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Democratizing Music?

Yesterday in class, we discussed chapters in Eric von Hippel’s Democratizing Innovation.

Holly asked: Using an example relevant to the present day music industry status, do you think that Apple Inc. would benefit more from the iTunes/iPod industry financially by making it free or open source software instead of the highly restricted software that it currently employs?

Steve Jobs was releasing his answer to this question during our class! Here it is from the Apple site.

Briefly. Apple does DRM on iTunes because the music companies demand it. People who buy the music hate the restrictions. People who buy iPods hate the restrictions. Steve says the restrictions don’t work anyway. Maybe things will get fixed in Europe.

FakeSteveJobs
has the window into RealSteveJobs mind on this in his essay on the essay “Thoughts on ‘Thoughts on Music'”— and he is a much funnier writer.

2 Comments

  1. Justin Watt

    Paul, I just saw a preview of this book: The Cult of the Amateur: how the democratization of the digital world is assaulting our economy, our culture, and our values. If you can get a copy, I thought your class might find it relevant to critique.

  2. Paul

    Hmm. Not due out til June tho. I’ll check the author’s blog. Amazon and other places list his blog address incorrectly (note to myself and others); I’ve put the right link in this comment.

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