iPhone Hysteria

[mr. sparkle]

Dudes,
The iPhone is going off the hook here in the states. I saw one today. Pretty kick ass. Now I want one. Maybe I'll wait 'til the next version as I have 3G capability in Burbank.

[Charles]

Dudes,
The iPhone is going off the hook here in the states. I saw one today. Pretty kick ass. Now I want one. Maybe I'll wait 'til the next version as I have 3G capability in Burbank.

I'm desperately trying not to buy one. I don't need one. I hardly use the cell phone I already have. But my old Moto phone is dying and I need a replacement. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks until the Apple bluetooth headset ships. Or maybe longer, if the old Moto holds out. I heard rumors of a major iPhone features upgrade that will ship when MacOS X 10.5 is released, it's supposed to tie in better to the new Leopard apps. That might seal the deal.

[eighty5er]

I just got a new clamshell 3G.. considered the iPhone for a bit but the model size is too bulky imo.

[madfuku]

I'm pretty sure Apple is going to update this iPhone just as fast as they kept upgrading iPods and the entire overall lineup of product offerings. So in about 3 years the iPhone will probably be a must have for consumers and business folk alike.

I would not be surprised in the least if there is an "iPhone Pro" that comes out geared toward business and to fill the "obvious" -- read intentional -- gaps that the consumer model has. Such as missing GPS, perhaps a MicroSD slot and more business related features. Remember, analyst say Apple is generating almost 50% profit margins on the iPhone and production costs are rumored to be below $200 per unit after they ripped the thing apart.

To have added a GPS module or an SD slot would have been comically easy and not cost prohibitive in anyway, even 3G would have had little impact (aside from power management) considering Qualcomm offers an all in one module for phones that encapsulate almost every global GSM and 3G standard on one little board complete with antenna.

Apple didn't add these things mainly because they are smart business people and looked toward a practical and break-even if not profitable launch. They understand that Apple's name is most potent in the United States its home country and it would have the prevailing winds in its favor in the US on all contractual and inter-vendor levels, distribution and consumer adoption would be quickest and widest. In a non-3G country (USA), it was very easy to see why they made these decisions and why it was the right one. The numbers, tell us this.

3G markets simply would not have the initial adoption rate that the homeland would. Japan is a good example of a counter current mentality that would have devestated such a launch, the simple populace ideas that -- Japanese/Asian phones are just better and foreign phones suck, period --combined with the -- oh yes, and we have 3G -- Boo Hoo for You mentality...

That being said, Apple is following its own model for success that resembles the iPod's globalization model which is still underway and has been very successful and tied closely to iTunes.

I am sure when the 3G model comes out in late 2007, and rest assured it will come and it will be 3G with an extra or two, perhaps simply an SD slot or GPS. But that's enough, it will probably re-demand the attention of those that feel slighted by the fact that they had to do without the product for many months... and sat in envy or denial (the iPhone bashers).

As for Japan, I am not sure our market really matters all that much. It would be nice to have, but Apple will not bend over backwards to gain widespread Japanese adoption as in the final analysis, the rest of the world simply trumps Japan in potential market share.

You will probably see more iPhones in Hong Kong and China than Japan in my best guesstimate. It will of course, be released by Softbank (despite DoCoMo's attempts to circumvent this) probably in late Jan/Feb 2008. IMHO, only months after a European release mainly because it seems obvious that the phone will be cracked and unlocked in record time and a large grey market will emerge that would undercut apples ability to package and position the phone in other global markets appropriately. And Apple is relentless in controlling its brand, thus Apple Stores worldwide. This being said, Asian availability will not be too far behind Europe/Australia/Canada which is touted to be Q4.

Other obvious realities are that Apple is doing a major overhaul of iTunes factoring in the needs of Apple TV and the iPhone. Both which I suspect will be able to purchase iTunes content directly by early 2008. The primary goal in my opinion will be the need to preserve the PAY-ONCE to play on many Apple devices without paying extra (unlike Japan). This has been the obstacle to being able to purchase songs or video content on a secondary-device like an iPhone or AppleTV while still being able to have a higher quality copy of the content on your Apple Computer.

This simple act presents a myriad of legal challenges with content providers who would not want to have media encoded separately for the iPhone and again for Apple TV and iTunes on the mac.

