Would you pay for iTunes?
No, we don’t have some inside information that hints at iTunes ever costing a dime…just curious what you think. If Apple ever decided (for whatever reason) to require you to pay for iTunes…would you?
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I would pay 29.95 for it r just buy iLife for 79.99 but steve has stated that it won’t cost money because iPod and iTMS keeps the app in the green.
In it’s current state I would pay the $80 for the iLife bundle. Probably more.
The truth? No, I wouldn’t. I’d switch to Adium Free in a microsecond.
I would if they have started off charging for it, like what they did with iPhoto, and iLife suite. But now, I’d gotten so used to not paying for iTunes that my expectation is forever set to that.
Plus, iPod should come with iTunes for free even if the software would otherwise cost money.
i would download it from bittorrent
No, not unless it was part of iLife, but I would definitely not buy it separately.
Apple needs iTunes to be free. First, I have friends who’ve switched to iTunes from windows media player and have got/are thinking about getting an iPod. iTunes is a great way to sell ipods and preventing it from being free will massively cut the potential adopter base. Second, it is becoming extremely important for Apple to maintain its lead in music downloads, which means the itunes DRM, and a free iTunes is the only way it will be possible for apple to fight against proprietary windows formats.
Sure I wouldn’t! If iTunes was free but didn’t come cluttered on Mac OS as its default music player, I woudn’t even use it.
no. that would be like paying walmart to use their store.
Given that iTunes is not really optional for either the ipod or for the music store, particularly if you have a mac, I guess I wouldn’t have much choice. A fairer question would be ‘How about an iTunes Pro?’ with various advanced capabilities. A definite maybe.
No way. I would use the version that came bundled with my iPod. I don’t care about compatibility with iTMS since I will not, under any circumstances, pay premium price for crappy sounding 128 kbit AAC with DRM.
I’d pay only if it were bundled w/ iLife, i wouldn’t pay for it like QT Pro.
I would not pay for iTunes. Like someone else said, that’s like Wal-Mart charging you for simply entering the store. Tunes is a trojan horse to get people entrenched in ther format and ultimately lead them to their iTunes Music Store. It worked for me. :)
neg on that one.
i would definitely be using the open-source alternative.
AAC isn’t crappy
I think Apple has to be very careful were it ever to consider such a thing. I remember when the mac.com email addresses first came out and as a Mac engineer at the time I eulogised them to many of my customers. The move to create .Mac therefore was a pain and very few of the people I know with old mac.com addresses purchased the subscription since there were simply other free providers out there. I had no problem with them offering an enhanced paid service for those that wanted it but for those of us who’d signed up from the beginning I felt a little let down.
iTunes is now being used by many people cross-platform, and is giving Apple the publicity which they may well lose if iTunes was chargeable. As many people have mentioned they would use open source SW for it. The goodwill that Apple would lose would also be a major factor. I’d like to see Apple continue to encourage users to use its SW because it’s both good and free. Remember the original iPhoto was free and very good whilst the newer version though more advanced is a pain in the ar5e if you have more than about 2 photos and less than 1GB of Ram.
i for one throw all my money wherever Steve tells me to.
Never,
This would affect apples great success with itunes music store don’t you think? and would be a greedy tactic by apple diminishing their current market share.
Not that it isn’t a good pice of software but their is no way I would pay so I could hear my own music then go pay for more from their iTunes Store.
No, but I might consider paying someone to have it removed. I do not use an iPod or the store (and never will if they are tied into iTunes, the program), and for me the program only serves as the foothold that the entertainment maffia has on my iBook, and as an impediment to the development of decent, FOSS music players on the Mac.
No. But that being said owning an iPod should entitle you to the software to load the freaking thing, No ?
Hell No
No way! You pay for it when you buy an iPod and it’s advertising for them to get people to buy iPods. As is, we have a love-hate relationship.
I would not pay for it, and it really needs to stay free. Itunes pulled me into the Mac world and convinced me to buy an Ipod. If apple were to charge for the download or use, I would be so crushed. It is a great free app.
However I am so addicted to the easy to use Itunes format that I would probably steal it off the web somewhere.
sorry Apple
“…but I might consider paying someone to have it removed.”
Click finder icon on dock. Click Applications on left side of finder window (view -> show toolbar, if necessary). Type the letters ‘I’ then ‘T’ quickly on your keyboard, verify that iTunes has been selected. Press CMD-Delete.
That’ll be $150 please. Thank you.
…what like dope dealer, free, then cheap, the go commit a felony to afford it…. woops, sorry that is the cable company or is it Dell? Either way it would be a marketing blunder, it is really their only true commpetitive advantage, it would destroy thier public image. I can just invision the commericals. The Mac guy all strung out, begging the PC guy for another $4.99 to get is subscription to Itunes turned back on.
Anyone wanna play the futures market. Develop killer new compatible software… Hold it in your pocket, wait until Apple starts to charge for Itunes, release it, get bought out, go by a private island… and send me half..
Quite honestly, not as it stands now (version 7.4.xx). This is really just very poorly done software. They have spent so much focus on flash that they’ve completely missed the functionality … like many of Apple’s other products.
NO PAYING NOW WAYS.
WHY MAKE APPLE RICH ?
NEVER. That is EXTORTION and I would never allow one of the richest most successful companies in the world take me for a run like that. I promise, if I weren’t able to download it (let’s try not to conduce piracy) I would sooner sell my ipod at a garage sale, donate it or throw it away. I think the people who would agree to pay for itunes, necessary software for the function of the product which you have already given the company far more money than it’s worth for, are very stupid and agreeing to screw everyone over. I would sooner start carrying around a discman with a 40 lb cd carrying case than give apple a single extorted dime. Some things are about principle. Apple is rich and the very purchase of their ipod has already ripped me off – I’m not paying extra just in case I wanted to actually use it.