Apple's big announcement this week was the unveiling of plans for Ping, a new social networking platform designed to help listeners better discover music.
"It's sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said of the new service. He described it as a social network all about music. Too bad there's far less "social" to the network than meets the eye. For now.
Ping is packaged as part of the new iTunes 10 and is based on the technology Apple acquired with the purchase of Lala.com last year. The service allows users to follow others, similar to Twitter or Facebook, only to find out what they’re listening to or what they’re creating as opposed to what they had for breakfast or what pseudo-political rant they're broadcasting. With custom song and album charts, a news feed, 17,000+ concert listings and widespread availability, Ping is aiming to be a fully comprehensive social listening experience.
The new service is available not only for iTunes on the desktop, but for iPhone and iPod touch as well. And unlike Twitter, you're dealing with real, actual people without having to attempt to find meaning in their endless stream of quasi-personal information. Unlike Facebook, you can wander around and see who or what you like without having to become someone's friend and without having to "like" anything at all. The feeling Facebook tends to give, like that of a phone conversation with awkward silences - is mercifully absent.
Through the service, iTunes will populate a customized top 10 list that represents what their friends are downloading. Users can also see concerts that are coming to their area, and inform their friends that they'll be attending.
However, the fact that Ping is immensely counterintuitive is creating a lot of unpleasant feelings among those diving in to the new platform. To "like" a song or album, one has to leave the Ping page, load the iTunes store and find their selections. We're not able to choose from our existing library, or share our personal iTunes ratings with others.
So far, Ping has recommended I follow Shakira, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Yo-Yo Ma, Katy Perry and Diddy - none of which are anywhere near my sample list of favorite music. It's very tempting to set this whole idea on fire at the sight of such completely misguided suggestions, but it appears that there are simply a very limited number of artists who have signed up for the service so far, resulting in slim pickin' suggestions.
Another downside: it's a bit heavy-handed, and personalization can be kind of a bitch. You can't do status updates (only artists can), and sharing your iMixes doesn't mean that your followers can actually listen to the mix - only samples of the songs, unless they want to buy. It's an inconvenience, but promises to level the playing field for people who may be slightly... biased about the contents of their music library.
The service deals a major blow to MySpace, which has been scrambling to rebrand itself around its own music platform. Their efforts are too little too late, given that the brand is now irrevocably associated with outdated fads and inferior tech. Apple, by contrast, is far and away the leading online media store in the world, having sold over 11.7 billion digital downloads to date.
iTunes 10 is available now. Also announced was a new version of the iPod Touch which will now feature a front-facing camera. iPod Nano gets an update with an on-screen interface and the iPod Shuffle has been redesigned back the square shape and buttons of Apple’s second-generation Shuffle, while the iPod Classic appears to be discontinued for future models.
In other words, Apple is trying to tell you that carrying your entire music library around with you is not only bulky and unnecessary, but old-fashioned and outdated.
Welcome to the future.
