Real Networks has announced that MTV and Verizon will all join forces to bring the us combined content and connectivity that only they could offer whether we are on the road, in the car, or in our home. If you want the honest to geek truth, Apple’s iTunes + iPod hasn’t been the best combination in quite some time.
For owners of Sonos Digital Music Distribution Systems who also subscribe to Rhapsody, the combination of Real Networks + MTV + Verizon will improve the best experience already around. With an iPod and iTunes, I can only control one zone of music, and I can only listen to music I purchase. The iPod is the best experience for people who don’t like music that much.
If Verizon and MTV add to this software+service+Hardware ecosystem instead of trying to replicate it, then I can only tell you what a growing number of other people are finding out, iTunes and iPod are not the best combination around anymore, Sonos is where it’s at. When people come over to my house and see my Sonos system, their jaws drop and they have no idea how I can control the sound coming out of rock speakers by my pool, by a small overgrown looking wireless iPod inspired device. I have access to 3.5 millions songs laid out in a fashion like no other on my Sonos handheld wireless controller and in case you didn’t hear, you can get a Sonos system via a growing number of Best Buy stores, although the rumor is that Sonos will keep the professional CE market happy with a pro line and might announce it at this years CEDIA. Recently, Sonos added the ability to stream Sirius Radio to all zones in the home, all controlled via the same very cool handheld player. Did I forget that owners of Sonos can control Pandora accounts right from the palm of their hands? This isn’t some glued on software either it’s all written from the ground up to run on Sonos. Fans of music are starting to expect more from their device than the vision that creative had in the mid-90’s and that Apple perfected.
With MTV joining forces with Rhapsody and Verizon, I’m starting to wonder whether Sonos will add Video distribution to it’s already super cool device lineup. (Not that I really care for MTV but millions of young users do)
For those people who are saying that Microsoft abandoned MTV, it’s only a half truth. Microsoft accomplished what it set out to do, get these other stores using their DRM by making them think of Microsoft as a partner, so that they would only have to concentrate on one competitor. It’s unfortunate that they didn’t help blossom the scenario based approach to a digital lifestyle solutions that so many professional audio startup have had, because now their ecosystem is starting to grow real wings.
Prediction: Apple will have Digital Music Distribution baked into it’s iPod+Apple TV within 5 years or it will be obsolete.
GeekSpeaker 
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