Thursday, December 28, 2006
3:54 p.m.

See what happens when you try to control everything? Fuck you, Apple*, for your stupid non-mp3-format downloads and non-transferable files. Goddamn you and the evil m4p. Fuck you for being inconvenient and controlling music nazis. Poor, poor technology giant. What a tragedy that so many people are caught in your magnetic little trap that you were unable to deliver your shitty files to the mass of unsuspecting, hopeful consumer drones with their new ipods and their gift cards, impatiently and frantically clicking your site with their quickly diminishing post-holiday glee. Read the article below and stay tuned for my holiday blogs!

Music denied — shoppers overwhelm iTunes

–> –> POSTED: 10:00 a.m. EST, December 28, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple’s iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.

Frazzled users began posting urgent help messages Monday and Tuesday on Apple’s technical forum for iTunes, complaining they were either not allowed into the store or were told the system couldn’t process their request to download songs and videos.

It was not immediately clear how many people were affected by the slowdowns, and Apple Computer Inc. would not immediately comment Wednesday on what caused the slowdown and whether it had been fixed.

Analysts said the problems likely were the result of too many people with holiday iPods and iTunes gift cards trying to access the site at once.

Traffic indeed was heavy over the holiday, with more than four times as many people visiting the iTunes Web site on Christmas than at the same time last year, online market researcher Hitwise said Wednesday.

Some financial analysts said the interruption could be viewed as a sign that sales dramatically exceeded the Cupertino-based company’s own forecasts.

“It’s actually created more positive buzz among analysts — traffic was so great it blew up the site,” said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. “If anything it could be a positive — demand was better than they were expecting.”

Apple commands about 75 percent of the market for downloaded music, but could lose as much as 5 percent of that market share in 2007 because of increased competition from rival services, according to Piper Jaffray.

Dan Frakes, a senior editor at Macworld magazine and playlistmag.com, a Web site focused on digital music, said he and some colleagues were unable to access the iTunes store or received error messages when they tried to download songs early this week.

However, others breezed through the process hassle-free, and Frakes successfully downloaded songs again on Wednesday. He said the problem likely was not as widespread as the frustrated discussion group chatter might indicate.

“The store itself was working, there was just too much traffic,” he said. “It’s a good bet that most people were able to get through.”

Analysts said they didn’t anticipate a rash of iPod returns because of the delays.

“What you’re seeing is the tremendous success of the iPod,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director with JupiterResearch. “No doubt it was a very, very popular gift, and no matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short.”

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

*sorry Mike, but I’m bitter about the state of Apple and their file format bullshit. I still love my ipod.