They see each device as a lost profit center. They view this as getting the product twice but paying once, and this is the contractual and technical hurtle that Apple is trying to overcome. Just look at the PSP and UMD. I have a PS3 and a PSP (as well as a WII and XBOX360) and simply refuse to purchase a movie on UMD and then again on Bluray. Thus I own neither. Its just not going to happen. I will rather buy a lower quality version (though this will change now that Apple is testing HD content in itunes) and be able to buy my movie, TV show or song once and play it on my Mac, Apple TV, iPod and or my iPhone. This is what makes iTunes content more valuable than any other online source. IMHO.

Its all simply fascinating to me (and I am happy I bought my Apple stock in 2001) and they really leave alot of room for improvement and product line realignments, adding an additional top tier model (such as an iPhone Pro) and lowering the cost of current consumer models at the end of the hypecycle (generating even more sales) while still retaining generous profit margins throughout the line.

Apple is definitely on a roll and I am not going to bet against them just yet and the iPhone as a first-gen product is pretty damn sweet, 3G or not. And I am not going to take the position that Tokyo or Korea is going to roll all this killer tech out against it, they couldn't even stop the iPod juggernaut despite there lead in mp3 players and SONY's entertainment properties and they will probably be left gasping like SONY against Nintendo and Microsoft (god forbid). There's simply more to it than better hardware or faster network speeds.

Japan isn't juggernaut it once was technologically and 3G is just that, a number and a letter. It's not how big -- ahem -- fast your network is, its how you use it and how consumers are personally empowered.

---

I confess I have an iPhone being shipped from the US that has already been activated (using my own Cingular account) so I can play with it a bit.

I use my US Apple iTunes a lot and bought an Apple TV so i can easily see content on my plasma. I don't use the Japanese side that much, no TV shows and there isn't much in terms of Japanese music I am interested in. I have both Japanese and American credit cards so I can use either store.

So to me, this is just a great day for consumers and in the end we will all benefit from Apples entrance in the mobile phone market. Until then, I still like my Softbank 910SH, and I imagine I would always have more than one phone even on one account depending on what the day calls for, travel vs bar hopping... etc...

madfuku

[eighty5er]

In a non-3G country (USA)

They don't have 3G in the USA? I'm a little shocked here!

PS. Sweet post

[madfuku]

There's 3G in the US but it is limited.

But I suppose they will accelerate rollout now considering that ATT has gotten a major boost from the iPhone hype and will continue to reap the benefits for many months if not years to come. Only ATT can screw this thing up, and I am sure they will work very hard to make working with them as unpleasant as possible.

That said, Apple is strong enough to slap them around a bit and I am sure there are performance benchmarks in the contract that gives apple wiggle room if need be.

I also don't think Apple will be overzealous about handsets getting unlocked. A lot of people think unlocking is impossible for this phone. I seriously doubt Apple is dumb enough to lock itself wholeheartedly into ATT by any sort of permanent or otherwise unlockable mechanism. If they did that is a cue to sell my Apple stock. Its a softlock for sure.

Furthermore, ATT customers will eventually demand that there phones are unlocked by claiming they are traveling outside the US with them. But, we all know American's don't actually leave there country don't we I have even seen activity on building a class action to protect consumers in the US from handset lock-in. Ironically, the iPhone may be the first handset that could actually spawn genuine and continuous support for such a movement, and thats where an unlockable iPhone becomes more of a burden than a benefit with the profound negative publicly that the internet can now levy and a backlash from the very consumers who worship Apple, and that is a very serious problem. This product is on the edge of greatness while simultaneously straddling disaster due to consumers hyper-expectations from Apple.

You will probably be seeing other US networks speed up there high speed network (3G) rollouts so they can offer a lot of the technologies offered in Japan such as video phone. Personally, I think these things are pretty shallow and not really fully leveraging and promoting the full potential of 3G, just a great way to inflate phone bills. I've had phones from every Japanese cell phone provider and found them all to be nothing more than yen pinching gimmick-machines. I realize now that the reason I have so many phones is because I never really liked any of them. Right now I am with Softbank but am looking forward to another handset even though my 910SH which is a great phone is only a few months old.

