Will Palm Pre iTunes Sync Be Stopped Again? 34
The story of sync with the Pre and iTunes is long and bumpy, but ever since Palm started spoofing Apple's USB manufacturing ID, it's worked and worked quite well. We've all been waiting for the other shoe to drop however.
Al Sacco at CIO posed the question, oft-repeated now throughout the blogosphere, of whether or not iTunes 9 will break music sync for the Pre. It certainly might, and though we're no seers we can guess that Palm would be more than willing to engage in another round of cat-and-mouse with Apple on this one.
So Pre users will want to keep an eye on Apple's announcements tomorrow (and not just because I'll be pitching in with The iPhone Blog's meta-live-blog of the event), because it could bear heavily on what happens the next time you plug your Pre into your computer.
34 Comments
Prediction: WebOS 1.2 comes out 2 days after iTunes 9. With a working Pre syncing to iTunes. :)
LOL....Loves its and I seriously hope that if they Break the sync that this is seriously the case cause i'm sick of the cat and mouse. Although it is fun to watch.
Whatever.
Re: Whatever
x2
itunes sucks anyway. It has cost my nothing but trouble since I tried using it. It's too bad itunes isn't simple like the zune software. Now THAT would be an awesome way to sync music to the pre. But i can dream i guess....
F**K ITunes. stop sweating apples ass. Its people here that own other music software like zune. so stop wasting time with that or get someone to write a music software for the pre. people need jobs. i know its someone out there that can create one that could be better then itunes.
i think lots of people don't like itunes. But until palm makes a better solution it's the best answer.
A better answer already exists. It's called USB Mass Storage mode.
One Device. One Client.
Whatever device you use, it should just work with whatever software client you use.
Power Users will always demand their Power Program to do things exactly as they want. Media Sync was never meant for them.
Joe Average is. He has to know instinctively that no matter what device he buys and whatever software he uses, that he will have his music.
I have no issues with either company. I leave my phone's calling and aplications to the Palm Pre & I leave my music to the Ipod Touch. Let the games continue
I don't have iTunes on any of my computer's (2 laptops, and a desktop) I think it sucks ass, I've never liked it. Takes your music and hijacks it. I have used other methods including drag and drop to sync my music. I currently use MAGIX MP3 maker 12 to convert and sync my music to almost any device. Only cost about 20 bucks. I had version 11 which I gave to my sister in Jersey, and I have had 12 for about a year now. Palm should create their own client, partner with an existing client maker/vendor or a work around that Apple can't complain about. Palm you don't need iTunes!
i'd put my money on Apple to break it tommorrow and Palm stock to drop on it. cause it has everytime they've done it.
I'm no softare engineer or computer engineer..so I'm wondering if there is any code that Apple can write that will ultimatley prevent the Pre from "pretending" to be an iPod.
This is an interesting cat-and-mouse game being played between these two companies, and I'm enjoying it every time something new crops up. Mr. R. is a very smart individual to keep Apple on it's toes!
There is no "code" to do so...unless Apple wants to drop support for one of their product lines. Then Palm just mimics another iPod model, and the game goes on and on.
Bottom line, people paid for music, and they want to play that music. Apple's attempts to force users to use their phones by tying them to music sales, an entirely unrelated industry, is far more monopolistic a practice than Microsoft attempting to "force" people to use their browser by shipping their operating system with it installed and integrated. If Apple were to attempt to sue, they're only going to bring reverse anti-competitive lawsuits down on themselves. They really should learn from IBM and Microsoft's experiences and make a better phone instead.
What is stopping anyone from just using a non-iTunes application to play their music? You can easily buy music on the iTunes store and move it elsewhere.
Yes, they can, but it would maybe require a firmware update on the Apple devices. But to stay ahead of the game, encryption between the device and software would need to be added. Though, even that would not stop a team with brains and money determined enough to reverse engineer the process.
