Apple Products to No Longer Be Sold at Costco Membership Warehouse

SlashGear ^ | 12/9/10 | Chris Burns

[mgstarr]

Ruh roh! It appears that because of reasons surrounding the facts that while Costco has carried iPods and iTunes cards from their retail locations for quite a while now, Apple has never allowed them to sell Apple items on their webpage (like other retailers can) and Costco didn’t gain distribution rights for the iPad, Costco’s pulling the plug. Costco is said to be the third largest retailer and the largest membership warehouse dealer in the USA. Them stopping sales of Apple products completely is almost certainly going to be a stinger in Apple’s side.

[Swordmaker]

For me now, an iPod would not only be redundant; it would be annoying because all I can do with it is play music.

And WHERE have you been for the last five years?

[tubebender]

I have my iPod to listen to RUSH after I get home and do my chores...

[RobRoy]

>>And WHERE have you been for the last five years?<<

Ok, so they can do some video. Being someone who has never, in my life, paid for a music download (though the recent demise of limewire was a bit of a temporary challenge) and not interested in diminutive video experiences, the music is all that mattered. ;)

[Swordmaker]

And I can’t in good faith buy anything from a company knowing full well that the company will use my own money for political efforts I detest.

Then how can you justify giving your money to Microsoft? Money spent with Microsoft winds up with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funding abortions around the world, Global Warming funds, and a host of other things that are anathema to conservatives... not to mention Democrat and Liberal causes? Except for a $100,000 donation last year to the No on proposition 8 campaign about Gay marriage last year, which was made by the Apple Employees' PAC, Apple Inc., despite being perceived as a Liberal bastion, eschews political donations as a corporation.

Its corporate board is almost evenly divided between Liberals and Conservatives, recently adding an arch conservative Republican James Honey to the board to replace the Liberal Google CEO Eric Schmidt who resigned from the board several months ago (after ripping off tons of Apple proprietary secrets in my opinion). I think the Libs do at this time slightly outnumber the Cons, on the board... but that is the case on almost every BoD in the country.

Jobs made private, personal donations to Democratic organizations and a few Democrats up until six years ago, but it appears he has stopped doing that, concentrating his time on his primary love... making excellent products.

Apple is also family and child friendly, prohibiting porn from its apps, devices, and stores when it legitimately can without impinging on the freedom of its customers. Apple, for example, asserts the right NOT to sell porn in the iTunes store, or to allow Apps that have topless or nude images or X-rated content in the App store. Microsoft, Google, and Android makers do not. To me, that makes Apple more conservative in its values than its competition.

[Swordmaker]

Ok, so they can do some video. Being someone who has never, in my life, paid for a music download (though the recent demise of limewire was a bit of a temporary challenge) and not interested in diminutive video experiences, the music is all that mattered. ;)

As a musician in a previous career, I am shocked that you announce that you prefer to steal your music instead of paying a pittance for it and rewarding the people who worked hard to gain the skills so you could enjoy it. They didn't do it so you could have your music for nothing, you know.

Your not knowing what an iPod is capable of is interesting... did you know that there are FOUR TIMES more games for the iPod/iPhone systems now than for ALL OTHER hand held games systems combined... and you say it can do "some video" when they can play full length movies and the iPod touch can stream HD television to your HD TV? over WIFI? The iPods are also eReaders and a host of other useful things. Try any of that on your low end, cut rate music players that only play music.

By the way, you can load an iPod without ever buying a song from the iTunes store merely by ripping your own collection of music from your CD collection. There are many of your fellow freepers who have done just that, me included. I think I have bought only about five songs from iTunes... I already have all the music I want.

[RobRoy]

>>As a musician in a previous career, I am shocked that you announce that you prefer to steal your music instead of paying a pittance for it and rewarding the people who worked hard to gain the skills so you could enjoy it. They didn’t do it so you could have your music for nothing, you know. <<

I used to tell my daughters, back in 1998, that RECORDED music would become the equivalent of the free toy in the happy meal. I think musicians should be like basketball players. They get paid for live performances and what comes from them. The “do it once and get paid forever” paradigm ended a while back.

[edcoil]

A smartphone with verizon is 50 bucks a month as to a simple phone for 9.00 a month.

The ipod touch accesses wireless networks and the children download apps, text, play games for no cost - even the new face talk for free.

So I agree a single tool might be better - for teenagers and a family having both is less expensive.

[RobRoy]

>>Your not knowing what an iPod is capable of is interesting... did you know that there are FOUR TIMES more games for the iPod/iPhone systems now than for ALL OTHER hand held games systems combined... and you say it can do “some video” when they can play full length movies and the iPod touch can stream HD television to your HD TV? over WIFI?<<

So? Its a tiny screen. I’d rather be reading a book. I was a huge game fan, back in the day. Heck I’ve got thousands of hours racked up on Asteroids and space invaders. I could put one quarter in and play all day - and sometimes did. I also spent around a thousand hours on internet WWII aircraft simulators.

But the last game I got into was Command and Conquer, and I still play the games from “the last decade” from time to time. I think some of the new flying and driving games are a hoot, especially on a 50” screen or my 7’ projector. But I’ve never been into handheld games or handheld movie screens.

