With the news that Amazon is offering MP3s in their music store, I wonder if AAC is just going to get more and more marginalized.
Remember, most people considered Betamax a superior home video taping technology. Um, just like AAC is a better music encoder. But that didn't stop the market from embracing the VHS format, primarily because it was ubiquitous, not because it was better.
This analogy isn't perfect, of course, but it is disappointing that Amazon did not pick the better "product" of AAC (which remember is NOT an Apple proprietary system; people forget that sometimes) when they expanded their music store.
And to all who say "well, not all products support AAC"--don't you think Amazon's effort would have rapidly changed that situation??
Since VHS proved that an inferior format can kill a superior one, what do you all think will happen to AAC in the future?
(Let's leave the technically correct but immaterial out of the discussion: Yes, there probably will be AAC or an even better codec available and playable on something forever. They also still sell buggy whips.)
Remember, most people considered Betamax a superior home video taping technology. Um, just like AAC is a better music encoder. But that didn't stop the market from embracing the VHS format, primarily because it was ubiquitous, not because it was better.
This analogy isn't perfect, of course, but it is disappointing that Amazon did not pick the better "product" of AAC (which remember is NOT an Apple proprietary system; people forget that sometimes) when they expanded their music store.
And to all who say "well, not all products support AAC"--don't you think Amazon's effort would have rapidly changed that situation??
Since VHS proved that an inferior format can kill a superior one, what do you all think will happen to AAC in the future?
(Let's leave the technically correct but immaterial out of the discussion: Yes, there probably will be AAC or an even better codec available and playable on something forever. They also still sell buggy whips.)
