Googling “proprietary” results in lots of hits, but very few of them use the word in a positive sense. The Webopedia Computer Dictionary offers:
Proprietary
Privately owned and controlled. In the computer industry, proprietary is the opposite of open. A proprietary design or technique is one that is owned by a company. It also implies that the company has not divulged specifications that would allow other companies to duplicate the product.
Increasingly, proprietary architectures are seen as a disadvantage. Consumers prefer open and standardized architectures, which allow them to mix and match products from different manufacturers.
Notice the tone at the end? Forgive me for contradicting authorities (well, the Webopedia anyway), but I believe that last paragraph needs some exploration.
Like so many words we use, I do not think it means what we think it means (apologies to Inigo Montoya). Dictionary.com emphasises the “property rights” sense of the word without the heavy innuendo of the Webopedia definition. Still, we can all recognize what Webopedia is getting at, sort of.
A few of those many Google hits are for pages complaining about Microsoft Word’s “proprietary” data format and others (here and here), and there’s a real point there, but it’s not the point made by Webopedia. See, the thing is, since “proprietary” is no longer used in anything but criticism, it’s lost much of it’s meaning.
One of the first uses of the word might have been in the battle between VHS and Beta. Critics labeled Beta the “proprietary” format and held up VHS as the “open” standard alternative. But the facts vary somewhat. Beta, developed by Sony, was first to market with a better product. VHS was developed by JVC but lacked Beta’s image quality and first-mover advantage. What JVC did was brilliant, they licensed VHS to other manufacturers at rock-bottom prices when Sony was demanding top dollar for Beta. VHS won that battle, but it is no more an open standard than Beta.
If yesterday’s battle was video tapes, today’s is commercial music formats. I find myself scratching my head when I here people complain that the iPod is “proprietary” because it will only play music from Apple’s iTunes music store. Once again, it’s a meaningless criticism, and just plain wrong. iPods can, of course, play any MP3, AIFF, or AAC you load on it, not just those downloaded from iTunes. What those critics really mean is that you can’t use the iPod with competing music stores.
Of the many competing digital rights management (DRM) formats for audio, two stand out: Apple calls theirs FairPlay, Microsoft builds theirs into Windows Media (including WMA). They and the others are all proprietary and incompatible. The problem isn’t that one is “proprietary” while the others are “open” In the end, they are all designed to limit what you can do with and how you can use the music and audio programs you purchase at these many online stores.
So what do these iPod critics use as portable music players? They appear to prefer products from Windows Media licensees. Microsoft, like JVC with VHS, finds itself behind the curve and has to struggle to push their product. The difference, and why we should all be concerned, is that we’ve seen what Microsoft does with monopoly power. Microsoft kept prices low and offered incredible deals to schools and universities when Microsoft Office was second or third to WordPerfect in a crowded market for word processors and office suites. Years later, after killing most of the competition they raised prices and changed licensing terms to cash in on their dominance (give credit where credit is due: it was a good business move that paid off).
Does anybody really think Windows Media will be any different?
Update: Former RIAA chief Hilary Rosen weighed in on the ‘proprietary’ debate recently.
tags: aac, audio player, beta, betamax, downloadable audio, downloadable content, fairplay, format war, format wars, ipod, portable audio player, proprietary, vhs, vhs beta, vhs v. beta, vhs vs. beta, windows media, wma, wmv
Related:
Posted March 25, 2004 by Casey
Categories: Technology. Tags: aac, audio player, beta, betamax, downloadable audio, downloadable content, fairplay, format war, format wars, ipod, portable audio player, proprietary, vhs, vhs beta, vhs v. beta, vhs vs. beta, windows media, wma, wmv.