I think a product like the iPhone simply is in a position to deliver a better consumer experience and even business experience than any current 3G handset we have in Japan, or handset in general. As I expressed in my earlier post this is not a gadget-tech competition (thinner, lighter, brighter, smaller, etc), its about a seriously simple consumer centric solution built upon a consumer friendly foundation.

And thats where I think this is going, and its about time. As for Japan, I will also like to see better Japanese rate plans than the non-sense we have now in favor of more flat rate plans especially for data which is really what limits 3Gs overall usefulness in Japan from my perspective. DoCoMo is moving this way but they lack a handset and service like iTunes that could really be earth shattering -- and global --. I am certain they could make a better handset and they probably will, but it will ultimately fall well short of what Apple has rolled out because it isn't about the handset or 3G, its about the overall consumer experience and how various pieces of hardware, software and services combined contribute to that experience and elevate its value whether real or perceived.

And that my friends is why Apple's got the mojo right now, and Toyota for that matter also has it. And they do have a lot in common on the consumer loyalty level. Though, I think Jobs would rather rub shoulders with the likes of Lexus over Toyota

madfuku

[Charles]

Furthermore, ATT customers will eventually demand that there phones are unlocked by claiming they are traveling outside the US with them.

AT&T will unlock the phone, I've already seen reports of successful use of the iPhone in Europe. But using the iPhone on other US carriers is not going to be very useful, the backend at AT&T has special software to accommodate specific features like Visual Voicemail, no other carrier supports it.

[madfuku]

Having never owned a Honda or a Toyota (aside from a Lexus) I could never really tell the difference

Actually, in all honesty the first time I ever drove or even entered a Japanese made car was when I arrived in Japan and took my drivers license test in a stick Crown that was originally a Japanese Taxi cab I suspect.

Since, then I have driven a few Toyotas and Subaru's but haven't yet been in a Honda nor know anyone who actually owns a Honda oddly enough. So hard for me to distinguish the two.

But I have a great fondness of the Japanese kei car segment which fascinates me to no end, to the point where I actually bought a kei car just to play around with (Subaru R2) with no intention of ever really driving it over my everyday car. But I find myself attracted to its sheer simplicity and it is actually fun to drive in a weird non-performance sort of way.

I digress, what I was intending to zero in on is the fervent brand loyalty of Toyota and Apple folks. Cult of Apple and Cult of Toyota come readily to mind. But two very respectable brands, add Honda to that and we have three.

As for the carrier specific features, I would not lend to much credence to the idea. The only carrier specific function is visual voicemail, the configuration of EDGE proxy servers is just a hidden setting somewhere and will eventually be uncovered or exposed.

The amount of interest in hacking the iPhone has no equal in the mobile phone industry and unlocking it and most of its network specific features would be a badge of honor in that sort of crowd. But from a technical perspective visual voicemail is really the only one that can't be fudged.

I am following the unlocking activity very closely and progress seems to be coming along remarkably well. There are many efforts currently underway and the smarter groups are actually keeping there discovery and processes public so pieces can be filled in by the greater community. I also would imagine there are some Apple engineers who do like to strategically leak information as has been seen in the past.

But heck all this is just good fun.

madfuku

[madfuku]

If an iPhone is unlocked and used in any other country outside the United States or in the United States for that matter rest assured it will make headline news on every major news network. CNN and BBC come quickly to mind.

Both Apple and AT&T have stated publicly they will not unlock the phone for consumers (that means support personnel do not currently have the tools to unlock it). So for now, unlocked by AT&T stories are bogus unless someone steps up and proves it. Remember, there is no individual thought at companies like ATT or Apple, people are not given the freedom to decide simply to unlock a phone. It is protocol based, built into the business strategy and support systems.

Seattle Post
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/322094_consumer03.html
"Neither company will provide an unlock code for the iPhone," wrote Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock in an e-mail response to a question from the Seattle P-I. AT&T posted its own response on its Web site: "AT&T is the exclusive wireless carrier for iPhone in the United States. If you currently use another wireless carrier, you can choose to transfer your number when you activate your AT&T account."

This doesn't mean that it can't be unlocked, it simply means that it won't be unlocked voluntarily. This is also very easy to enforce, there would be no option to unlock the phone in the Customer Support System. From what I understand, there is no protocol to unlock the phone documented internally at either AT&T or Apple.

