F ortune has been very kind to Apple this year; it has named the G5 Power Mac one of the 25 Best Products of 2003, has published many positive articles about Apple products including the iMac and iChat AV, and has made some comparisons between Apple products and similar products from other manufacturers in which the Apple product were viewed positively.
Now Fortune lists Appleis iTunes Music Store as the Product of the Year. From Fortune:
Napster proved that tens of millions of consumers were eager to download digital music from the Internet. They just werenit inclined to pay for it, which led music companies to believe that the Internet was the superhighway to ruin and that most Internet users were thieves. All of which makes the achievement of Appleis iTunes Music Store impressive from both a diplomatic standpoint and a technical one.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs persuaded the five major music labels and scores of independent labels to open their vaults (at least partially). Together they put more than 400,000 songs on sale at 99 cents each, or $9.99 for a typical album. Consumers benefited ethically, by having a viable alternative to stealing music; and aesthetically, by being able to search for, preview, and download music with unprecedented ease. Unlike most rival services, the iTunes Music Store gives customers the freedom to store music indefinitely, burn custom CDs, and transfer songs to the Apple iPod portable player. (The iTunes Music Store is not just about music; it also sells audio books.)
Read the full article at Fortuneis Web site.