No WMA in HP iPod

from WinCustomize Forums

HP has no plans to support Windows Media Audio (WMA) in its forthcoming own-branded iPod product, contrary to earlier reports.

HP product marketing manager Muffi Ghadali told Wired: 'We're not going to be supporting WMA for now."

He said the company had chosen to work with the most popular digital music distribution service, and wanted to focus on a single format in order not to confuse customers.

Microsoft and others have declared that choosing to adopt the open standards-based AAC format championed by Apple deprives consumers of "freedom of choice". By this, the company means consumers are not using its proprietary Windows Media Audio, which it claims is an industry standard.

However, Apple currently dominates the market, with 70 per cent of digital music sales and 30 per cent market share of iPod music players by units (55 per cent by revenues). Apple-sold music uses the open industry standard, AAC.

 Neowin.net

 

5,248 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This sucks, because I was ready to buy a Ipod once it supported WMA. Well I guess I can get myself the iRiver now.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Imagine that, Microsoft complaining about freedom of choice. What is Microsoft's opinion on freedom of choice for browsers?
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Nice biased post Frogboy. Now obviously the world can't be pefect and have a single audio format, but if I had to chose one it would be WMA. WMA is on more then 500 devices, including DVD players, PVR's and even receivers... with over 4 million units sold, more then twice the number of iPods.

AAC however, only works in the app it comes with, and only on one player ATM, and if you've ever used the iTunes for windows, it is definatly a 1.0 product as 1/2 of my machines can't get past 2 songs on it before it starts stuttering and whatnot.

winsupersite.com is also reporting that HP will have WMA support by mid-year, a very smart decision IMO... so all my rant could be for none
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, I guess HP will lose the same customers Apple did when excluding WMA support. Creative Jukebox Nomad Zen Xtra all the way!
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have to agree with Sonicbum, here. While Frogboy is only quoting the NeoWin article, and therefore may not be exhibiting the bias himself, the article is full of the same old tired anti-MS sentiment that's been floating around the net for years.

Sometimes it has its place, but here's one area where Microsoft has done it right--for themselves, the industry, and the consumer. WMA is a much superior and more widely-adopted format that the specific, proprietary version of AAC that Apple uses. HP is making a huge mistake by gambling on iMusic and an AAC-only HP-branded iPod.

Eventual adoption of WMA on iPods is unavoidable, as even diehard Mac activists will at some point have to concede that it kicks the crap out of Apple's version of AAC any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Uhh...misterME...no.

every audiophile knows the AAC sounds much better than WMA...the only thing that WMA has that AAC doesn't is hundreds of millions of PeeCee users leashed to it. I don't think Apple will EVER adopt WMA..the point of iTunes and iPod for the PC is to get more windoze users to switch to teh mac, and realize how much better it is. Apple is a computer maker, that's the bottom line, and in the end, that's what it all boils down to.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Oh yea, almost forgot, AAC is only used with the ITMS. They don't call it an AAC player...it's called an MP3 player...ya know, MP3? The audio standard? iPod also plays WAVs and AIFF files, along with mp3s and AACs
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I won't dispute the merits of Mac over PC (fact is, I agree that it's better in a lot of areas), or of AAC over WMA. But note that I said "the specific, proprietary version of AAC that Apple uses," and not AAC in general. Would it hurt you to read before you start slinging your petty little paranoid sarcasms my way?

Either way, I don't really care. I have no intention of buying an HP iPod any more than I would the costly and restrictive Apple iPod (especially since the HP one will be just as costly and restrictive). I'll stick with Rhapsody and Nomad until I upgrade to one of the neat little personal A/V devices that will sweep the market this or early next year.

I just find it odd that HP would make the collossal mistake of aligning themselves with a company that has shown again and again that even when they get it right, they fail (or at least don't ever really succeed).
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
hahaha misterME you have to be kidding me..

ever hear of a little thing called the iMac...A.K.A. the best seling and fastest selling computer ever made? And the iPod? The number one MP3 player in the world? and iTunes music store, number one as well? and oh yea...Apple's video software being industry standard?

maybe YOU should read a litle more carefully when you send me your IGNORANT little comments
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WMA is metallic sounding. to get rid of that you got to do at least 128k and that size you might as well do mp3. Heck, why not go AAC where it will at least sound like a 192k mp3 then at that rate?

As for only one player only playing AAC, its not true. Theres been a winamp plugin for months, and Realplayer 10 does it too all without stripping the copy protection. Its not that hard for others to support it. Much better then the crap you have to sometimes go through with lisences on WMA. Only thing I can say that WMA excels at is at lossless, which no portable supports anyways.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
a great read on the REAL issues here... not 'mac is better then win' and all that rhetoric:

http://www.winnetmag.com/windowspaulthurrott/article/articleid/41446/windowspaulthurrott_41446.html