And, by way of contractual obligations between the two parties there probably won't be any until the end of the initial contract phase between the carrier ATT and the consumer which is 2 years.

The iPhone has not been unlocked yet by anyone, or they would be on the cover of every gadget geek circular and the subject of a quick CNN or BBC segment rest assured.

madfuku

[FG Lurker]

I think you (madfuku) are giving Apple too much credit. They announced the phone too early due to massive expectations and have had to rush it to market without a complete feature set.

I also think that Japan is a much more important market for the iPhone than you realize. Apple wants to push iTunes sales here and the best way to do that is with iPhone. Once they get a phone that is usable on 3G networks here I think we will see both Apple and Softbank push it heavily. How well it will be received here though is a different matter... Hammering out mails on the touchscreen is likely not going to be as quick as on a standard keypad.

And that my friends is why Apple's got the mojo right now, and Toyota for that matter also has it. And they do have a lot in common on the consumer loyalty level. Though, I think Jobs would rather rub shoulders with the likes of Lexus over Toyota

I don't think Apple and Toyota are all that similar at all. Toyota builds amazingly high quality products with superb reliability but very boring (often copied) designs. Look at the high-end Lexus cars, total knock-offs of MB S-Class but with less soul. Apple on the other hand makes products that are beautifully designed but often with quality control (or quality!) issues. Toyota and (in particular) Lexus also have fantastic after-sales service. Apple's after-sale service leaves quite a lot to be desired, in my experiences.

[FG Lurker]

Hmm, I always thought of Apple as being more like Honda.

All show and no go?

[GomiGirl]

I heart madfuku:love2:

You work in the biz?

[Charles]

...Other obvious realities are that Apple is doing a major overhaul of iTunes factoring in the needs of Apple TV and the iPhone. Both which I suspect will be able to purchase iTunes content directly by early 2008. The primary goal in my opinion will be the need to preserve the PAY-ONCE to play on many Apple devices without paying extra (unlike Japan). This has been the obstacle to being able to purchase songs or video content on a secondary-device like an iPhone or AppleTV while still being able to have a higher quality copy of the content on your Apple Computer.

This simple act presents a myriad of legal challenges with content providers who would not want to have media encoded separately for the iPhone and again for Apple TV and iTunes on the mac...

Ah, there's the beauty of it all. The iPhone, AppleTV, the iPod, and iTunes are all optimized for H.264. Encode once, run anywhere.
I have been saying for a long time, everything Apple does is designed to drive adoption of open QuickTime formats rather than proprietary Windows Media, and now Apple has gone with the more universal H.264 codec that doesn't even require QuickTime (although QT is optimized well for H.264).
Apple's crown jewel is QuickTime Streaming Server. It allows a server to stream different clips that are appropriate for the bandwidth of various devices. I use QTSS for my own video projects, I can automatically encode clips for 3 different bandwidths, 56k, 112kISDN, and 512k or up. QTSS also has advantages for the legal issues, streaming means there is no data file to store and copy, it's essentially a copy protection scheme without DRM.
There is currently some considerable discussion on the QTSS developer's listserv about how QTSS is being used by YouTube for compatibility with the iPhone. I think that's the final straw, I'm going to get an iPhone and play around with it on my own QTSS server.
BTW, if you want to play with it, here's a link to an iPhone encoded YouTube stream that plays on a regular PC or Mac:

Code: Select all

rtsp://rtsp.youtube.com:554/youtube/videos/e19NrkUcFEQ/video.3gp

You can try that in QuickTime (use the command "Open URL" and paste in the address) and it probably works on recent versions of WMP and RealPlayer. It's true streaming, you can fast forward instantly to anywhere in the clip. This is what it's all about: instant access IPTV. Apple's had this ready to go for years. They just had to wait for the market to ripen, so they can now deliver a product to drive it. It helped a lot that Microsoft failed miserably at every IPTV project they ever touched. Google brings the added infastructure to deliver it with YouTube, Apple's convinced Google to rewrite the YouTube service around the iPhone. It's brilliant.

[Mulboyne]

I'm interested too how Apple will continue to change the way people buy music especially since I don't even have a dedicated MP3 player. I did put some music on my Sony Ericsson w850i phone but never listened to it. Itunes doesn't suit at all in its current form because you are restricted to Apple devices. Also, the one-price-fits-all system seems highly inappropriate for music.

