New iPod Has Hardware DRM

[Logan Westbrook]

New iPod Has Hardware DRM

The new iPod Shuffle might be able to tell you what song you're listening to, but only through official sanctioned headphones.

The new iPod shuffle is so small that it doesn't have any room for a screen or any controls, so Apple have given it the ability to tell you what song you're listening to and moved the controls onto the headphones.

What if you don't want to use the headphones that came with it though, then what?

Ideally, you'd pick up some third-party headphones and get on with your day, but Apple has decided to make that difficult. The new Shuffle's headphones have an authentication chip built into them, allowing Apple to invoke the Digial Millennium Copyright Act [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act] on anyone that attempts to reverse-engineer the headphones interface.

This comes not long after Apple tried to get jailbreaking [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89442-Apple-Declares-Jailbreaking-Illegal] made illegal and shows that while Apple may be shedding DRM on its iTunes music downloads, it seems as keen as ever to keep a vice-like grip on its hardware.

Source: Boing Boing [http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/13/new-ipods-have-drm-o.html]



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[Skrapt]

So the iPod shuffle which costs a lot, has very few features, has stupid proprietary standards that force you to pay almost twice the price just to get a pair of decent headphones that won't break in a couple of days or...

The Sansa clip with a screen, more features, better battery life, uses widely accepted standards, and widely recognized to have some of the best sound quality around and cheaper then the new shuffle...

Seriously the only reason people continue buying Apple is because they lock you into their products (in a way that the competition commission really should be looking into), and they are the only company that advertise their products so the consumer has no idea how featureless they actually are...

 

[000Ronald]

Wouldn't that technically make it some sort of monopoly? Didn't they bust Microsoft for something like that a few years back?

And why do people want smaller Ipods? I've never understood that. Sure, it's small, but it means it's got that much less hardware in it, so what's the point?

Apologies n' stuff.

 

[Doug]

Wouldn't that technically make it some sort of monopoly? Didn't they bust Microsoft for something like that a few years back?

And why do people want smaller Ipods? I've never understood that. Sure, it's small, but it means it's got that much less hardware in it, so what's the point?

Apologies n' stuff.

I think so - in Europe, at least - Microsoft has to offer 2 versions of Windows now - one with windows media player and MS internet explorer pre-installed, and one without.

 

[Stormcloud23]

This is why i use a Zune

 

[Break]

If they wanted to get people more interesting in actually using the flimsy, tinny pieces of garbage that pass for the standard ipod headphones, shouldn't they first focus on, y'know... Making them not crap? Just a thought, really.

 

[DirkGently]

So they imposed a shitty feature on a shitty piece of hardware?

Am I the only one who thinks it's a stupid move in general, but it doesn't matter since the Shuffle sucks?

 

[KeyMaster45]

It's an f'ing pair of headphones get over it, damn.

 

[Combined]

This just screams NEW COLA to me.

 

[thiosk]

So wait, only third party headphones get to listen to some robot voice tell you that you are listening to fall out boy and my chemical romance? Does the robot voice tell you that your taste in music is horrible?

I was hoping to get to post a drm comic, but it seems to be irrelavent. Screw it im posting it anyway.

 

[000Ronald]

It's an f'ing pair of headphones get over it, damn.

It wouldn't be a problem if THE HEADPHONES HAD THE CONTROLS IN THEM!

And I can't wrap my head around it; why the hell does it need to be small? Wouldn't it make more sense to make it the same size, but pack more hardware into it? How awesome would it be to have an advertising campaign maybe three years from now with the slogan, "Remember that laptop you had a few years back?" and it has a picture of an Ipod or Iphone? Wouldn't you buy that? Wouldn't that be kick-ass? Instead their marketing strategy is, "Let's make it so small, you can't even put controls on it."

No; really. I don't get it.

Apologies if I've misinterpreted something.

 

[edgeofblade]

...and a small amount of plastic explosive, so when it explodes in your pants it kills you..

..r children.

 

[edgeofblade]

Wouldn't that technically make it some sort of monopoly? Didn't they bust Microsoft for something like that a few years back?

And why do people want smaller Ipods? I've never understood that. Sure, it's small, but it means it's got that much less hardware in it, so what's the point?

Apologies n' stuff.

I think so - in Europe, at least - Microsoft has to offer 2 versions of Windows now - one with windows media player and MS internet explorer pre-installed, and one without.

Oh no, Apple can't be an evil corporation because... well, Steve Jobs looks like such a gosh darn nice guy. And Bill Gates... look at that asshole. That's what a person who has sold their soul to the devil looks like. So, you KNOW Microsoft is evil, and therefore, like good conservatives, we should pass and interpret laws that stick it to the devil, in the name of Jesus, of course. /sarcasm

 

[ZakCanard]

This is why I use a Zune

Actually this is why I'm still using my 9 year old Archos Jukebox 20. It's kept going all this time thanks mostly to Rockbox [http://www.rockbox.org/], a new set of NiMH batteries every couple of years and a replacement larger hard drive.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Apple is going about the issue just as Microsoft is - Monopoly, and rampant misuse of the DMCA.

 

[fix-the-spade]

...and a small amount of plastic explosive, so when it explodes in your pants it kills you.

Boom boom...


What's to stop a suit being filed to get this declared illegal as it's unfair competition. Sony remotes (used to, don't about now) have a 3.5mm jack in the end that you could plug any headphones into whilst still retaining the remote's functionality. Surely that's a better solution, both from an engineering and PR perspective.

Then again, buy an iPod and you deserve everything you get.

 

[meatloaf231]

Oh Apple, always trying to keep people spending more money than necessary.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

the smaller the ipods get the more afraid Apple gets. They should I have 668 thousand ipod nanos rebuilt into the computer array for the GeoThermal Ion Array. ANd let me tell you, it gets really annoying when the off button makes it start playing weird jpop-ish music.