Dave Winer quotes Cory Doctorow on what's wrong with the kind of DRM system the iPod has:

Cory Doctorow : "I think that it's reasonable to assume that Apple won't always make the world's best music player. I'd like to keep my options open. But the longer you own an iPod, the more likely it is you'll buy more iTunes music, and the fewer options you'll have."

That's correct; not everyone is willing to go through the "DRM Shuffle" that I do, nor should they have to:

• Buy music on Machine 1
• Rip a CD from iTunes
• Import the CD into Machine 2's library
• Manually key-in the track info

If I bought enough music, I'd automate the last step - but I don't buy music direct from iTunes that much - mostly, I buy CD's to avoid the whole problem. However, lots of people just buy their stuff straight from iTunes, which builds up their lock to the iPod over time.

I'm not sure about the point Winer adds though:

And don't miss that lockin doesn't just come from format lockin, it's also a closed box, only the manufacturer can add featues. Jobs said the reason the iPhone isn't an open platform because it's a phone, but that doesn't explain the iPod's closedness.

I get his point, but the iPod is a consumer gadget - and as such, most people probably don't want all of the issues that come with open-ended configurability. Think about your PC, and the kind of behavior it tends to exhibit over time - and compare that to an arbitrary stereo component. Now ask yourself which one is closer to how most people think about their iPods...

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