Article recommendation

kane

The current issue of Discover magazine talks about future software and how it may become more commercialized, selling stuff, not only through a browser, but also through other apps such as text- and image-programs. The article talks heavily about the iTunes Music Store and what things the future may hold.



http://www.discover.com/sep_03/gther...=feattech.html

buonrotto

goes off to read?



thanks!



Yep, this author is starting to understand that the browser is not the internet, something Apple has been aware of for some time now. Still, other better, more inane and intrusive forms of this idea exist: RealOne is supposed to be another iTunes type of app, and it's a non-stop pop-up assault. I don't even visit VersionTracker or MacUpdate for upgrades to my apps any more. They check for updates themselves or when prompted from within the application. Adobe is of course the worst at this with its arcane and bloated updating feature. More in line with this author's point.



The difference between the iTunes Store (plus iPhoto and other Apple apps) and the Explorer stuff is that Windows jumps out to prompt and prod the user to buy stuff. It's all part of Microsoft's really dumb strategy where they think they have to guess what the user wants instead of presenting the proper choices and letting the user decide. (I.E., the paper clip, "It looks like you're writing a letter!") when it comes to your money and purchasing power, you would think people would draw the line.



My friend has been struggling with MusicMatch and assorted other jukebox/audio software for some weeks. He's struggled with pulling ID3 tags and track anems for CDs; he's struggled with all the upgrades that break things, all the pop-ups for those upgrades, "premium" services, and ads for content he's not interested in, etc. The biggest problem is, he just sort of grins and bears it. It's par for the course with him, he's accepted that this is what he has to accept. I just ran Ad Aware on my work PC, and it picked up a dozen spyware jobs, and this after deleting some pop-up software that installed itself on my PS without asking for (or needing) any permission or prompting by me. Everyone is downloading this stuff around the office, and now the IT group is trying to control what people download for this process, and trying to give some direction on how to handle these little gems.



Advertising and intrusive content varies more by application/software maker than by platform, so this could happen with Mac users if Real and others ever started to care about more than minimal support. But is people's tolerance for this a "cultural" phenomenon, where the culture is that user's computer platform, or rather their computing background? Would Mac users just grin and bear it if it came to us?



The iTunes Store can be turned off. How long will that option last? Will greed ruin it for the honest folk? Is this whole thing inherent to the idea of bringing the internet to your applications? Would a browser really provide that buffer from advertising the author sort of imagines? The more I think about it, the author seems to draw the difference between "offline" computing and "online" computing very strictly, an artifice that probably should go away.



Well, I'm rambling now. Suffice to say, the software makers have the prerogative to do stuff like this, but users have to somehow demonstrate that they understand the difference between having the option of paid extra services and having to dodge paid extra services at every turn.