iTunes update blocks pretending Palm Pre. Is Apple going too far?


Wednesday evening with the release of iTunes 8.2.1 the thinkable happened - the Palm Pre has been blocked from syncing with iTunes. Previously, Palm had worked out a way to allow Pre users to sync their un-protected music files to their new phone. Apple describes this as "pretending to be iPods" to BusinessWeek.

Once upon a time, before there was iTunes, there was the independent SoundJam, and it was all good. A nice MP3 player that worked, or at least attempted to work, with all MP3 devices that were pouring onto the market. Since the iPod was released, Apple has leveraged its popular media player, once based on SoundJam, to manage media, sell music, and of course sell iPod and iPhones. This closed market made some sense when Apple only sold music under DRM protection, but does it still? Wouldn't the world be a better place if everyone used iTunes? And better for Apple if everyone bought their music through iTunes? And while buying music, seeing ads/promos for the latest hot iPhone/iPod only apps and Apple devices?

The advantage for Apple is clear - they want to make it as difficult if not impossible for competing devices to use their software. This would all but force iTunes users to use Apple devices. It just has an evil feeling to it. However, iTunes is free, after all. Perhaps that's the solution Apple needs... sell an unlocked iTunes for $20 or something, and allows developers to build plug-ins for their devices.

Apple To Palm: It's On. The Pre Is Locked Out Of iTunes