ENN’s Ciara O’Brien writes:
“Nokia is challenging Apple in the digital music market with a new online music store aimed at Irish customers.
…
Tracks from the Nokia Music Store are compatible with any device that plays Windows Media Audio files (wma), which are embedded with Microsoft’s digital rights management technology. However, iPods and iPhones do not support the wma format, effectively cutting iPod users out of Nokia’s potential customer pool.The good news for the Finnish mobile giant is that there are plenty of mobile phones and other devices out there capable of playing the Windows format files.“
Emphasis mine.
It’s 2008. 70% of the market has an iPod. iPods play Apple’s DRMed tracks as well as non-DRM’ed MP3 tracks – both of which you can buy direct from Apple. Apple’s iTunes Music Store is currently being challenged by Amazon who has started selling DRM-free MP3 tracks.
And Nokia is challenging Apple with a Windows-only DRM solution that won’t work on an iPod and which will likely get Zuned in a few short months?
‘”We want to become a major player in the music market,” said Shane O’Brien, service and software manager with Nokia in Ireland’
This press release from Nokia would have been revolutionary in 1999, innovative in 2001. Maybe even newsworthy in 2004. But now?
It literally shows how out of touch with the market Nokia truly is. My advice: Fire the dumbass who thought this was a good idea, get in bed with Amazon and stop piddling about with end-of-life DRM solutions.
It’s like a big bargain bucket of stupid with a side order of failure.
Look outside, the future is happening.