09-28-2007, 04:32 PM

OMG...
Apple is just being ridiculous with its ringtones scheme.
Somebody please explain me a valid reason why Apple making it so hard?

If I have to buy to get the ringtoness, that is totally acceptable for me.
But, how many songs can be created to ringtone from itunes? Only less than 10% of itunes' musics can be use for iphone's ringtone. Even worse, there are tons of songs are not even available to be bought from itunes.

Do they have some specific license to not allow certain songs to be converted to ringtone?
Paying freaking $2 for the iphone's ringtone is acceptable, what not is to not have the option to get the ringtone you want.

09-28-2007, 04:36 PM

This is why I make my own ringtones. Apple's "solution" is rather annoying.

09-28-2007, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by ipramono

If I have to buy to get the ringtoness, that is totally acceptable for me.

Their hands are almost certainly tied by the record companies, who are only interested in making money - they don't care whether you find it acceptable or not.

09-28-2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by knightlie

Their hands are almost certainly tied by the record companies, who are only interested in making money - they don't care whether you find it acceptable or not.

That may be true, but if it is it's only because they are being greedy. In the US, ringtones are a specific exception under the DMCA, so they really shouldn't cost anything extra once you buy the song.

09-29-2007, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by baggss

That may be true, but if it is it's only because they are being greedy. In the US, ringtones are a specific exception under the DMCA, so they really shouldn't cost anything extra once you buy the song.

Unless Apple are charging for the service of supplying the ringtone - i.e. the trimming and fading of it according to your specifications.

09-29-2007, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by knightlie

Unless Apple are charging for the service of supplying the ringtone - i.e. the trimming and fading of it according to your specifications.

Good point, but at $.99, it seems a bit steep.

09-29-2007, 05:08 PM

It must be tied to the record labels somehow. Otherwise, why would they limit the profit they could make on the ringtones?

Personally, I would never pay again for a song I already purchased. That is the height of consumer insanity and I think anyone who does so must not have 2 brain cells to rub together.

09-29-2007, 05:53 PM

I was with T-Mobile before I got the iPhone and actual song ringtones were $1.99. With iTunes, you at least get to pick the part of the song you want to use. It's steep but not higher than I am used to paying. But I've only bought like 3 ringtones in the past few years so I guess it doesn't matter either way.

09-29-2007, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by fleurya

It must be tied to the record labels somehow. Otherwise, why would they limit the profit they could make on the ringtones?

Personally, I would never pay again for a song I already purchased. That is the height of consumer insanity and I think anyone who does so must not have 2 brain cells to rub together.

I think you're being way too dramatic. Some people just don't care enough about nickel & dime crap like this to put up a stink. Doesn't mean they're stupid.

09-29-2007, 08:56 PM

Record companies fleece everyone, because they're fat and greedy people; why would they make an exception here?.

A tiny percentage goes to the artist, with the rest going to the fat cat morons who pay dodgy and immoral companies £100,000 etc to chase up and prosecute INDIVIDUALS who may or may not, have downloaded the odd warez'd album or two, in some sickening show of faux morality, so that they *APPEAR* to be protecting the artists...

Makes me ill - Apple are the only Corporation I trust, and that is from all good experience with them, over time. Greed will come back to bite these imbeciles on the bum, because that is how life works, in the long LONG run.

This comment is not supportive of copyright theft, but please - don't for ONE SECOND, assume that SONY/BMG/The RIAA etc, are doing what they do for the artists alone - RUBBISH - they're just confused hypocrites, out to make the big (false) moral impression, and treat people who download pirate music, as if they commited a murder (the sentences are worse - work THAT out!!).

They prosecute because THEY are scared that THEIR profits will suffer, not the royalties passed down to the artists; I don't imagine that EVER enters the equation, or their minds. Any methods, be they crooked or otherwise, are feasible when immoral and greedy nasty people become involved. A "legal mafioso" of sorts.

Moral pollution.

Anyhow, I personally think MP3 ringtones are a ghastly, annoying way of getting your attention. Surely if the calls you receive are important, then you will want to be concentrating on answering them, not putting them off, whilst you show off how hip your iTunes library is, to complete strangers on your tube/bus etc.

If I had a mobile (I hate the things) I'd want it to ring like a phone, not sound like I'd accidentally pushed PLAY on my iPod. Exhibitionism at it's most pointless - and you inflict your PERSONAL choice of music, on people who just want some peace and quiet, possibly...

