Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Scope

Apple and Amazon or Apple vs. Amazon?

Stephen Van Esch - 2003.06.11

Is Apple in for a repeat of the computer revolution? The iTunes Music Store has lit a fire under the seats of a few big names. According to a Macworld UK article, Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo are looking to get in on the music download act. Amazon, Viacom, and MTV are also mentioned as potential rivals in a CNN/Money article.

Apple beat this crowd to the punch, but it remains to be seen whether it can take on all comers. All the companies mentioned have excellent brands and clout. The iTunes Music Store showed them how it's done. Now all the competition has to do is discretely copy as much as possible without upsetting Apple lawyers. Sound familiar? As usual, Apple is ahead of the curve but it may be hard going to stay there.

Of all the potential competitors mentioned, Amazon (in my humble opinion) is the most likely one to make a serious dent in Apple's lead if it comes out with a similar service. Amazon has a built-in customer base that is used to buying things online. Amazon is a well-known brand. Most importantly, Amazon has a killer website that delivers exactly what users want in an efficient manner. Amazon is often cited as having the most usable, user-friendly, intuitive online sales system available. So good, in fact, that Apple licensed its 1-click technology some years ago.

This is why Apple should be nervous if Amazon is eyeballing the online music business. There are a couple of things that some competitors will be pretty much guaranteed to mess up. Microsoft would likely create bloatware that unnecessarily restricts users. AOL would likely tie the service to an AOL subscription - and with AOL subscribers dropping like flies, that won't be such a good idea.

Apple's main advantage in this arena is its ease of use. The Music Store makes it easy to buy music online. End of story. Amazon is the only company that can match or possibly surpass them on this front.

Of course, the tea-leave readers aren't really sure what's going to happen. The New York Post reported that Apple and Amazon are in "advanced talks" to make the Music Store available on Amazon.

This would probably be the best course of action for both companies. While Apple tried to go it alone in the desktop market, Steve Jobs seems to have a learned something of a lesson. Partnerships and losing some control might be a good thing in the long run. The Register has more on the possible Apple/Amazon partnership.

In any event, Apple is still doing what it does best - showing the competition how it's done.

Stephen Van Esch is the founder and president of the E-learning Foundry, an online training resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual, since he's also fluent in Windows and French.

Recently on Mac Scope

Connecting with the broader Macintosh community, 04.06. "But beyond the very minor celebrity status that came with being published on Low End Mac, it gave me a real opportunity to participate in the Mac community."
Hardware failure, that rare Mac headache, 07.09. Macs are usually pretty reliable, but a hardware failure after just two-and-a-half years is still disappointing.
Still waiting for iTunes Music Store Canada, sort of, 06.23. While the pay-per-tune model makes sense, Apple's post-purchase copy management flies in the face of Canadian copyright law.
PearPC's slow Mac emulation - What's the point?, 05.26. "For all those Windows folks who are gussying up Windows to look like OS X and getting excited over PearPC, please just buy a Mac."
More in the Mac Scope index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac Pro, Aug. 2006 - The last Mac to go Intel, the Mac Pro has two dual-core Xeon CPUs at 2.0-3.0 GHz. 8-core option added in 2007.
Group of the Day: Mac mini List is for anyone using or contemplating a Mac mini
March 20 in LEM history: 00: Adobe isn't making friends - Raising the dead - 01: Milking the Mac for all it's worth, - 02: Keeping the Web free - Macally CardBus USB - 05: Copyright bullies - 07: The iPhone: Is it a Mac? - Improve productivity with a second display - 08: The rise of the Microsoft monopoly
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best Intel iMac Deals, 03.17. Used 17" from $600; 20" from $750; 24" from $825; refurb 21.5" nVidia, $999; new, $1,099; refurb Radeon, $1,299; new, $1,399; refurb 27" 3.06, $1,499; more.
Best G5 iMac Deals, 03.17. 17" 2.0 GHz, $380; 1.9 GHz iSight, $479 shipped; 20" 1.8 GHz, $509 shipped; 2.1 GHz iSight, $549 shipped.
Best Time Capsule Deals, 03.17. Close-out 500 GB, $140; new 1 TB, $279; used 2 TB simultaneous dual-band, $400; new, $455. Shipping included.
Best iPad Deals, 03.16. 16 GB iPad, $499; 32 GB, $599; 64 GB, $699; 16 GB with 3G, $629; 32 GB 3G, $729; 64 GB 3G, $829. Free ground shipping.
Best iPod classic Deals, 03.12. Used 20 GB, $119; 40 GB, $139; 60 GB, $159; 30 GB video, $129; 60 GB, $159; 80 GB, $169; refurb 120 GB, $189; new, $214; 160 GB, $228 shipped.
Best G3 iBook and AirPort Card Deals, 03.12. 366 MHz 12" clamshell, $89; 466, $125; 500 white CD, $100; 600, $199; 800 Combo, $239; 14" 900, $225.
Best Xserve Deals, 03.12. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $499; 2.0 dual G5, $599; 2.3, $749; refurb 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,499; new, $2,699; 8-core, $3,449; refurb 2.66, $4,299; new, $4,799; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.