Make way for music

How old were you when you first learned to read? I was about five and my first epic,
Make Way for Ducklings. Since then, I’ve mastered other classics, some even void of pictures. But that’s because my ability to read translates across all books written in English. I can apply my reading skills to any book I fancy. How old were you when you first experienced digital music? Not including that burned CD of Napster music your school-aged crush made for you. For most of us, our first experience with digital music was with Apple’s iTunes and some version of the Apple iPod. Given the history of technology and the trend that competition encourages innovation, is that a good thing?

The Wall Street Journal recently asked “can anybody catch iTunes”? To me, there’s a striking comparison between Apple’s ubiquity in the digital music space and Microsoft’s in desktop computing. I remember how I first experienced computers. Keyboarding classes in high school that made way for computer proficiency exams in college. And on what system was my proficiency tested? Microsoft Windows, Excel, and Office. Weren’t many of us taught to use computers based on the assumption that they were all alike? All like Microsoft? The standardization Microsoft provided to computing morphed into Microsoft becoming the only standard. And for many, the only known option.

What if ten years from now, the same has happened to digital music? Should iTunes become even more accepted as the cultural and technological norm, the opportunity cost of switching to another digital music player or platform will become prohibitively expensive for most. Especially if they risk losing their entire iTunes music collection, in addition to their working knowledge of a digital music device, in order to make a change.

I’m a happy iPod user. It’s a beautiful device with an easy-to-use computer interface. I was happy with Microsoft Office too, until I was introduced to something better. But this isn’t a critique of Apple. This is a warning to consumers like me: consider what your dollars are buying. What you buy today may limit your choices tomorrow.

This entry was posted by Julie Bryce on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am and is filed under from the editors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.