Since June, many of the best independent music stores in Britain have gone under and even the surviving big chains like HMV are having a hard time. It's not out of the question that soon the only places to buy physical product will be at supermarkets - a dismal thought - gigs or ordering online. Most music will likely be bought as downloads some time in the near future. Certainly by anyone under 30. The band Ash recently announced that they would stop releasing albums because the production, promotion and distribution process takes too long and they don't believe that fans listen to a new album in the same way anymore. Instead, they plan write songs and release them online individually or in smaller groups as they are ready. Perhaps when they have a dozen or so songs out over a given period, they might collect them and also sell them under one title.

Steve Jobs says he doesn't envisage people buying much music through their iphone yet because the download speeds aren't a patch on those available through your PC or Mac. This is bound to change, though. Personally I'd want a lot more compatibility across devices before this method suited me but the iphone is clearly going to be a big test case for how the music industry operates.

[Charles]

Itunes doesn't suit at all in its current form because you are restricted to Apple devices.

You haven't been keeping up with the changes, Apple is now offering DRM-free music via iTunes, starting with the EMI catalog. You can use those files on any music player that accepts .m4p files (almost every recent device).

[Kuang_Grade]

They announced the phone too early due to massive expectations and have had to rush it to market without a complete feature set.

I also think that Japan is a much more important market for the iPhone than you realize. Apple wants to push iTunes sales here and the best way to do that is with iPhone. Once they get a phone that is usable on 3G networks here I think we will see both Apple and Softbank push it heavily. How well it will be received here though is a different matter... Hammering out mails on the touchscreen is likely not going to be as quick as on a standard keypad.

I know what you are saying but if in 3 days you can move 500K-700K units at between $500 and $600 upfront and a total 2 year cost of over $2000, you aren't rushing anything...Granted some folks are going to be disappointed when they wake up from the hype hangover, but its pretty clear that there an audience for this product regardless of the feature set. And 3G is going to be long time coming in the US...shit, ATT is just getting around shutting down the last vestages of its original analog network this summer. Given the size and expense of developing a 3G network in a nation as mind boggling huge as the US (all of Japan could fit in the state of Montana, all of Great Britain could fit in Minnesota, all of Holland is slightly bigger than the state of Maryland) along with the US's proclivity to be rather stingy with both their cell phone spending/cell phone data network usage (actually, just cheap all around on most things, except apparently ipod related items) does not bode well for a particularly deep or robust or quickly installed national 3G network. Outside the top 20-30 metro markets, I wouldn't be holding my breath for 3G anytime soon. While EDGE isn't the fastest thing around, don't forget there are still plenty folks in the US that are stuck with just GRPS.

As for Japan, I thought the bigger issue that Apple is locked out of a large part of the music market due to the records labels not wanting to deal with them...not that people didn't want to use Itunes...If you can buy a Nano at 7-11 in Japan, I don't know if itunes is in such bad shape that it needs a iphone to bail them out.

But I agree with you that I don't think its a slam dunk for Japan. While the iphone definitely has some style, I wonder if the average J consumer might be a bit put off by the size of the thing. And given that Japanese market has progressed quite nicely just using the phone pad as input device, a touch screen would be a nice improvement but not a necessity...esp in the face of what a likely 60K/72K yen price tag for the iphone in Japan...I don't know if you could type a email one handed while hanging on a hand ring on a train with the iphone. I believe a significant part of the appeal of the iphone to regular consumers in the US is primarily based on the fact that it is the first device that actually looks like you don't need an IT department backing you up to get data/internet to work on your phone and the interface is actually big enough to see/use. In Japan, they've had workable services and interfaces for quite a while now and the oya yubi sedai, while possibly attracted to the look/feel of the iphone, aren't lacking for other phones that do much more than the iphone at a much lower price.

[Mulboyne]

You haven't been keeping up with the changes, Apple is now offering DRM-free music via iTunes, starting with the EMI catalog. You can use those files on any music player that accepts .m4p files (almost every recent device).

They are certainly heading that way however Universal Music has apparently declined to renew its contract with itunes so there are still major disagreements.

