Gruber on Apple’s iPod strategies, and why certain USA Today columnists are as thick as the tree they are printed on

1. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has a great write up about Apple’s iPod business strategies, and that any argument making parallels between the Mac and the iPod is bunk. That much is true, and he explained why in a previous post, but there was one point I don’t think he delved into enough. To quote:

And so the argument goes, If the iTMS is just there to sell iPods, why not welcome another music store that supports the iPod?

It’s foolish to think that every public statement from Apple’s executives is the plain truth about their actual strategy.

The fact is, the market for DRM music is nascent. It remains to be seen whether any DRM-protected media format will be a long-term success. The entertainment industry certainly hopes so; consumer advocates certainly hope not.

If consumers revolt against DRM, and protected media slowly fades into oblivion, Apple has lost nothing. The iPod and iTunes have embraced unprotected audio files from the beginning.

But assuming that DRM-protected media takes hold, history indicates that one format will dominate the industry. The three major contenders now are Apple, Microsoft, and RealNetworks — and it’s generous to put RealNetworks in the list.

2. All true points, but given that the music industry has shown a level of conservatism that rivals the churches, isn’t it very likely that any music sold will have DRM in one form or another? And if that were the case, and if Apple were planning on dominating the DRM music market, why would they not spread their version of DRM far and wide? Their reluctance to do so hints either they have some grand scheme to make iTMS more profitable than they are right now, or that Apple is still cautious from it’s Mac Clones fiasco. Or maybe both. Gruber is absolutely correct when he states that it’s foolish to take every Apple press statement as gospel about their business plan, and any talk of what Apple will or won’t do is either a reflection of what the writer wants or just a load of goat cheese.

3. Of course, one other possible reason is that Apple just doesn’t like Real, and they want to stick the boot in whenever they can. If that’s the case, GO APPLE!

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