More than likely, it would be in Apple's interest to have iTunes become a media hub...Subsidized by sales from the iTunes store....Though you would probably, unless you hooked up an Apple device, be limited to the (more expensive) DRM-free recordings. With that, they could move to the money side of the business (seriously, you think they're actually making *real* money off the mobile hardware?) and open up a market that was unable to purchase their music offerings easily. (Yes, I know if you buy DRM-free, you can transfer to any player...But there's an advantage to being the dominant media purchase point on the computer - it pushes Microsoft out of the way.)
Of course, given some of the truly rationality free decisions the Apple people have made recently (re: application approvals), they may just keep the story alive by attempting another block.
As a developer (yes, I'm working on Pre app but am unwilling to disclose the idea) I've not heard anything about APIs for syncing music to the Pre (though in truth, I haven't looked). I think that would be (or is, if it's already out) useful for folks who would like to write a plug-in for the Pre for something like Songbird or Media Monkey.
Anyway, I know everyone said the screen shots with iTunes accessing a Pre were faked, but it's not a bad idea if you follow it through (it expands Apple's market- and mind-share significantly).
i agree with sacherjj's post above. I believe palm is waiting for the next itunes to come out before update 1.2 so they can fix the possible break sync.
So maybe sometime this week we can see the update?
"The story of sync with the Pre and iTunes is long and bumpy" ... It may have been bumpy but long? Seriously? Next time you use a cliche, pick one that makes sense. Pre was released June 6th...
It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. Apple announces some software updates and maybe new hardware, and Palm releases a SU to counter act Apple's move.
While I do use iTunes for syncing music, I prefer just using the USB Drive function on the Pre for syncing photos and what not.
Plug pre in. Select flash drive. Drag mp3's to a folder you create yourself. Toss off ur evl iTunes overlords already.
One Device. One Client.
Whatever device you use, it should just work with whatever software client you use.
Power Users will always demand their Power Program to do things exactly as they want. Media Sync was never meant for them.
Joe Average is. He has to know instinctively that no matter what device he buys and whatever software he uses, that he will have his music.
This really doesn't make sence to me from a business stand point. Apple makes money from music they sell. If I were them I would let any device sync than those owners will buy songs from iTunes. Maybe Apple is just pissed that old Apples guys work for Palm now. Who knows. I just know I would be figuring out how to make as much money as possible. Maybe there is something there I don't know.
Apple makes very little money from music sales on iTunes. The created iTunes to drive sales of their hardware -- period.
This simply isn't true. Apple collects a substantial portion of the purchase price of each download.
http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/03/apple-apparentl/
That isn't true. If it was true, it isn't the consumer's fault that their business model sucks.
This iTunes sync topic is so... boooooooooooooooring!
Screw Apple. Use winamp to sync your Pre.
Just buy a your own software, then you can have your music your way anytime.
Install "iToons" on a PC and you get Safari/Quicktime junk pack plus the ultimate awesome spyware Bonjour for free!
.!. suck on this Pinapple!
Educate yourself .. Bonjour spyware? LMAO
Yes Spyware or if you like Junkware, are you so blind to trust in a software made by Apple always present in computer memory. Sorry to say it bu I don't.
I think Palm will lose out. Apple will get over this battle by allowing the PRE to sync (though not officially support it). The reason: What harm can it do Apple to have more devices connect to their revenue stream?????
If iTunes became the defacto sync product for most of the mobile PDA's this would help with their world domination of the media market and would increase their power with the media owners.
I don't see a downside for Apple here!
Palm please create your own kick ars3 sync product so users can chose and hopefully they will move away from iToonz crap
Yes, Palm. Please do!! Get these toy iPre's off of iTunes .. LOL
If the scenario you describe comes to pass, then Palm will have "won" in the minds of many. For this, they will get even more mindshare from this battle than even they have now. Apple is losing by continuing to fight. It's bad PR for them and it coincides with a steady stream of stories about App Store rejections.
Apple may not stop fighting but every day more and more people are calling them the "New Microsoft". Not that they'd care so long as they're making lots of money (nor should they). But this sort of PR cements smartphones like the Pre in place as a valid choice for a great number of buyers. That would be good news for Palm and a fight well fought.
I like iTunes.