In January of 2009, Apple introduced iTunes (Apple). They called it “the world’s best and easiest to use jukebox” (Apple). Users are allowed to create their own library or music that they have either purchased from the iTunes store or have saved to their computer from a CD. The iTunes store has almost every song that you could think of and the greatest feature that iTunes offers is that you can purchase most songs individually for $0.99. Before Apple released this genius idea, we were buying full albums at a time, even when we only liked a couple songs on the entire CD. ITunes also allows you to buy movies, tv shows, podcasts, and so much more. It is obvious to see that Apple has dramatically changed the economy since their introduction of iTunes. No one ever thinks they are spending a lot of money when they are only paying $0.99 per song, but if we were to all go back and look at our purchased playlist, we would see how much money we have actually spent. If you are an iPhone user, then you are familiar with the box that pops up anytime you want to buy or download music or an application that asks if it can use your location. Well, according to the Los Angeles Times, using your location is now integrated into their privacy policy, which you have to agree to before you can do anything (Los Angeles Times). In the Privacy Policy that Apple makes you agree to, they state that, “To provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services” (Los Angeles Times). We may all love iTunes and the great technology that Apple constantly throws at us, but are we really okay with having to agree to this? I personally do not want to give my exact location to Apple and have no idea who is looking at it. This is an image from the Los Angeles Times online that shows the location of a Target store based off someone’s iPhone.
Satellite image of a Target store in New York. Credit: daiji / flickr
We have come so far in our advances with technology and it is clear to see that the music industry has been greatly affected by it all, in both negative and positive ways. Even though the music economy is booming, are we sacrificing more now than before? Is it really worth it?
No comments:
Post a Comment