iTunes update breaks Pre Sync and customers’ hearts
By Dave Jeyes
The latest iTunes update again breaks the Palm Pre’s “unofficial” sync capability in a game of cat and mouse that can only serve to drive away paying iTunes customers.
After all, the handset business’s tiny margins aren’t likely to keep Apple in business for the long haul. So why would the Cupertino company want to cut out paying iTunes customers that buy a Pre?
So Jon Rubenstein bailed from Apple to go launch an iPhone competitor at Palm. It’s not like the Pre is gobbling up the iPhone’s market share, and the two phones aren’t even sold by the same carrier.
But Apple has decided for the second time to release an update that thwarts the Pre from syncing with iTunes. It seems that Apple doesn’t even want Palm customers in their music store.
Can you imagine a music store that turned away customers at the door based on what kind of device they want to play their music on? Would you even return to such a store after being booted because your speakers are too Low-Fi or you’re playing music on a Sony instead of a Bose?
Sure supporters can argue that it’s their proprietary store application and that Apple can block whoever they like. But that does not make it a good business practice.
Customers are likely to download iTunes in their teens and continue buying music well into their 30s and 40s. That is, unless they can’t use iTunes with their new phone.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Pre users ditched iTunes altogether and jumped ship to the Amazon MP3 Store. Amazon’s digital downloads will work on any device without having to be converted or needing to worry about syncing problems in the future.
Once spurned, Pre owners aren’t likely to run out and but the next iPhone after endless frustrations with iTunes. That’s the problem with a closed system and it’s why Apple should encourage other companies to sync with iTunes rather than spurning them.
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October 30th, 2009
Actually iTunes users should be able to buy iTunes non-DRM tunes and then use other software to load them on their Palm Pre’s. Just like they would/will have to do with Amazon bought MP3’s, which I suspect will be mix ‘n matched with iTunes purchases anyway. They just can’t SYNC them in iTunes. I always manually load my stuff in anyway and I suspect many others do too.
I think Apple reserves the right to control which devices can use the sync feature since they want to ensure a certain performance that they can only guarantee if they control the playback device. Essentially they are saying they don’t want to or can’t support other syncing devices. It doesn’t keep anyone from buying from iTunes and using them on Palm Pre’s.
I’m not crazy either about some of the restrictions either for iPhone or iPod users (which I am) but there are usually always workarounds that aren’t that much more work.
October 30th, 2009
This article is nonsense.
If Palm wanted to access the iTunes store LEGALLLY, as many other devices do, then Apple would certainly welcome them.
It sounds to me like the author is an unhappy Pre owner :)
October 30th, 2009
“After all, the handset business’s tiny margins aren’t likely to keep Apple in business for the long haul.”
Apple makes well over 50% profit margin on every iPhone sold. You may have missed Apple’s stellar quarter a few weeks back. (Another reason why Apple won’t make a netbook either)
Moreover, Apple has never allowed other devices to sync with iTunes, so why start now with a competitor? Does that sound like a smart business model? Apple is, and always has been a hardware company. The software is a vehicle designed to grow sales of the hardware. That is Apple’s business model. They make more on hardware than software/music…….A lot more.
I see no reason for Apple to open it’s doors to a competitor. Not to mention a competitor with a big mouth.
October 30th, 2009
@PaulG
Why wouldn’t Apple want to make it easier for *any* customer to sync their music?
@RSDouglass
Which other devices exactly? And for the record I’m an unhappy iPhone owner, not a Pre owner.
@Sean
Ah good point. I forgot that it’s Apple eating most of the cost of the iPhone hardware in return for the privilege of selling an Apple device.
October 30th, 2009
This isn’t about Palm users being able to use iTunes to transfer music to their device, it’s about Palm being to lazy to write their own software like RIM and others that allows the phones to interact through iTunes to transfer music. What Palm is doing it against all standards set for by the USB Standards group by making their devices use the same IDs as iPods. iTunes music is no longer DRM’d just like amazon so why would anyone pay full price to get new non-DRM songs from Amazon when they can pay 30 cents to apple to update the song to a better quality non-DRM’d version. Your arguments make no sense and it sounds like your just upset that you actually bought into the iTunes syncing part when you bought your phone even though everyone said Apple would never let it happen.
October 30th, 2009
The Itunes store is FREE to use on Macs, PC’s and iPhone/iTouches. Apple is not required to service anyone who decides to ride on their coattails. Do you get free maintenance at BMW if you drive up with a Mercedes? Of course not. Not sure why you think Palm;s USB code hacking entitles them to anything. If Palm wants to compete, they can launch a store or maybe link up with another store on the internet, not get a free ride because they decide to break the rules. You really condone other comapnies hacking USB code numbers to pretend their something? What if palm screws up the sync and everything gets wiped – Apple has to pick up the pieces? Palm should have a REAL business plan and not just hijack another company’s products.
