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Interesting read, Reebee. I didn't know about Apple's acquisition of Lala.

Steve Jobs has a history of criticizing existing technologies or ideas before implementing them himself. He dismissed public suggestions for a video iPod, and for an iPod/mobile phone combo, and then created both of those products. Likewise, Jobs has been criticizing the limited computing experience netbooks offer, but it's almost certain Apple will release some form of palmtop or netbook in 2010.

Streaming your music from the cloud is fine, so long as it isn't locked into a DRM scheme and a proprietary software environment (like you said). Jobs knows DRM is the problem (though Apple will never willingly open up the iTunes platform), so it will be interesting to see what he does with Lala and iTunes.

Apple’s hardware/software integration is hard to beat, and when it is used in the service of better quality, I think it’s fine. But Apple has been getting more and more proprietary and restrictive in the way they handle things. And this is clearly about profit to the detriment of quality. Even in instances where other companies have come up with a better product (the Palm Pre offers real multi-tasking, which the iPhone still can’t duplicate), Jobs’ marketing genius is often enough to carry the day. The flap over the Google Voice app for the iPhone is but one instance of Apple trying to shut down the competition rather than advance the state of the art. Such practices are never good for users.

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