Apple, Lala, and the tablet

January 21, 2010 / Filed under: News, Music, Hardware, Apple, #fb

Apple recently bought CD-swapping service Lala, but I imagine the deal was more about Lala's streaming features than anything else.

Lala differs from iTunes in that you can listen to full songs, free of charge, but just once. After you listen once, you can purchase the full download ($0.89), or the "web version" of the song (streaming through a browser only), for only $0.10.

iTunes only allows a 30-second sample, and the purchase of the full download (typically $0.99).

Lala seems to cover that "gray area" pretty well - often I don't want to buy a song until I've heard it's entirety. And not having to buy the physical download, but still be able to reliably stream through a browser anytime I want is appealing, at a mere $0.10 at that.

Lala also allows access to your music library in the cloud. iTunes is stuck on your computer's hard drive.

If Apple eventually comes out with any sort of iTunes web interface, I'd hope it inherits much of Lala's goodness.

The problem with Apple is they don't seem to create very compelling web-based products or services (think of the MobileMe fiasco, and does anyone enjoy using iWeb?), so I hope they leave much of the design and functionality of Lala intact, and instead focus on other areas to promote "iTunes in the cloud."

Also, if a tablet is announced next week, I'd hope there's some support for streaming my Lala library directly over a wireless network, but I'm thinking that would kind of disrupt the intent of an iPod.

I guess everything is "up in the air" with Apple's products and offerings right now. Once the "big secret" is out next week, many more things will become clear, as Apple sets the foundation for an exciting year in technology.

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