Ringtones.. boo, boo, BOOOO

Am I the only one who feels the ringtone deal is a BAD deal? Just to lay out the facts:

* $0.99 to buy a song on iTunes ($1.29 for DRM free I believe)
* $0.99 to "ringtone-ize" your song to get a clip that's up to 30 seconds

So let's see. An extra buck, the FULL price of a song, just to get a clip.. of a song you already paid for.

Nice one, Apple. Genius. I hope people refuse to go for this, and Apple eventually makes it free. On SEVERAL other cell phones, you can just connect to a computer and drag/drop your own MP3s and use them as ring tones. Why should we pay the song price all over again just to use it as a ring tone?

Oh well, I guess it's "marimba" for me for the time being.

And yes, I could just use the iPhone hacks out there, but I don't want to introduce anything "illegit" to my device.

Yea, I think this is a rip-off. $2.00 for a ringtone is pretty crazy.

This is why I use Audacity to make my own ringtones

It's actually not that hard to add them in. Trust me, it's much better than sticking with the stock ringtones.

Right, and there are people who will pay $2 for a ring tone. But in some cases, you're paying for a ringtone of a song you DON'T own. This is $1 for a song you already purchased.

Here's what Apple SHOULD'VE done if they still wanted to make a buck off people and not have ringtones be free: free ringtone conversion for any song in your library (you own it or you ripped it from a CD). If you want a ringtone of a song you DON'T own, you can buy it for $0.19. So, this is not only the cheapest ringtone service out there, but at $0.39, it's a good upsell method because it's fairly close to $0.99.. many people may just want to buy the whole song, then turn it into a ringtone for free.

That's my opinion anyway. This whole business of paying for a ringtone of a song you already own should not be legal.. it seems like a violation of Fair Use laws to me. This is WORSE than DRM. Anyone want to enter a class action lawsuit?

pretty ridiculous. I even think $0.99 for a low-quality itunes music store track is a rip off.

If you don't want to pay $.99 to make a ringtone, can't you make one yourself using a different app? Or does the iPhone not allow custom ringtones?

No, you cannot make your own without hacking the iPhone.

EDIT: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/itoner/
Actually.. iToner claims no hacking is necessary. Must check into this.

Apple are very clever. At times they seem very daring but they always get away with it. This is because they gauge their market very carefully.

When they came out with the white Intel MacBook they also introduced a BLACK model which effectively costs $150 just for a different colour coat of paint. Ridiculous? Sure! Did you buy it? You bet!

Same thing here. In a week you'll be talking about all the fantastic ringtones you bought and how Steve Jobs is so wonderful.

Uh.. no, I won't be buying ringtones.

And the black MacBook actually has one more difference over the white one: a larger hard drive. I don't know if that was ALWAYS the case, but at least the price increase makes a bit more sense now.

i didnt buy the black macbook, becasue i could get the same options on it. there are no differences

Does iToner not work for PC's?

Looks like it's for Mac only.

This is by far the worst deal I've ever seen. This hits so much lower than anything negative people claim towards Microsoft. Apple just climbed in the gutter with this stunt!! Providers like AT&T selling ringtones is different b/c they're not selling you the music too, just a ringtone of a song you may not even own and they have no way of knowing. Even though they're pricing is ridiculous.

I'm not into class-action lawsuits, but I would be all for signing a petition against this deal to send to Apple.

If you buy even one ringtone this way, you are the lowest of the low and can no longer say one bad thing about Microsoft or any other business you claim has shady business practices. This is almost as bad as Apple kicking all those iPhone customers in the *wallet* today by dropping the price by 33 and 40% today. So much bad news in one day that was supposed to be joyful.

fleurya said:

This is by far the worst deal I've ever seen. This hits so much lower than anything negative people claim towards Microsoft. Apple just climbed in the gutter with this stunt!! Providers like AT&T selling ringtones is different b/c they're not selling you the music too, just a ringtone of a song you may not even own and they have no way of knowing. Even though they're pricing is ridiculous.

I'm not into class-action lawsuits, but I would be all for signing a petition against this deal to send to Apple.

If you buy even one ringtone this way, you are the lowest of the low and can no longer say one bad thing about Microsoft or any other business you claim has shady business practices.

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I agree with everything you just said. Unfortunately people will buy the ringtones.

The sad thing is, tons of people already buy ringtones at more than $2 with other cell providers. I'm sure there are those out there who will plunk down the $1 to buy a ringtone for a song they already own because "it's just $1."

I won't buy them on principle. There OUGHT to be a class action lawsuit, because I truly think this is a violation of Fair Use law. I pay $1 for a song which is licensed to me to listen to on up to 5 computers. Fine. But I get charged another FULL $1 to make a ringtone out of the song I just bought?? Gimme a break! Maybe $0.10, sure. Maybe $0.20. But the full price of a song?

iToner works great, by the way. It's amazing that it requires no hacks. I put my own mp3 on my iPhone with very little effort. At $15, it's worth it for anyone who likes to change up their ringtones often!

CaptSaltyJack said:

The sad thing is, tons of people already buy ringtones at more than $2 with other cell providers. I'm sure there are those out there who will plunk down the $1 to buy a ringtone for a song they already own because "it's just $1."

I won't buy them on principle. There OUGHT to be a class action lawsuit, because I truly think this is a violation of Fair Use law. I pay $1 for a song which is licensed to me to listen to on up to 5 computers. Fine. But I get charged another FULL $1 to make a ringtone out of the song I just bought?? Gimme a break! Maybe $0.10, sure. Maybe $0.20. But the full price of a song?

iToner works great, by the way. It's amazing that it requires no hacks. I put my own mp3 on my iPhone with very little effort. At $15, it's worth it for anyone who likes to change up their ringtones often!

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You're probably right. This probably does violate some law. If it doesn't a law should be written to do so.

Anyone remember JFK's Consumer's Bill of Rights? One was the right to safety, meaning not allowing business to force unfair practices on consumers like making them pay twice for the same product.

i know i will be in the minority when i say this but if itoner cost 15 bucks it would be more logical for me to pay a dollar through itunes. this is because i have only used one ring tone on every phone i have ever owned.

however i still dont know if i would pay an additional dollar for a ring tone

I highly doubt this violates any law. When you buy a song, you're not buying the license to the song, just a license to that file (or media if it's a CD). I'm pretty sure Fair Use doesn't cover editing a copy/clip out to play on a phone, just as it doesn't cover you using a song in a slideshow presentation just because you bought it. For all we know, the RIAA is behind this. But, it could just be Apple charging you to use their 'tool' as well.

Big fricken' deal. Keep making my own like I always have. Let the lazy non-saavy users pay extra for ringtones.

Dimitri said:

I highly doubt this violates any law. When you buy a song, you're not buying the license to the song, just a license to that file (or media if it's a CD). I'm pretty sure Fair Use doesn't cover editing a copy/clip out to play on a phone, just as it doesn't cover you using a song in a slideshow presentation just because you bought it.

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I would agree. Still think it's lame though.

Yeah, well I think it's lame too, and would like to see it changed. Capitalism isn't perfect, though. We gotta think for ourselves sometimes.

Yep, agree with you there too