[Admiral Mudkipz]

[Engadget] Apple confirms presence of proprietary chip in shuffle headphones, licensing fee

Quote:

A flurry of news broke out over yesterday regarding the proprietary headphones required by Apple's new iPod shuffle, and now that Monday's here and everyone's back in the office, some things are starting to get cleared up. For starters, both Macworld and Boing Boing Gadgets have confirmed with Apple and various third-party vendors that the new shuffle headphones do in fact contain a proprietary control chip, and that would-be headphone makers have to pay to license it from Apple as part of the Made for iPod program. Yep, that's bad news, confirmed -- but all hope for inexpensive accessories isn't lost, as we're told that the chip isn't encrypted or otherwise locked down in any way, so it's easily cloned by companies who'd rather not pay. Still, eschewing Made for iPod certification pretty much dooms a product to niche status in the Apple universe, so it's a pretty weak consolation -- when this all shakes out, we're guessing only Apple-taxed headphones will be widely available for the shuffle, and that makes the value proposition somewhat hard to see. Just say no, people.

Source

 

[Win == True]

apple keeps getting more restrictive
how do they keep getting away with it!!!:swearing:

 

[thenutty1]

Is anyone really surprised by this?

Apple = Proprietary

 

[-iceblade^]

they're going too far with this... if they keep doing this they'll alienate customers, soon enough

i don't get how people don't complain about these kinds of practices.

 

[Unknownm]

Why?

iPod touch:

Sweet I'm 15 and I this new iPod. ** 3 days later** Damn, I broke ipod earbuds. Oh i'll plug in my headphones

iPod shuffle
Sweet I got this small iPod box ** 3 days later** Damn, I broke iPod earbuds. Now nothing works

Apple. Away to *** your life

 

[Slinkey123]

ok thats it, the new shuffle officially sucks. If you cant change the ear phones then whats the point on having it? The ipod headphones are terrible!

 

[Evostance]

Epic fail. Do they not realise that their headphones/earphones are crap?

I see many people walking round wearing shures, skullcandy, seinheiser, denon etc. Those companies will just laugh at Apple when they tell them they must pay them to allow usage on their products.

I don't understand Apples logic on this one.

1) Stop customers using anything but their earphone - lose some customers
2) Only allow companies who pay them to have their earphones used but they must have a chip in them - more costly to produce > rise in price >loss of customers > stop making them for ipod > less sales of shuffle

Its complete BS

 

[francesthemutes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -iceblade^ they're going too far with this... if they keep doing this they'll alienate customers, soon enough i don't get how people don't complain about these kinds of practices.

They won't alienate consumers. The majority of people who buy Apple products buy them because it's an Apple product. They don't care if it's more expensive, harder to use, proprietary, requires 30 apps/accessories to work as well as competitors; all they care is that it's made by Apple.

Secondly, people do complain. But Apple doesn't care and seems to be one of the few technological companies that gets away with it. Remember, this is the same company that charged (how much was it?) 20 bucks for a firmware upgrade on the iPod Touch. And people still bought it.

Thirdly, most consumers don't care about the resitrictions because they stick with the headphones that come out of the box.

 

[Cheetos316]

Quote:

Originally Posted by francesthemutes They won't alienate consumers. The majority of people who buy Apple products buy them because it's an Apple product. They don't care if it's more expensive, harder to use, proprietary, requires 30 apps/accessories to work as well as competitors; all they care is that it's made by Apple. Secondly, people do complain. But Apple doesn't care and seems to be one of the few technological companies that gets away with it. Remember, this is the same company that charged (how much was it?) 20 bucks for a firmware upgrade on the iPod Touch. And people still bought it. Thirdly, most consumers don't care about the resitrictions because they stick with the headphones that come out of the box.

QFT... Apple can come out with the crappiest product and hoards of people will still buy it, just because of Apple's status symbol name.

 

[Manji]

If you guys read the article, all hope is not lost. I still don't like apple, though.

Quote:

but all hope for inexpensive accessories isn't lost, as we're told that the chip isn't encrypted or otherwise locked down in any way, so it's easily cloned by companies who'd rather not pay.

 

[Adrienspawn]

You know, this might be the first product that even the fanboys will think about buying first. I talked to a female zombie today and told her about this thing and she went 'double-u-tee-eff'. By having no button on it and using the voice thing, Apple went from 'hip' and 'in' to 'nerdy unusable gadgety''

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manji If you guys read the article, all hope is not lost. I still don't like apple, though.

That would be only for the Chinese copies though. Imagine Sennheiser doing that

 

[SchmoSalt]

You don't have to buy this. You shouldn't. In the end it'll be people loyal to Apple's problems, not yours. In my opinion though, Apple is just getting worse and worse with this stuff...

 

[nathris]

Even the mac fanboys in my class think its absolute BS.

Oh and btw, this isn't the first time they've done this. The iPod Touch/iPhone does the same thing. You can't even charge your device without using an apple approved product. Even third party iPod accessories that came out before won't work.

The only difference here is that this time the rod that Apple is shoving up your ass isn't silicone, its a rough wooden shaft. Instead of leaving the customer feeling violated, they are leaving behind bloody splinters.

 

[Manji]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrienspawn That would be only for the Chinese copies though. Imagine Sennheiser doing that

Yea, maybe you're right but imagine Sony releases a headphone with same control for their mp3 player that coincidentally work on apple's new shuffle.

(lawsuits maybe flying)

 

[Adrienspawn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manji Yea, maybe you're right but imagine Sony releases a headphone with same control for their mp3 player that coincidentally work on apple's new shuffle. (lawsuits maybe flying)

Apple will let other earphone companies make some that work with the shuffle, but they will have to pay a license fee. Two have already been announced, though between 50$ and 100$.

 

[Bviper]

Apple is testing the waters... nothing more.

Seeing just how far they can go before people actually start to complain. Looks like they found it. I love my iPhone, but if the next one includes something this bad I will most certainly be taking my business elsewhere.

 

[sdla4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -iceblade^ they're going too far with this... if they keep doing this they'll alienate customers, soon enough i don't get how people don't complain about these kinds of practices.

cuz people wont complain about what doesnt affect them. i dont give a freak what they do to shuffles lol. I would never buy one.

 

[wierdo124]

I can see this being spread to the rest of the iPods soon.

 

[carl25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Win == True apple keeps getting more restrictive how do they keep getting away with it!!!:swearing:

should make this my sig
most idiots buy apple products just because it's Apple

 

[Mebby]

Is this not the worlds longest MP3 player?