4 Comments
Comments RSS
TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
User contributed tags for this post:
What Does iPod Mean (2266) - iPod acronym (1512) - what does proprietary mean (969) - what does ipod stand for (565) - what does i pod mean (389) - acronym ipod (302) - what does i in ipod mean (214) - what does i mean in ipod (214) - What does i pod stand for (185) - Proprietary means (171) - ipod means (141) - what does i in ipod stand for (136) - What does blog mean (130) - acronym for ipod (117) - what does proprietary (97) - what does i stand for in ipod (93) - IPOD what does it mean (77) - what does ipod means (64) - what does the i in ipod mean (47) - mss (41) - what does the I in ipod stand for (38) - What does POD mean (33) - what ipod means (32) - iPod mean (31) - proprietary mean (30) - proprietary (30) - what does the word ipod mean (29) - what does I in i pod stand for (29) - what does i p o d mean (29) - all (28) - what means IPOD (27) - What Does pod Stand for (27) - what does i mean for ipod (26) - proprietary what does it mean (25) - What does company proprietary mean (25) - what does eponyms mean (24) - acronym of iPod (24) - i pod acronym (24) - what does an ipod mean (23) - what does pod mean in ipod (23) - what does proprietary means (23) - what does it mean iPod (23) - what does archive mean (22) - what does i mean ipod (22) - what does acronym iPOD mean (22) - what does the ipod mean (22) - is ipod an acronym (20) - What does propriety mean (19) - i pod means (19) - what does acronym mean (19) - what does BLOG acronym (18) - what does proprietry mean (18) - what does the i mean in ipod (18) - what does proprietary mean? (17) - what does blog stand for (17) - what mean ipod (17) - what does i mean itunes (16) - What does First Mover mean (16) - what does the i stand for itunes (16) - What does proprietory mean (16) - what means the word (15) - what does proprietary notice mean (15) - what does i stand for in apple (14) - iPOD Acronyms (14) - mean ipod (13) - what does pod stand for in ipod (13) - what do proprietary mean (13) - what is mean by ipods (13) - what does first to market mean (13) - WHAT DOES THE WORD IPOD STAND FOR (13) - what does acronym blog mean (12) - Blog mean (12) - what does the word blog mean (12) - the acronym iPod (12) - ipod what does the i mean (12) - what does a proprietary do (12) - what is meaning of proprietary design (11) - what does i mean in an ipod (11) - what is ipod mean (11) - what does music ipod stand for (11) - ipod what does the i stand for (10) - What does the acronym BLOG mean (10) - what does archival means in media terms (10) - what does propriety limited mean (10) - pod means (10) - what is acronym for ipod (10) - i in ipod (10) - ipod definition acronym (10) - ghost car ad wmp (10) - what does pod in ipod stand for (9) - what it means by ipod (9) - ipod proprietary (9) - what does the acronym IPOD mean (9) - i stand for in ipod (9) - i pod mean (9) - what does seks mean (9) - what does proprietary content mean (9) - IPOD acronym for (9) - what does proprietary mean post (9) - what does ipod acronym mean (9) - word ipod (9) - what does acronym ipod stand for (9) - ipod what does it stand for (9) - what does dominance mean in music (9) - mean of iPOD (9) - what is meant by pod in ipod (8) - what does i stand for itunes ipod (8) - meaning of proprietary (8) - what it means in ipod (8) - ipod what does I mean (8) - what does aif stand for (8) - what does the i in the ipod stand for (8) - what does i in itunes and ipod mean (8) - scary car commercial windows (8) - what does proprierty mean (8) - what i in i pod means (8) - proprietary meaning (8) - what does com mean (8) - what does mean ipod (8) - WHAT DOES IPODMEAN (7) - ipod i stand for (7) - what does i pod means (7) - what does i in ipods mean (7) - acronym i POD computer (7) - what does galore means (7) - What does POD in iPOD mean (7) - what does a propriety company mean (7) - proprietary eponyms (7) - what pod does mean in i pod (7) - What does the acronym MP3 mean (7) - the word IPod (7) - pod acronym (7) - what does crazy by barkley mean (7) - what does the I stand for in ipod (6) - what does proprietary satellite mean (6) - ipod what does pod stand for (6) - what does Aurio mean (6) - parkour videos wma (6) - proprietary what does this mean (6) - What does 578 mean in dollars (6) - what does I mean of Ipod (6) - what does segway mean (6) - ipod what does i stand for (6) - what does beta stand for (6) - acronyms ipod (6) - acronym i pod (6) - what does the pod in ipod means (6) - problems Proprietary Eponyms (6) - acronym pod prince print ipod (6) - What does the term specifications of stores mean (6) -
what does ipod mean?
is it an acronym?
internet podium
where one expresses and listens to global outlooks on anything and everything
[...] is addressing complaints about Apple’s “proprietary†DRM used in the iTunes Music Store. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping [...]
i need it greatly