I often hear these awful, tinny MP3 ringtones, and ya KNOW the score; the guy or girl lets his or her phone ring AS LONG AS IS POSSIBLE TO ATTRACT ATTENTION FROM THOSE AROUND THEM. Please - where is all this going?. When did we start caring SO SO much, about ringtones?. Life used to be simple, but now we're all overly spoiled with too many ridiculous and unnecessary "options".

Rant endeth.

Oh and PS: Yes, I am in a bad mood! sorry!

09-29-2007, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by bryphotoguy

I was with T-Mobile before I got the iPhone and actual song ringtones were $1.99. With iTunes, you at least get to pick the part of the song you want to use. It's steep but not higher than I am used to paying. But I've only bought like 3 ringtones in the past few years so I guess it doesn't matter either way.

That is true, but there is a difference between provider's ringtones and iTunes, and that is the ringtone you get from T-Mobile is for a song you may not already own. With iTunes, on the other handk you MUST own the song before you can buy it again for the ringtone. That is the fundamental problem with this arrangement. IF Apple would allow users to buy a ringtone without owning the song, it would be a little more legitimate.

Originally Posted by Dimitri

I think you're being way too dramatic. Some people just don't care enough about nickel & dime crap like this to put up a stink. Doesn't mean they're stupid.

It's not the price that is the issue, it's the principle of paying twice for the same product: a song. If it was a penny, I would feel the same way. How about BMW makes a car you can drive to work, but you have to pay for it again if you want to drive it to the market? Is that fair?

Originally Posted by kirstydv

A tiny percentage goes to the artist, with the rest going to the fat cat morons who pay dodgy and immoral companies £100,000 etc to chase up and prosecute INDIVIDUALS who may or may not, have downloaded the odd warez'd album or two

Warez downloaders is another perspective. It's true that some songs people want to make ringtones into could be songs they initially got by illegal means, which would be an argument to back this extra fee. But the sad fact is if those people are willing to steal music initially rather than pay, they're likely not going to pay for the ringtone. Then it's only the honest people who pay for full songs and ringtones that must pay the price.

Everything else you said was spot on and brilliant; bad mood or not.

09-29-2007, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by fleurya

It's not the price that is the issue, it's the principle of paying twice for the same product: a song. If it was a penny, I would feel the same way. How about BMW makes a car you can drive to work, but you have to pay for it again if you want to drive it to the market? Is that fair?

I agree with the principle you state. But that doesn't mean I'm going to call people stupid for buying the same song twice, because it's a matter of convenience and very little money. Where's the motivation? I can think of far more pressing issues that cost me much more money to stand up to than ringtones. As it is, I think ringtones of music are stupid and annoying anyway.

09-30-2007, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Dimitri

As it is, I think ringtones of music are stupid and annoying anyway.

I agree entirely. The whole point of the ringing sound of a phone is that it's going to be turned off as soon as possible by the owner answering it. Any attempt to change the purpose of them smacks of both stupidity on the part of the person paying for them and cynical manipulation of customers by the companies providing them.

Ringtones are at best an annoyance, and a very effective cash-generator. Ironically I hear them the most when the phone is lying on someone's desk at work after they forget about it, which kind of defeats the purpose of the device altogether.

For the record, my phone makes a sound like a ringing telephone.

09-30-2007, 11:10 AM

I absolutely HATE when people leave their cell hones on their desk and walk away. After all, the point of having a cell is the ability to take it with you. My desk phone sits on my desk, my cell phone shouldn't.

That being said, I love custom ring tones and have lots of them. Fortunately with me using a Palm device smart-phone I can make my own ring tones from music I already have in my iTunes library (although not iTMS purchased music) and it costs me nothing to do so.

I personally like custom tones as it often tells you who is calling simply by the tone that plays. This can come in very handy.

09-30-2007, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by baggss

I personally like custom tones as it often tells you who is calling simply by the tone that plays. This can come in very handy.

That's a good point and probably the only usefulness of custom ringtones. If I can hear it is a certain person and don't want to answer, I can just silence the phone and not even have to remove it from my pocket. It's a bit lazy, but just another convenience.

There are some tasteful choices in ringtones, like something that's not too loud and obnoxious. A good classical tune is always nice for me. Of course, the best way to not be obnoxious with a phone is to not have the ringer any louder than it needs to be.