iTunes vs. WMA round 2

johnhenry · March 17, 2004 4:41PM

Extreme tech article

I don't know about this guy...

Is he making sense at all? Why doesn't apple support WMA on the ipod? Why did I think AAC was open and WMA was not (I did for some reason)? This article made me feel a little defensive about my audio player choice but It got me thinking.

On a side note however, why does every article by a PC site put down the Mac user? Why post the email of some fanatics? You telling me they don't get repsonses like that from Ati fanboys when they post an article about how an nvidia card is great? No, but any chance to mac the mac community look like a bunch of a-holes is fine. Bah. Why are they constantly threatened by "less than 2% of the market"

hom · March 17, 2004 4:57PM

Because it means hits to their web page. It's really that simple. Any time one of these PC fan boy sites puts up a Mac story you can bet that they are trying to drive the 500,000 mac users that read Mac Surfer's daily to their site. It's nothing more than that. Don't let it get to you.

wrong robot · March 17, 2004 4:59PM

It's a cutthroat market, rather than boast benefits of your format over a rivals format, companies spend more time and effort making their rivals look bad with Fear,Uncertainty,Doubt campaigns.

From what I understand, anyone can use .aac but there is some sort of fee involved, but it's still more standards compliant. Where .wma is controlled entirely by microsoft, they can do whatever they want with it.

sonofsylvanus · March 17, 2004 5:52PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wrong Robot

...Fear,Uncertainty,Doubt

Cli·ché

n.

A trite or overused expression

chris cuilla · March 17, 2004 5:56PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnHenry

Is he making sense at all?

Will read the article when I have time later.

Quote:

Why doesn't apple support WMA on the ipod?

Three reasons:

1. It does not wish to pay royalties to Microsoft.

2. It wishes to establish AAC as the standard (which is, so far, succeeding in doing.

3. It, at present, doesn't NEED to (because of #2).

Quote:

Why did I think AAC was open and WMA was not (I did for some reason)?

Perhaps because...it IS. AAC is a open standard. WMA is a Microsoft "standard".

Quote:

On a side note however, why does every article by a PC site put down the Mac user?

Fear.

Uncertainty.

Doubt.

Also...ignorance.

sonofsylvanus · March 17, 2004 6:15PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris Cuilla

2. It wishes to establish AAC as the standard (which is, so far, succeeding in doing.

You sure about that last bit. I know iTMS is outselling everyone at the moment, but Napster, Walmart and Coke all use WMA (don't they?). WMA is everywhere and more companies are using/providing it. AAC is far from 'the standard'...

chris cuilla · March 17, 2004 6:20PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus

You sure about that last bit. I know iTMS is outselling everyone at the moment, but Napster, Walmart and Coke all use WMA (don't they?). WMA is everywhere and more companies are using/providing it. AAC is far from 'the standard'...

which is, so far, succeeding in doing.

iTMS and iPod currently dominate the market and thus ARE the standard. Whether that lasts is another question. Bottom line though is that Apple doesn't do themselves ANY favors (at this point) by supporting WMA. That will instantly kill AAC and hand dominance over to MS. They are at least putting up a (very) good fight against WMA.

WMA is "everywhere" in the sense that many vendors support it. But it is not in terms of total marketshare.

hom · March 17, 2004 6:21PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus

You sure about that last bit. I know iTMS is outselling everyone at the moment, but Napster, Walmart and Coke all use WMA (don't they?). WMA is everywhere and more companies are using/providing it. AAC is far from 'the standard'...

Illegal music is still MP3 and 70% of legal music is AAC. WMA is struggling to stay afloat. Also, more and more consumer electronics manufacturers like Nokia and Phillips are embracing AAC. I think you will see this trend continue to the point that the only products that support WMA are ones that are heavily subsidized by MS.

carson o'genic · March 17, 2004 6:46PM

Ah yes MP3. It is amazing that this format is barely even mentioned anymore since the downfall of Napster and the rise of online music sales.

I think the success of ACC is all dependent on the success of the iPod. Its that simple. If a music player comes out that sells much more than iPod, then Apple's music store will be out-sold by the MS legions. I think apple has a fighting chance. Its a lot like the old OS wars. this time Apple is thinking outside the company and bringing in HP. Good move.

eugene · March 17, 2004 8:34PM

ExtremeTech is a Ziff-Davis operation and that guy is a troll. Move on. Be merry.

johnhenry · March 17, 2004 10:28PM

I was also reading somewhere that microshaft is pushing for Windows Media as part of the next HDDVD standard. Anyone else hear of this?

Anyhoo, Extremetech used to be a place I turned to for tech info., but so much crap has been spewing out of that place lately....

I think its time to move on.

ghost_user_name · March 17, 2004 11:05PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnHenry

I was also reading somewhere that microshaft is pushing for Windows Media as part of the next HDDVD standard. Anyone else hear of this?

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-516...=zdfd.newsfeed

hmurchison · March 18, 2004 8:40AM

So far Jason Cross from extremetech has

1. Written a incomprehensive diatribe against Apple and AAC.

2. Wrote an article about Codecs which was slammed so hard by codec pros(including Ben Waggoner) that he should be embarrassed

3. Actually had the nerve to revisit topic one and add more obsfuscation.

Sorry I will never take Extremetech serious. Who you hire to write articles is a direct reflection on you. Extremetech seem to be ran by enthusiasts with no experience in proper testing methodology. I'll stick to anandtech for my PC computer news. Thank you.

iTunes vs. WMA round 2

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