Thu 2nd of September, filed under Social Media
Yesterday’s Apple event saw CEO Steve Jobs announce Apple’s first attempt at social media: built in to iTunes 10 is Ping, which allows users to ‘follow’ their favourite artists and friends.
Much like MySpace or Last FM, Ping lets music lovers listen to song previews, recommend them to friends, and keep track of tour dates or new releases from artists they are following. Users can view artist photos, comment on their profiles, and even see what music they recommend.
There are other reasons Ping could outshine these sites. Firstly, it’s an upgrade rather than a new product or website; 160million users already own the basic software, and just accept a free download to get Ping. Secondly, Ping is compatible with mobile technology such as the iPhone and iPod Touch. In addition, Jobs is touting Ping’s built-in privacy features, a contrast to the constantly hacked and spammed MySpace.
Despite the ‘follow’ function resembling Twitter, Apple has just launched an advanced Twitter app for the iPad, so it seems the micro-blogging site is safe. Meanwhile, Facebook et al can sigh with relief, because this is by no means a friend space; the social aspect is certainly part of the appeal, but the main function of Ping is allowing users to discover new music, and preferably download it from iTunes.
In other news, Sony has announced that it will soon be launching an alternative to iTunes; their selling point is allowing direct downloads to the user’s Playstation 3, Bravia TV or Blu-Ray player.
Posted by Rachel Hand