[Charles]

They are certainly heading that way however Universal Music has apparently declined to renew its contract with itunes so there are still major disagreements.

Well that story was shot down pretty quickly, it was obviously a strategic leak by Universal during contract negotiations.

Let me see how this story goes with an alternate headline: "Universal refuses to allow Apple to continue to shower it with money."

[Kuang_Grade]

Universal is probably upset that Apple won't give them cash from Ipod hardware sales...unlike Microsoft who is giving Universal a cut of every Zune hardware sale...although all that MS cash that Universal has earned so far probably could only buy a 30 gig ipod given the Zune's rather dismal sales. While Universal is one of the large music labels in the US, Itunes is now the 3rd largest music retailer in the US. And similar to the UK, many of the smaller/medium retailers are going under in the US, so there are fewer retail outlets overall...So both parties need each other and I can't see Universal breaking with Itunes completely....they are probably pushing for more flexible pricing arrangement beyond the current 99 cents per song price structure and using the lack of long term contract as pressure to get their way.

[Mulboyne]

Universal doesn't have their customers interests (by which I probably just mean my interests) at heart but, at the moment, nor does Apple.

In an ideal world, I'd like to buy downloads that I can play on any device. If my hard drive crashes and I have no back-up then I'd like to be able to get that music back without paying for it again as if I'd just lost a case load of CDs. I'd like to be able to walk into a friend's house or favourite bar and let them play some music that I have with me. I'd also like the opportunity to re-sell music that I have bought if I don't like it or else I have duplicate copies.

Some of this I can do legally in a fashion already, depending on how I've bought the music and what devices are available. As the business pans out, I may come to decide that I don't need to do some of these things because there turn out to be other ways I can use music which I don't yet know about and which will be more important.

[IkemenTommy]

Just like any other consumer electronics out there, as was the case for PSP, PS3, and Xbox, I wonder what the resale of iPhone is on ebay and other auction sites right now. Usually, people try to make quick cash off of this but this is no longer the case as most end up buying stuff they can't resell.

[Taro Toporific]

I'd like to buy downloads that I can play on any device. If my hard drive crashes and I have no back-up then I'd like to be able to get that music back without paying for it again as if I'd just lost a case load of CDs.

For more than a year, a person's iTunes library has had a built-in backup to DVD-R or CD-R function.
Yes, yes, it would be better if all iTunes-purchased music was in an open format to begin with (certainly all of my iTunes library is). EMI's decision to sell open-format tracks is a good idea, but actually iTunes has done much to mollify the "no back-up" argument with their backup function.
See also:Apple gave me back all my lost music, free of charge

[Mulboyne]

Yes, we've come a long way since itunes first opened for business. Apple wants to provide greater comfort to people like me but currently they say they'll replace lost music as a "corporate policy" because it is "good business". I've seen too many corporate policies and business practices change in my time to trust in that to do the job. I increasingly find buying CDs to be inconvenient so I'm no holdout for needing to hold a disc, card or whatever but there's no doubt that when I leave a CD shop, I need have no ongoing relationship with that shop (unless it's faulty).

I can accept responsibility for losing a CD or two but not several hundred in one go. Obviously there are some advantages to Apple's system. If a burglar walks away with my music collection or a fire destroys it then my only recourse currently is to an insurance company. Under Apple's policy, I can get it all back for free. However, I'd prefer to acquire some kind of legal right to own the music along with the actual data which I can exercise if I do lose the data itself. Preferably a right I could exercise with any retailer who has the data in the case that I buy from somewhere that subsequently goes out of business.

What I want isn't really practical as it stands because such a system would likely be open to abuse. There'll be a trade-off where buying downloads will be superior in other ways that I'll be prepared to give up some of these other demands. If bands get to the point where they stop releasing physical product then I'll have no choice. Many people reached that trade-off point a long time ago but I haven't got there yet.

[IkemenTommy]

You can see the fate of an iPhone ebayer in the second video I posted above:
Lady Tries To Buy $100,000 Worth Of iPhones

Yeah, fuckin' classic. I guess that piece of shit white trash didn't do her homework. That'll learn her.

[Kuang_Grade]

I think that "get all your purchases back if you lost them" is YMMV...The support person said she read Wil's blog, which means they were probably aware that saying 'eat a dick straight up' wouldn't be a good PR move.

