The amount of apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace
Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace has now reported to have passed 25,000 apps by one site tracking comings and goings within it. (source: WindowsPhoneAppslist, July 2011)
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One question: why? Why do people want to pay more for lower-quality, DRM'd music when you can go to a store (or even Amazon if ur lazy) and buy a cheaper, high quality CD with the freedom to listen to the music on any device you want?
Might be a US thing - from my own anecdotal knowledge, in the UK people prefer to buy CDs rather than iTunes music.
why do you think us Americans are so fat?
Its about the convenience. iTunes is a quick stop when you hear a song you like on TV or in a movie. A lot of people are just too lazy to go out and purchase a CD when they know for the same if not less they can hop on iTunes - buy a CD and have it on their iPod in less than 5 min. Most people arent terribly concerned with audio quality they just want something quick and easy. And now that most cars have the iPod hookups to play it through your stereo - whats the need for a physical CD? You are grossly underestimating the sheer 'lazyness' of people. Sure they can go to amazon and buy the music - but most people dont want to take the time to go over to amazon - buy music - convert the files to iTunes format and then plop it on the iPod. Yes - I know its not hard - but again - why go to all that trouble when to them iTunes sells the same CD and it saves them 2 - 3 steps?
I buy my music from AmazonMP3. They have higher bit-rates than iTunes, plus, no DRM, so I can use the MP3 however I choose. Did I mention that most songs on AmazonMP3 are .89 and not .99? Did I forget to say that with AmazonMP3 you aren't forced to pay tax, like you do with iTunes?
Why should I burn gas to drive to a store that's almost 15 miles away, so I can buy a CD encased in a whole lotta plastic for almost $20, when all I want is one song?
The iTunes non-DRM songs are higher quality than Amazon's (because they're MP4s, and Amazon's are MP3s), and generally it is still cheaper on iTunes. I can buy a full album with 16 tracks for $10 on iTunes, a CD would cost at least $12. And then there's the instant gratification factor, and quite honestly even if I bought a CD just to rip into iTunes I probably wouldn't use a quality setting higher than 256 AAC anyway.
So it's not *just* laziness, there are some good reasons for getting music online.
@Warren since when do you have to convert mp3's to work with itunes ? and that fact the most new cars have ipod hookups what percentage of people have 2007 & 2008 cars new many when taking into acount the amount of cars on the roads?
I may have taken only two college math courses, but I'm not sure how iTunes tracks ($.99 + tax) are cheaper than AmazonMP3 tracks($.89 + no tax).
Non-DRM iTunes tracks are $1.29 + tax.
Because not all Amazon tracks are $.89. Amazon uses VARIABLE PRICING, so you never know how much they're going to cost. The last album I looked at on Amazon was $.89 for most tracks, but $2 for three of them. That alone put the album over the cost of the same album on iTunes.
And no, non-DRM tracks on iTunes are $.99 Go look for yourself.
Zak, just because something is MP4 doesn't mean it's higher quality than MP3. It's all about the bitrate.
I doubt that ANYONE can tell the difference between a V0 MP3 and the same song in FLAC (obviously, not transcoded from the MP3).
You can't get much better than the original.
However, MP4 can have better imppression than an MP3 (I think that if you double the bitrate of an MP4, that is the equivalent MP3 bitrate), but that doesn't mean that MP4's will always be better.
For the UK:
13 track album off iTunes - £10.40
Same album off Amazon (physical CD, including next-day delivery) - £9.43
I still don't see the benefit of iTunes.
There are many reasons to use iTunes over a CD that do not make one lazy, but the main argument for me is environmental. A lot of plastic goes into a CD, all of which should be around when the sun goes supernova. Then there is the energy used to manufacture the CD, transport it from the factory to the store (likely from halfway around the world), and the energy for me to drive to the store and back home. As a matter of personal environment, you also have to store all the CDs somewhere and the number of albums I have on iTunes would quickly overwhelm my 1 bedroom + den apartment.
There are certainly good reasons to avoid iTunes. Audiophones make the valid claim that compressed music doesn't sound as good as the "real" copy. Other sites may cost less or offer more. And DRM is a real pain.
Personally, I own an iPod and AppleTV so I already use iTunes. I enjoy having one platform that allows me to listen to my music on the go or over my home stereo system (without DRM ever becoming a life changing problem). I am also nearing 30 and cannot hear a fantastic difference between compressed and non-compressed music although I certainly concede that the difference is there for those with more acute hearing. I also respect Apple's payment structure and the order it brought to online music (to me $0.99+tax/song is more than fair). Through in the ease of use and environmental factors and it makes a lot of sense for me to avoid the CD and buy iTunes music.
Apparently there are a lot of people just like me -- but hey, it's cool if your lifestyle makes another system better for you as long as you pay something for another's artistic creation.
@r3loaded £10.40 for a CD? My god man, that's like $500 (or $20.66 for the non-sarcastic). My advice (for the sarcastic) move to the US where at current exchange rates, your monthly salary could allow you to live like a king for the next 20 years. $20.66 for a CD ... insane.
@Phil That's what's known as The Great British Rip-off. Head over to a car maker's UK website, check the pricelists and then compare them to US prices. You will cry.
Jesse - you said: "I think that if you double the bitrate of an MP4, that is the equivalent MP3 bitrate"
Yes. That's why the non-DRM iTunes songs are higher quality than the Amazon songs - because Amazon has 256kbps MP3s, and iTunes has 256kbps MP4s. So by your own admission, the Amazon MP3s would have to be 512kbps in order to sound as good as the DRM-free songs on iTunes.