Evil empire antics
Apple has shut down
one of the most compelling features on Palm's Pre smart phone, crippling the
Pre's ability to run iTunes.
In a somewhat petty, and some would say
Microsoftish move, Apple has updated iTunes to block Palm
users. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the update "disables devices
falsely
pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre."
Palm
spokeswoman Leslie Letts pointed out that Apple's move hurts customers not
Palm. Anyway Pre owners can stick to the older version of iTunes, move music
from computers to a Pre with a USB cable or consider third-party music
applications.
Analysts, such as Avian Securities analyst Matthew
Thornton, said Apple's move to squash the Pre's iTunes function could turn
off some people looking to buy the Pre. But he adds that it is
unlikely that everyone who buys a Pre is going to use it as their main MP3
player.
But Apple has always traded on its image of being the underdog in
its wars with Microsoft. All this does is confirm that when it is in the
same position it will do exactly the same
things.