Apple's support page strongly implies you are out of luck if your hard drive crashes

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/backup/

Why do I need to back up my music library?
Be sure to make regular backups of your music files (in your iTunes Music folder) by copying them to an external hard disk or other media. Otherwise, if your hard disk becomes damaged or you lose any of the music you've purchased, you'll have to buy any purchased music again to rebuild your library.

Now if you tell them something like your house burned down (wiping out your backups too), you might get some have more luck but I wouldn't bank on it.

Until last month, I had been still buying CDs when I knew I was interested in the whole LP, given that the CD retained some resale value...but trade in values are falling through the floor, given that used CD shops are having a hard time with downloads cutting into their most lucrative supply of stock (recent popular music) and they are cutting trade in values to keep up profits in the face of declining sales...previously I got around $4 for a recent popular CD....Now most places are only offering $2-2.50...at that level, the physical media isn't worth the hassle of spending $1-1.50 worth of gas to drive out to a store to buy it, and then pay sales tax on top of that, and that assumes the store actually has the CD I want (fairly often they don't). And about twice a year, usually at least one major retailer has some deal with itunes card deal where if you buy say 3 $15 cards, you get one $15 card free...And at least in my state, itunes cards are not subject to sales tax so my music purchases on itunes are tax free. So for a few clicks on itunes, I get the music immediately, tax free, no gas expense, with no hassle and with a little planning/advance purchases of itunes cards when on sale, at a fairly good price as well.

And while the per track purchase option has always been of great value to me, I also find it is much easier to see what's new on itunes, since they list all their new arrivals for the last four weeks all on one page (although a fair bit of it is "new to itunes" but not necessarily new music)...I don't think I would have seen the Beastie Boys' new instrumental CD (which is OK but not great) if I was browsing the ever diminishing CD racks at Best Buy.

[Charles]

I drove to my local (i.e. 120 miles away) Apple store today to buy an iPhone. I called them last night, they said they had plenty of stock, they hadn't been selling out. I checked the Apple iPhone availability website to double-check, it said they were in stock and the store would open at 10AM, special July 4th hours. I've checked their store for the past two days and they have never sold out, they've had continuous in-stock status after the first day's sellout.
So I get there just before 10 and the store is already open. I went in and asked for an iPhone and they said they sold out almost immediately after 9AM when they opened. I said their website said special July 4th opening time was 10AM, if it had said 9AM I would have been there at 9AM. The guy shrugged and gave me a blank look. Dammit.

[Taro Toporific]

Now if you tell them something like your house burned down (wiping out your backups too), you might get some have more luck but I wouldn't bank on it.....
....trade in values are falling through the floor, given that used CD shops are having a hard time with downloads cutting into their most lucrative supply of stock (recent popular music) and they are cutting trade in values to keep up profits in the face of declining sales...previously I got around $4 for a recent popular CD....Now most places are only offering $2-2.50...

I post my DVD backups of iTunes, iPhoto, data, etc. to my relative's home in a different state a few times a year for peace of mind (as an incremental backup it's only four DVDs worth). If I was really serious about backup, I'd contract with Amazon Simple Storage Service(A3) ---online backup/storage service which costs a typical datafreak like me with a tetrabyte of stored goodies about $11 per month (I paid out of my own pocket for A3's online backup which saved my ass at Hitachi several times).

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....trade in values are falling through the floor, given that used CD shops are having a hard time with downloads cutting into their most lucrative supply of stock (recent popular music) and they are cutting trade in values to keep up profits in the face of declining sales...previously I got around $4 for a recent popular CD....Now most places are only offering $2-2.50...

The last time I was in the States, I was shocked by that $2-2.50 trade-in cash value too. I'm stuck with boxes of Japanese polka CDs I can't sell for some reason.

[FG Lurker]

I have not bought a single track online, and I have no plans to for the foreseeable future.

The prices are still way too high, I despise DRM, and having only compressed versions of music sucks.

I also like that with a CD I can put it into my car stereo that will auto-rip it to the HDD, put it on my iPod, put it on my wife's iPod, stick it on my computer, and then put it in the living room rack for use there as well. I can do all this without having to jump through DRM hoops or deal with even greater quality loss through re-encoding.

[Charles]

[oyajikun]

Nice!!