2007-02-11

Upgrade your music/movies

So a lot of people are talking Steve Jobs comments on the DRM issues. I haven't read it yet. But it made me think about the digital economy for content/entertainment.

People have been buying music at 128 kbps (MP3 or AAC or WMA) or DVDs in 480i resolution, and with DRM. If they want to get a better quality music/video or without DRM, they would probably have to buy it again. In software you usually get free upgrades or pay less than the full product for an upgrade (even Microsoft does it). So it should be the same for music. If you want to buy the same music in lossless or transparent, you shouldn't have to buy the whole thing again. That was necessary when you had to buy a physical object to upgrade your qualiyt (tape/LP to CD, VHS to DVD). But from digital to digital, there's no need. The only problem is to do that you need some DRMs :(

So the non use of DRM might actually mean there won't be cheap upgrades... How ironic !

2 comments:

robux4 said...

Atcually after further thinking, it's possible to upgrade your music without DRM. As long as you upgrade from the same store you bought the first piece of music (that kept tracks of your buying).

There are 2 kinds of upgrades though. The ones that replace your previous music. It's cheap because you only buy the right to play the music once. But it requires DRM. The other is adding another format to your collection (for another device for example). In that case it's not really an upgrade anymore as you have 2 separate items. But since there were no DRM in the first place you were already capable of having both formats anyway. So it's not a big deal...

Anonymous said...

On a totally unrelated note...

Read your blog, things are going well, bro. All the best. Oh, and congrats on Lily!

EddieG ;)