And the bottom line is that the iPod was just never worth the money to me. The cheap players gave me what I needed - something I could plug into my car stereo for music, and something I could plug into the PA for my bands for learning and playing songs. If I want to sit down and just listen to music, I put a needle in a groove.

Here is the biggest challenge: Doubletwist for Android was supposed to be a big deal, but I’ve never worked with playlists, so I tried it and deleted it. I do folders and subfolders. But it doesn’t work that way with the android. It’s not a problem yet because I only store about 200 songs on my 8 gig, but if I am gonna store a lot of music, some sort of sorting system will be a must. But I never get around to it. I have other stuff to do.

Man, I’m starting to sound really old...

[RobRoy]

>>By the way, you can load an iPod without ever buying a song from the iTunes store merely by ripping your own collection of music from your CD collection. <<

It’s easier to download from limewire than to rip my CD’s. Well, that and I haven’t bought a new CD since 1998. And that was Monte Python’s “The Final Ripoff”. ;)

I’ve bought a few used ones since then, but there is not much new stuff I like. Actually, I take that back. I’ve bought several new CD’s from artists directly when I’ve watched their shows.

On a side note, I have a VERY rich acquaintance that has all the apple stuff, even apple tv in her home and both yachts. She switched from iTunes to Limewire not because of price, but because once she got a song she could do whatever she wanted with it, IF it was from limewire. Songs from iTunes drove her nuts with all the limitations.

[RobRoy]

>>They didn’t do it so you could have your music for nothing, you know. <<

They did it because it is their passion and it is fun. I like to say to my bands, as we break down after a gig, “This is the part we get paid for”.

Lynux developers don’t get paid for a lot of their stuff.

[luckybogey]

So you prefer proprietary aps over open source code and the freedom of the marketplace? Interesting...

[IncPen]

For me now, an iPod would not only be redundant; it would be annoying because all I can do with it is play music.

An iPod touch does everything an iPhone does, except make phone calls. It's got wifi. It's an amazing piece of technology.

[MamaDearest]

I believe Costco will come out the worse for this.

A previous issue of Costco Connections lavished attention on Al Gore. Not much more needs be said about that.

[RobRoy]

>>An iPod touch does everything an iPhone does, except make phone calls.<<

Exactly. It doesn’t make phone calls.

[Swordmaker]

I used to tell my daughters, back in 1998, that RECORDED music would become the equivalent of the free toy in the happy meal. I think musicians should be like basketball players. They get paid for live performances and what comes from them. The “do it once and get paid forever” paradigm ended a while back.

There are not enough live performance opportunities anymore for your economic model to work. There once were and that WAS the model for musicians and performers. Recordings killed that model.

Once upon a time radio stations even in small markets employed musicians in bands for live broadcasts and vaudeville kept several Theaters full of Orchestra musicians employed. Even silent films kept at least an organist or a piano player employed at every house. Not so any longer. What once required hundreds can be accomplished by one, recorded, then replayed. The paradigm changed and so did the payment method. Jukeboxes replaced the bar musician, and musak replaced the restaurant background entertainer...

[Swordmaker]

So you prefer proprietary aps over open source code and the freedom of the marketplace? Interesting...

Excuse me? What, exactly is open source about Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, most of the apps for sale in the Android store, and what is not part of the freedom of the market about the 300,000 apps that are available in the curated Apple iOS app store? What's NOT proprietary about apps that only run on Android operating system devices? And what IS proprietary about the Mac computer that WILL run software form OSX, UNIX, all flavors of Linux, iOS, MS-DOS, Windows1,2,3,3.1,95,98,NT,2000,XP,Vista,7, Amiga-OS, THEOS, OS2, C64, and a host of others? What is NOT open source about the certified UNIX that's at the heart of both Mac OSX and iOS or WebKit, CUPS, and many of the other parts of OSX. Apple has even released the code of Safari and FaceTime.

[RobRoy]

>>Jukeboxes replaced the bar musician<<

Actually, I think the disco replaced the bar musician.

I’ve said, often, that being in a bar band now is the equivalent of being on a softball team in the late 20th century. That is why stores like Guitar Center can even exist today. There are TONS of hobbyist musicians playing all sorts of classic rock. And my last band was a project with me, my daughters, a 23 year old chick drummer and a guitar player doing modern female fronted pop and country. Heck, some of our stuff sounded pretty darned good compared to the original artist and we did it for FUN.

Making music is a lot of fun, just like playing basketball is. Making money at it is like making money at buying lotto tickets. Some people do, but not many. ;)

The collapse of the music industry has not fully played out. I’m interested in seeing what we have in another decade.

[itsahoot]

Steve is a product genius beyond anyone alive today, but his politics stink.

Have you checked Bill Gates, and all his minions politics? Probably not or you would realize how shallow that statement is.

[itsahoot]

That is what capitalism is about.

Your understanding of Capitalism is underwhelming. Cheaper prices will come when true competing products are offered, not until.

[RoadTest]

“Steve is a product genius beyond anyone alive today, but his politics stink.

Have you checked Bill Gates, and all his minions politics? Probably not or you would realize how shallow that statement is.”

I can’t find any relationship of your comment to my comment.