iTMS: Invention of the Year?
Apple's website is now advertising that Time Magazine has named the iTunes Music Store the "Invention of the Year."
Although I cannot think of something right off the top of my head that was a better invention this year, do you really think the iTunes Music Store deserves this title? It is better than other online music stores, but it's not exactly a new idea. It's an improvement on an existing concept.
If you invented the automobile, should I have been awarded "Invention of the Year" because I made an automobile with a heater?
Is a piece of software even an invention? Normally I think of an invention as a tangible thing you can touch. Software should probably have it's own category. Also, Apple didn't invent the music store, they just made a music store with a better business model with regards to the "no subscription fee, flat rate for songs, and liberal copyright restrictions".
Thus Apple's creation is really a business model more than it is an invention or a piece of software. Shouldn't it be "business model of the year" instead? Of course, can you really award somebody "business model of the year" if their business model is designed to not make a profit?
Maybe it should instead be "innovation of the year"? Finding the middle ground between greedy record companies and a horde of pirates must be quite innovative. Inventions are the outcome of innovation. In that sense, maybe Apple really does deserve "Invention of the Year".
Although I cannot think of something right off the top of my head that was a better invention this year, do you really think the iTunes Music Store deserves this title? It is better than other online music stores, but it's not exactly a new idea. It's an improvement on an existing concept.
If you invented the automobile, should I have been awarded "Invention of the Year" because I made an automobile with a heater?
Is a piece of software even an invention? Normally I think of an invention as a tangible thing you can touch. Software should probably have it's own category. Also, Apple didn't invent the music store, they just made a music store with a better business model with regards to the "no subscription fee, flat rate for songs, and liberal copyright restrictions".
Thus Apple's creation is really a business model more than it is an invention or a piece of software. Shouldn't it be "business model of the year" instead? Of course, can you really award somebody "business model of the year" if their business model is designed to not make a profit?
Maybe it should instead be "innovation of the year"? Finding the middle ground between greedy record companies and a horde of pirates must be quite innovative. Inventions are the outcome of innovation. In that sense, maybe Apple really does deserve "Invention of the Year".
Comments
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...threadid=33701
I checked Software, News, and Mac OS X to be sure there wasn't a duplicate thread already.
Ah well.