I know it's a little late compared to the news of Steve Jobs leaving Apple as its main head honcho, but it's just now that I've had the chance to properly give this post the time it needs to make sense.
Steve Jobs has always been an integral part of the company but never more so in the last few years when he has over-seen huge innovation in the company, taking the concept of an .mp3 player and turning into the worldwide iPod phenomena, before adapting this concept into the iPhone and iPad.
Now it's impossible to say that his work hasn't been beneficial on the music industry. The iPod and, with it, the popularity of the .mp3 movement, has helped claw back sales from the decline of the CD and the rise of the internet fileshare, making music portable once more and much more easily consumable, encouraging competition to secure music on the go in everything from standalone players to mobile phone. In fact it's difficult to separate the rise of the .mp3 from the rise of the iPod.
But, there is also a darker side to this for the music industry. The partnership between the iPod and iTunes has led to an almost monopoly that is comparable to what Microsoft has been criticised for and legislated against in the past. I personally find the system of sync-ing with an iPod frustrating at times, much less favourable to the drag-and-drop approach of my 3DS for instance, which isn't even a dedicated music player and, frankly, a side feature.
Their insistence on their own format of music - at least now convertable after years of restriction - is equally frustrating, to the point that iTunes is a last resort to me for music, preferring services such as Amazon's download service.
Also, though the iPod is obviously an iconic brand, you continue to pay over the odds for the service compared to other music players, with Creative providing equally as good devices on a cheaper budget. I don't mind paying extra for design and ease of use, but the iPod just isn't there anymore.
The monopoly between the iPod and iTunes means that it's increasingly difficult for other providers to get a look in. The Internet is a medium that has allowed much better choice for music lovers through MySpace and Spotify plus, of course, other illegal channels but it does feel that iTunes is much more restrictive.
However, on the other hand, the service has allowed for more publicity for things such as podcasts and that has never been easier to do and, with the right marketing, can make publicity much easier for podcast owners.
So, as Steve Jobs moves on, Apple can certainly be embraced for bringing music to the masses both at home and on the go, but its success has also lead to a monopoly of the music market that is so quickly criticised in other companies.
Sunday 28 August 2011
Goodbye to Steve Jobs: What has his impact on the music world been?
Posted on 08:28 by Unknown
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