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Much ado with iTunes Ping

So, I finally gave Apple’s new social network a try. iTunes Ping seems to be an attempt to connect music lovers and iTunes users, probably in the hopes of generating more music sales.

That part made sense, but once you signed up to Ping, it feels like you’re facing a blank wall.

Here are stuff you can do with Ping:

  • Follow People
  • Display Recent Activity on iTunes
  • Post Updates on Purchases and Reviews
  • Get Concert Alerts

Of course, there’s one major requirement needed — you have to have an iTunes account (not the iTunes software but a valid iTunes account).

Then, the problem starts there — iTunes still does not support the Philippines. You’ll need to have a US iTunes account (or some other country where iTunes is available).

That one single requirement alone has (probably) cut off 99.9% of the online population in the country.

The Concert Alerts sounds good but then, if you search Ping for your favorite bands, they are not there. Okay, maybe we can wait 6 months or a year until the network becomes populated and hopefully, more usable. Come to think of it, Facebook and Twitter didn’t enjoy an overnight success in the Philippines.

Ping is also tied up with iTunes. You just can’t go and use any computer, fire up a browser and go to a URL like ping.apple.com to check on your profile or network. Apple assumes you will always have your Macbook, iPhone, iPad with you whenever you want to login to Ping.

Apple’s very “controlling” policy on all-things-Apple doesn’t sit well in the realm of social media — one can’t even upload and view Profile Pictures in real-time. Apple has to review your photos first before making it public. Steve Jobs said it himself — “Freedom From Porn”. Not sure though how they are going to manually review all those 1 million accounts that have already been created.

The Ping idea makes good business sense — and I have no doubt Apple is going to make more money from all these social connections they’ve created around iTunes. I just thought the implementation was anything but compelling or attractive.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

10 Responses

  1. Avatar for www.ask.fm www.ask.fm says:

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    attention-grabbing article like yours. It is lovely value enough for me.
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    you probably did, the web might be a lot more helpful than ever before.

  2. Avatar for polakpotrafi.pl polakpotrafi.pl says:

    Useful information. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I am shocked why this twist of fate did not took place earlier!
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  3. Avatar for bnjysn bnjysn says:

    you can obtain an iTunes Store account without a Credit Card at all. You can simply make up a US address though.

  4. Avatar for John Ray Cabrera John Ray Cabrera says:

    anything which is not entirely free might not pick up. i say “not entirely free” as you have to hostage your credit card with itunes account.

  5. Avatar for Teknisyan Teknisyan says:

    Also put into account that some people have their credit card number tied to itunes… only time will tell if they can take advantage of that or not.

  6. Avatar for Joshua M Joshua M says:

    Its still on the baby stage. Give it time to grow.

  7. Avatar for Jhay Jhay says:

    For music artists and fans, there’s already MySpace. And of course Facebook.

  8. Avatar for Jam. Jam. says:

    Ping = Fail . it sounded like Microsoft’s bing.

  9. Avatar for IC DeaDPiPoL IC DeaDPiPoL says:

    hate to see the day that you can’t even add your own encoded music unless its been filtered by iTunes.

  10. Avatar for Kim Roa Endaya Kim Roa Endaya says:

    I have an iTunes Ping account…and yes, I agree with @abeolandres…there are still only a few artists and bands on Apple’s new social music network…(sad :(( )

    and…sir @abeolandres, when will the Yugatech App for the iPhone be iOS 4 compatible? It keeps on crashing…seriously :| (hoping for an app update xd)

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