[FYI] Expectations of a Closed Environment
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/2004/02/04#a590>
Expectations of a Closed Environment
One commenter questioned my statement: "How will people become
accustomed to a digital world in which you have to rebuy all of your
software players and music catalog whenever a better format, player,
or service comes out?" Yes, people have had to shift formats over
time, but I think there are three countervailing factors at work here
1. First, the old barriers don't apply in the same way now. Bits
are bits. You can't upgrade a tape player to play CDs. You can
(theoretically) upgrade the firmware on your MP3/CD player to also
play AAC. You can't turn your tape into a CD. You can
(theoretically) convert your MP3 into AAC to play it on a compatible
player.
2. That said, I think people will only tolerate circumstances in
which they actually get an improved sound quality, like moving from
tape to CD. Sure, if a new codec came around that sounded a lot
better than MP3, people might rebuy their entire catalog. But,
unlike in the analog world, they wouldn't necessarily have to do so
to make use of a new player - they wouldn't have to have one player
for MP3 and one for New-Codec - they wouldn't have to choose between
Beta and VHS.
3. Given that people are used to a world in which MP3 is ubiquitous,
there is little reason for them to shift laterally to a codec linked
to a proprietary DRM format. I don't see people becoming accustomed
to the walls between iTunes, Real, and WMA-based services and
players.
Posted by Derek Slater on 2/4/04; 12:22:43 AM from the General news
dept. #
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