09-19-2005, 07:30 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,049
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Michael Robertson�s BadApple
"John Borland posted an interview with Michael Robertson, founder of the original MP3.com (and, more recently, of Lindows/Linspire), highlighting Robertson�s new BadFruit project. Characteristically pugnacious toward the establishment, Robertson�s first product is BadApple, a utility that enables non-iPod MP3 players to sync with iTunes. The spirit of BadApple is the same as that of Harmony, the RealNetworks technology that allows iTMS purchases to play in non-iPod players. It has been a few years since Robertson got in the face of the music industry; he founded MP3Tunes, a legit online store that sells indie MP3s, but that�s not a truly rebellious venture."
Yet another skirmish on the DRM battlefield. Apple is trying to keep iTunes and the iPod tied together tightly, so that consumers are forced to use one with the other. Tech-savvy folks aren't having any of it though, and are doing whatever they can to get around Apple's protection schemes. This may be the chink in Apple's armor that allows some competitors to make inroads in the coming months and years, the fact that their sales and profit models are built on this integration.
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