October 30th, 2009
The best thing Palm can do is tell Apple where to stick their crap, expensive & slow store and go with a decent competitor like amazon or 7digital. Why not get together with Mediamonkey and develop a customised player from their excellent software?
October 30th, 2009
The author has it completely backwards. Apple makes its money sellilng hardware. The software (including iTunes) is there for one reason and one reason only, and that is to sell the hardware (Macs, iPods, iPhones, iPod Touch). It’s why they won’t let OS X on generic PC hardware and it’s defintely why they don’t want Pre owners mooching from iTunes. Every Pre syncing with iTunes is a lost iPhone sale. Period.
October 30th, 2009
If Palm Pre owners want to continue to sync with iTunes, THEN DON”T UPDATE, STUPID!
October 30th, 2009
What’s the big deal? Those fools should be used to it by now. It’s like the fourth or fifth time, isn’t it. Besides, there’s always doubleTwist to use in place of iTunes.
October 30th, 2009
Why wouldn’t Apple want to make it easier for *any* customer to sync their music?
Because they are not Apple customers, they are Palm customers trying to freeload on Apple’s technology. Technology built at a cost of tens of millions of dollars to help Apple sell iPods and later iPhones and Apple TVs. If Palm want in, they should play by the rules and create their own sync technology, as other manufacturers have.
October 31st, 2009
Why doesn’t palm create its own software rather than relying on any third party.
If Palm can put its hardware and it customers up to the mercy of any third party, whether its Apple or someone else, can’t be good business either can it.
I wouldn’t buy a Palm product simply based on the fact that they don’t really care about their own customers.
October 31st, 2009
Excuse me – “tiny margin”???? WTF – Apple’s margin on iPhones is anything but tiny.
It ain’t Apple’s fault most of the industry is pooping out e-waste.
RP
October 31st, 2009
I don’t understand why anybody would think it is wrong for Apple to stop Palm’s use of a hack into Apples software. Hack any software and the developer is going to fix it so the hack no longer works. What are these cry babies from Palm thinking? Are the software designers at Palm really so bad that they can’t take the legal and correct way and use the information available for creating iTunes sync software and make their own program? Other have done it – ie RIMM Balckberry – so why doesn’t Palm?
November 1st, 2009
If someone duplicated and passed your front door key around in the neighborhood and you kept finding strangers in your house or apartment, I think you would change the locks.
November 1st, 2009
You are way off and missing the whole point. Here, read this for a better understanding:
http://hunter.pairsite.com/blogs/20091004/
November 1st, 2009
PALM is a LOSER’s COMPANY.
PALM is a PARASITE.
Inevitably, when the host improves its security, then PALM will be disconnected.
PALM is bleeding badly as a company. They don’t even have the smarts to create their own desktop software to synchronize with the Pre. Even though the XML information is given away free and open by Apple, PALM can’t still write its own version of iTunes. Even though Songbird is free for the taking, PALM can’t even write its own version of iTunes.
PALM is going to get CRUSHED by Android at the low end and Apple at the high end.
They are completely mismanaged.
Despite having the iPhone as a model to copy for the past 2 years, they don’t even have a TRUE Native SDK so people can write software for the Pre.
PALM sucks big time.
They will go down in flames.
Then they will whimper into the past.
November 1st, 2009
It’s not rocket science to see why Apple would do this. First, Apple doesn’t want to be trapped into supporting other companies devices. If Apple allowed this to continue right now without doing anything about it, there would be an assumption on the part of customers that Apple is OK with it. When SOMEthing in iTunes changes later that breaks syncing at that time, Palm would point to Apple and customers would feel cheated (because those customers would feel that Apple had made an implied commitment to support their devices, because they HAD worked). This way, Apple is making it clear right up front that it is NOT going to be responsible for other companies’ devices synching with iTunes. Second, the practical reality is that Apple is perfect willing to give up those customers as iTunes customers, because the idea of Palm’s devices becoming legit competitors to the iPhone is a much greater danger than some other music service usurping iTunes. These points seem obvious to me. It’s hard for me to see how they couldn’t be equally obvious to someone who writes about the tech industry. It appears that your article has more to do with what you WISH were true than it does with understanding Apple’s business motivations. Apple has NO REASON to support (or desire to support) customers of another company’s phones in the current market environment.
November 2nd, 2009
Palm’s support sucks, which is why I’m not very surprised at this. My Treo had a 3 month warranty from Palm. No support after that. When it died after 4 months of ownership, Palm wanted $100 just to look at it, and advised me to call my cell phone company. But I paid around $600 for it FROM PALM!!!! What kind of company sells a premium product and won’t tale responsibility for it failing in 4 months? The answer is the same company that won’t take responsibility to provide adequate syncing software, but will steal it from another company. As written before. A company that relies on 3rd party software for critical needs, which is unwilling to provide it themselves, is one that does not care about the customer. This is a pattern for Palm.
PS. ATT sent me a refurbished replacement for my Treo. No more Palm for me.