Apple to stop third-party iTunes syncing
Apple has given notice that even though some third-party vendors, most notably Palm and their Pre, have gained access to iTunes for syncing, that access will be short lived indeed.
Because iTunes is by far the preeminent media player in the world, having access to it for the purpose of syncing music was a real feather in Palm’s cap, as it was with the other companies that had managed to crack the problem. Having access to the music on your computer, and the ability to sync with it, is a large factor in what phone a lot of people buy.
Apple has certainly noticed that, and has issued notice of their intent in this matter on their Website. The notice reads as follows:
Apple designs the hardware and software to provide seamless integration of the iPhone and iPod with iTunes, the iTunes Store, and tens of thousands of apps on the App Store. Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.
Apple could stop third-party syncing with a very minor update to iTunes, according to a PCWorld story. It is obvious that they could continue to change the way they prohibit syncing in their iTunes code every time anyone hacked their last fix for the problem. As one would expect, it looks like Apple is in the driver’s seat in the area of who can or cannot connect to their iTunes product and sync with it. It is their product and their prerogative.
Of course, Apple would also have a perfect right to sue third parties to keep them out of iTunes. It is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that they will do just that. But it occurs to me that as long as Apple paints Palm and the others in the role of hackers and thieves, Apple is in the role of the good guy. If they start to sue everyone who is trying to hook into iTunes, they will look like the big corporate bad guy to a lot of consumers, and that is not good for sales.
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June 19th, 2009
If Microsoft did the same thing on say a browser hooking into their system it’s antitrust horror.
I expect the EU to take them to task momentarily.