Steve
Jobs has called for an
End to Music Copy Protection. Steve Jobs' essay it pretty interesting. Before I read the essay I thought this was pretty surprising. After I read it I could see where he was coming from. He would rather get rid of all DRM than open up FairPlay.
I will agree that DRM systems are bad for customers. It is bad because it makes the usability of products bad. It makes it so products cannot work with each other. It makes so companies have to twist like pretzels to get those products to work. It makes it that customers are screwed when those products do not work together.
The problem with DRM is that it is a drain on the economy. It is a greater drain then piracy. If people are going to pirate music the flaw is with the business model. The flaw is how people make money off the product. The flaw is how the artist get paid. In the end if the people who own intellectual property do not realize that we will all suffer.
The risk companies run with too much DRM is the customers will turn away from their products all together. In the end that is much worse than piracy.
Labels: apple, DRM, Steve Jobs, usability
