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Apple and Starbucks, sitting in a tree
The most surprising announcement to come out of this afternoon's press conference was Apple's partnership with Starbucks. The new iPods and WiFi iTunes store were always possibilities. The Starbucks deal was unexpected.My initial reaction was amusement: Well, that's a silly thing! But now I get it. They've turned something that costs Starbucks money into an opportunity for profit.Consider music videos. Five years ago, there were pricey ads that consumers got for free and generated no income. Yes, you may argue that they influence the sale of albums and concert tickets, but in and of themselves, music videos weren't making money.Now Apple sells videos in the iTunes store. People pay to watch the advertisements. Retail chains pay a fee for the music they pipe into their stores. Just like the music videos, Apple has created a profit opportunity for Starbucks (and themselves, of course).Still think it's silly? Imagine when ten retailers are on board. Or twenty. Or television networks. Grey's Anatomy ends with a description of the week's featured pop tune. Why not grab it then and there?When this catches on, it will be big.
Apple and Starbucks join up for iTunes WiFi purchases
Before you get too excited about this new "feature" Apple announced today in regards to its iTunes WiFi Music Store, you should be warned it's not half as neat as it sounds. Apple and Starbucks are partnering to bring you that lame sauce song playing way too loudly over your local Starbucks's soundsystem. When you're in a Starbucks T-Mobile hotspot, an icon will pop up on the iTunes WiFi Music Store that allows you to purchase that track from a playlist of recently played songs in that store. You also get free WiFi access to the iTunes Music Store -- not quite as great as full-on free WiFi, but we'll take what we can get.
