
This may have been mentioned already...but Apple should buy DropBox. Unless they are planning to offer something way better than DropBox!
Best
It has been mentioned loads of times. And that's because it's pennies to them and would be totally worth it. They only thing that's stopping that deal going through is Mr. ego.
iDisk is an abomination.
My wish would be for Apple to buy both Dropbox and Cloud App and use both technologies to make a super Folder Style iDisk 2.0 with an additional quick drop menubar. Heck they could simply buy Dropbox and use that to sync the whole Documents folder on your Mac, for free. Would be completely seamless, invisibly simple and very clever. It would make perfect sense. It should have happened 2 years ago.
I like the amnesty idea - except for the prospect of handing any more money to the labels to use content I have already paid for. However, if the charge was reasonable, I would probably go for it. However, the labels will want some silly amount because they truly believe that everyone is a thief and their product is so extraordinary.
What happens when I rip something new? I still buy a lot of vinyl and CDs.
First, the Amnesty approach wouldn't work for everyone -- hopefully, though, for the majority.
Second, this could be handled the same way as content not available from Apple/iTunes -- rip and upload to mobile me -- you pay for the storage.
Third, a hard copy CD or DVD could contain a serial number (digital or stamped into the Label) that could be registered once to become an online token.
I also assume that you could sell or reassign your tokens to another user ID, invalidating the existing ones.
I think that there are ways to do this and satisfy most of the users and providers -- there is a lot to be gained to get around the current stalemate between Apple, providers, and users.
There is money to be made!
Other than that, a subscription service is a good second choice.
I just want iDisk to actually work... I watch it spin it's little wheel of death when I haven't changed anything all day... then go back to using my free DropBox account.... but, soon I will need to decide where to spend my $100 a year, and DropBox 'just works'.
Agreed. Totally. iDisk is a laughably poor product.
Without Steve around 100% of the time, I'm afraid the Mac, MobileMe and iTunes divisions will be floundering for a while over the next few years. iOS would remain stellar for at least a while since it seems that's where Steve really put a lot of energy into it.
Why do you think that all of this emanates from Steve. Apple is loaded with talented engineers who have been working on all that you mentioned. In someways, I'd actually like to see Steve gone because it would become clear that he is the (most excellent) face for the company but that there are actually other people at Apple that make things happen.
At any rate, Steve specifically said that MobileMe would see big improvements which means those would already have his approval.
And of course when I go on holiday or away for the weekend and switch it off ...
Who suggests this crazy stuff? Do they ever think it through?
Do they ever think it through?
No. That's why they are analysts, not engineers.