I was having a discussion of what pirating was in a forum that I typically converse in. I was having an issue with games for windows live not accepting my install cd key, the thread was created to inform the other users of said site of what betrayal i was facing from something i trusted to invest $60 into. Here is more on games for windows live having a limited install.
I said “no one pirates itunes garbage”. This person from the site gave a response that stunned me. I didn’t expect it , I didn’t believe it till the second time he stated it more clearly. He actually said “iTunes itself is free, some Apps are free, but with a jailbroken device you can find most any app you…..” it goes on a bit after that, but really. I can handle only so much. So I realized I was actually holding a conversation with someone who is brand new to the topic. This person did not see the heyday, this person got interested in computers and the internet, within the last three years. This person was born after 1994.
So I decided to make it clear for others who did not get to be a part of the boom. I give you internet history on it’s dirty side. The side that will not be in future history books.
I give you the response I gave him
You just now told me what age group you are in.
Sorry didn’t know how new you are.
Itunes the name means “music” (tunes is clue #1)
I tunes has been selling music for +5 years now.
The apps thing is quite new
Roughly 3 years
Back in the day, music was the number one controversial pirated item on the internet.
There used to be some major hitters in the pirating world.
Napster
Limewire
winmx
Kazzaa
Almost all are gone now.
Some have resurfaced as something else.
Truly if it was not for them, the public never would have demanded greater speeds for their internet connections and we would not have the internet the way it is now. 2.0 would not have been an option. php would not have been an option, flash well it would have demised…. well in a flash.
1994-1998 Music pirating was so common that radio station djs would make their playlist at home and bring to the station these crappy assed 32-64bit overly compressed 200k songs and play them on the radio. some of us would bitch how it sounded like the music was being played in a sewer drain.
Around 2000- 2002 Itunes was announced. No one moved for the first year. because it was free. but apple played a bunch of clever commercials. by 2004 all pirating had come to a skid. there was a huge standstill, because Kazaa was seized and millions of i.p. addresses were placed public as targets of interest by the riaa..
You know what… I have gone to far with this. i think I have a cool post for the tech blog… later dude.
Some of the time-line might be a tiny bit tilted, but it’s can’t be by much.