Even without the iTMS, iTunes for Windows could be profitable for apple. It would introduce the masses to a quality Apple product. Next time a PC user purchases a computer, they just might think: 'Maybe I should get an Apple. I wish everything on my computer worked as well as iTunes and my iPod.'
iTunes for Windows will likely be one of the most successful promotional campaign out of apple. They just better get the iTunes port right. QuickTime for the PC is shoddy enough that even novice users see how it is rough around the edges. Hell, its the only PC based media player that forces you to look at a postage stamp size video on today's massive screens.
iTunes and the iTMS could give Apple a central role in Windows users' computing lives.
Quicktime is an excellent set of technologies. Yet the windows port in particular is 'not worth it' for most PC users. The alternatives offer a better user experience in most of their eyes.
There are a number of interface issues which apple never endeavored to fix. The floating and separate menu bar really pisses off most PC users.
Likewise, many if not most users are aggravated by the lack of resize controls for web-embedded media. There is also no free, full-screen option. Thus, the experience most windows users have with quicktime is that it is cumbersome and you can't even kick back in your chair to watch something at a comfortable size. Sure, pixelation is distasteful in my eyes. Yet, if you don't give users what they want, they will be dissatisfied.
Finally, quicktime also chokes on most things divx related. Yes, this is somewhat fixable, but still, it makes quicktime 'not worth it' for most PC users.
Most video on the web used to be distributed in quicktime format. I suspect, the lack of resize options, menu bar issues, and lack of divx support caused people to go with something else that wasn't a hassle. This is why I say that Apple really needs to do a good job porting iTunes to windows. If not, they'll fail to capture the windows music playback/management niche just as Apple has lost a grip on the movie playback niche.
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iTunes for Windows will likely be one of the most successful promotional campaign out of apple. They just better get the iTunes port right. QuickTime for the PC is shoddy enough that even novice users see how it is rough around the edges. Hell, its the only PC based media player that forces you to look at a postage stamp size video on today's massive screens.
iTunes and the iTMS could give Apple a central role in Windows users' computing lives.
Originally posted by dfiler
...hell, its the only PC based media player that forces you to look at a postage stamp size video on today's massive screens.
what are you talking about? you can resize QT
unless u mean 128x96 pixel movies being shown at 2x magnification...yep love to watch movies where its pixelized any more then it needs to be
There are a number of interface issues which apple never endeavored to fix. The floating and separate menu bar really pisses off most PC users.
Likewise, many if not most users are aggravated by the lack of resize controls for web-embedded media. There is also no free, full-screen option. Thus, the experience most windows users have with quicktime is that it is cumbersome and you can't even kick back in your chair to watch something at a comfortable size. Sure, pixelation is distasteful in my eyes. Yet, if you don't give users what they want, they will be dissatisfied.
Finally, quicktime also chokes on most things divx related. Yes, this is somewhat fixable, but still, it makes quicktime 'not worth it' for most PC users.
Most video on the web used to be distributed in quicktime format. I suspect, the lack of resize options, menu bar issues, and lack of divx support caused people to go with something else that wasn't a hassle. This is why I say that Apple really needs to do a good job porting iTunes to windows. If not, they'll fail to capture the windows music playback/management niche just as Apple has lost a grip on the movie playback niche.