iTunes Ping- Where is the Facebook Integration?
Facebook connect for Ping made a very brief appearance during Steve Jobs' iTunes 10 demo and some early users were able to catch (and use) it to find friends on Apple's new social music network. However, a short time later the Facebook integration was missing. What happened?
As it turns out, Apple was indeed having talks with Facebook to integrate the services on an unspecified level. We have to assume the ability to search and find friends as an absolute minimum requirement for the paring of the two companies (though wouldn't it be great if Apple created its own client that integrated with Facebook and iTunes? Hey, one can dream).
Where Steve apparently ran into trouble was with Facebook having concerns over the volume of users using Ping as Facebook feared it could cause performance issues (hmm.. see 1 million Ping users in 48 hours) and asked for, in Steve's words:
"Onerous terms that we could not agree to."
What that means is that Facebook wanted something; too much control, too much say, who knows, but Steve was not happy. Will we see a Facebook Connect feature return in Ping's future? I am sure we will but it doesn't look like Apple is having a hard time signing up users in the meantime.
There are 22 comments. Add yours.
No big loss. Facebook is the source of all evil in the modern world. I deleted my account a long time ago.
Totally agree. Day light robbery of piracy. I also deleted mine.
Robbery of piracy or do you mean privacy?
You do agree to terms of use when signing up.
Yeah that's alot of people to deal with in 48 hours.
And Chad, heads up last 2-3 sentences there have some errors. Both are after "Steve was not happy" just lookin out.
agreeing to terms that normal people cannot possibly understand.
We live in a world where the people who make EULAs know that no one reads them, and the people that see EULAs don't care what they say, or are too ignorant to even fathom what could be in it.
And the rules change all of the time.
iTunes Ping- Where is the Facebook Integration? Is this really that big a deal or that much of a problem. Get over it and move on please. Ping is a new service and it would probably work better without all of the "Integration" Build yourself to few million and then you talk about "Integration" Beyond blog writers who is complaining about this?
I'd agree, Ping might do better without all the "Integration". Can we follow up the Facebook remove with removing it's integration from iTunes?
But in all seriousness I can see the issue here. I wouldn't want someone else's service, especially if it has the potential to be a competing service, attempting a DoS attack against my servers either. When Steve says "onerous terms" you know that means reasonable terms for BOTH parties.
I HATE Facebook.
OK i"ll go out on a limb here. I love facebook. I love Apple. I love my iPhone. I still love some of my Microsoft software too!
"too much control"... sounds like a common theme that both Apple and Facebook share. It's too bad they haven't reached an agreement YET, but I say YET because it's likely something will get worked out at some point. Kind of like Apple and Flash... you gotta know things will change eventually, or it will be two other companies we will be talking about two years from now!
Kick Butt
If ever there was evidence of Apple walking away from the corporate market, adding Ping to iTunes is exhibit one.
Business only begrudgingly allowed iTunes on corporate computers before (in some places it was out right banned). With a social network built in it just became Persona non Grata anywhere on the corporate net.
Not bad enough you need iTunes just to own an iPhone, but now corporate IT is faced with blocking Ping, while allowing the essential features of iTunes thru.
I said two years ago, that installing a music management system JUST to handle a telephone makes as much sense in the business world as a cactus in an outhouse.
This pill won't be swallowed easily. Its long past time that Apple stop looking at every problem as if it were a nail simply because the only tool in their bag is a hammer. Ping is jumping the shark, the day iTunes stepped over the line.
Facebook is more addictive then crack. Why u think the app got fixed so fast when it put out a bad update?
"I am sure we will" see Facebook on Ping?? What makes you think that? I 100% disagree. Facebook with 500 million users doesn't care about or need Ping even if it gets 10 million users. So that means Steve has to blink and give Facebook what it asks for. I don't see Steve doing that do you???
Also, how many of the one million are going to use on a consistent basis - especially with spam and non-intelligent software.
This product is headed for failure just like original Apple TV unless major changes are made fast.
@icebike
This is probably worth its own tipb article, but you should read "The Leaning Tower of Ping" -- more than a few analysts have commented that the steadily increasing layers of cruft upon iTunes is/will become a serious problem for Apple. ( http://bit.ly/auxiNE )
Knowing Facebook and Apple, it was most likely Facebook wanted control over advertising data collected or something. Facebook is very evil. The only reason I still have an account is so a few college friends who are overseas can keep in contact with me and I with them.
That being said, I've messed around with Ping.. I don't think I'll use it. I am friends with a lot of music snobs, and I don't want them turning their noses up at me because I listen to "popular" music and "indie" music and enjoy both. :P
"No big loss. Facebook is the source of all evil in the modern world. I deleted my account a long time ago."
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Truer words have never been spoken, my fellow comrade. I deleted mine as well. All social networks seem to do is usurp valuable time that could be better spent doing something constructive and useful. Nowadays people have incorporated the bane of Reality TV into the internet with these social para-websites that gather your uploaded information, freely disseminating it to the worldwide web, bypassing psuedo-security protocols they make you believe will prevent your information from being accessible. The fact is ANYTHING uploaded to the internet is searchable, downloadable and accessible by companies whose business it is to obtain such information.
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That and the devolution of personal communication from outward to digital further isolates our lives into a unsociable, hermit-like existence where virtual-social acceptance among digital peers is given precedence in our lives so much to where it may even be the cause of dissonance, disputes and disagreements between friends, family and loved ones. Do all of yourselves a favor and connect with friends and family by email, phone or text message. It's NOT a sign of emotional or psychological maturity to feel compelled to chronicle everything that transpires in your life point by point, minute by minute. This is nothing but a cry for someone to notice your existence and acknowledge you - deep-seated signs of a personality disorder that needs to be healed and resolved.
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Get outside - walk, run, or hug a tree - leave your electronic, digital, mobile devices at home for a change and discover the most common marvel in the world - NATURE!
Says the guy posting a tirade on an Internet forum...:shakeshead:
@(Copy of) Dev:
Fat chance of that happening on TiPb. Trouble in paradise? Blasphemy!
The article is spot on tho, thanks.
@Mephisto
"Do as I say, not as I do!" :P
If Ping had Facebook, I may have considered it. As it is I'm happy without Ping. Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare does just find for me. Don't need another social network, epically if it's focus is so limited.
That should be "especially".
To all who hate Facebook, is it because you don't have any friends ? Sad.