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Home > Editorial > Mac Scope The Good, the Bad, the Stupid of BuyMusic.com Low End Mac Reader Specials Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $192 / 2GB kit $109. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 1GB $23--Free shipping available. Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here. OtherWorld Computing: NewerTech miniStack FW400+USB2 up to 750GB + Built in Hubs. Ultimate in performance storage + saves space with built in FW/USB2 Powered Hubs - all in convenient & sleek 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" profile. SPECIALS: 500GB now $219.99; 250GB now $139.99! Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac. Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs. Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you. NEW MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB Kit $104 / 4GB Kit $184 / 8GB Kit $362 Click to Maximize your Macs... Stephen Van Esch - 2003.07.23 To absolutely no one's surprise, a music downloading company is taking a run at the iTunes Music Store. When you're top dog (or the only dog), people come knocking. Needless to say, yesterday's announcement by BuyMusic.com to bring music downloading to the Windows masses sparked an interesting round of articles. There's good, bad, and stupid in the BuyMusic.com foray into the music downloading business. The Bad BuyMusic.com beats Apple to the Windows downloading punch. While Apple is surely moving as fast as possible to port iTunes to Windows, they clearly weren't fast enough. Personally, I'm not entirely convinced that the first mover will always win out in the end. Apple anyone? BuyMusic.com rides Apple's coat tails. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, compete emulation isn't exactly a good thing. Buy is coming as close a possible to the Apple ads as they can to and muddying the waters. On the up side, the confusion could work in Apple's favor when they roll out their own Windows music service. The Good Competition is a good thing. BuyMusic.com has emerged to at least move Apple's feet closer to the fire. I'm fairly certain that BuyMusic.com won't be Apple's main problem. There are other services that probably have more potential than BuyMusic.com. BuyMusic.com attracts new users to paid music downloads. This is a good thing, because BuyMusic.com will be the company that pours out the money to get the new Windows users. Each new Windows user is a potential Apple Music Store customer once iTunes for Windows is ready. When Apple rolls out the iTunes Music Store for Windows, these folks will likely follow the better user experience. The Stupid Bravado is a requirement when you're taking on the big boys, and Scott Blum seems to have that in spades. Hidden away in the chest-thumping rhetoric are these stupid things about BuyMusic.com. It's not compatible with the iPod. It seems a bit amusing that Scott accuses Jobs of being on the wrong platform when he is rolling out a service that doesn't work with 50% of the portable music players on the market. That would be the iPod. Varying restrictions on downloaded songs. I'm not certain how selling a similar commodity with different restrictions is going to help the consumer. Place your bets, people. How many BuyMusic.com users will be fed up with figuring out what tunes they can copy and play where by the end of the first year? Cost is the only thing that matters. From the sound of things, cost seems to be where Scott wants everyone focusing their attention. However, what Scott doesn't realize is that the user experience counts for a great deal. Price is nice, but if I have to figure out which songs have which copying restrictions and work with which players, well, I'll willingly pay an extra 20¢ a song. (And not all BuyMusic.com songs are 79¢.) Once BuyMusic.com users find out that things aren't as easy as they seem, they'll look elsewhere. Like the Apple Music Store.   <This article is available in a printer-friendly format.> 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. More in the Mac Scope index. Recent Content on Low End Mac Apple's eMate still a great tool in the classroom, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 05.09. How one teacher equipped his classroom with eMates with his own money - and plans to keep using them as long as possible. $199 iPhone coming?, iPod not a Walkman, crosswalk danger, iPods taking over cars, and more, iNews Review, 05.09. Also the iPhone is a second-rate phone, iPhone 2.0 may introduce handwriting recognition, Kensington battery pack and chargers, new iPhone apps, and more. Best Power Mac G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.09. Used Cube, $479; 400 MHz PCI, $70; 450 AGP, $105; 733 DA, $150; 867 QS, $200; 1 GHz, $250; 450 dual, $295; 1 GHz dual, $400; 1.42, $600; more. Best 15" MacBook Pro deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.09. Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $1,100; 2.16, $1,295; refurb, 2.2 Core2, $1,449; 2.4 Penryn, $1,699; 2.5, $2,149; new 2.2, $1,525 after rebate; 2.4, $1,685 a/r; more. MacBook sales explode, MacBook Air reviews, several new hard drives, and more, The 'Book Review, 05.09. Also silver-zinc batteries may outlast lithium-ion, Bell Aliant bundling MacBook with Internet access, notebook drives benchmarked, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more. Best iPod touch deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.09. 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