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A year ago, CNN reported that Apple was working on a high-fidelity music service that would have required updates to its iPods and other music playing devices.
You would be forgiven for thinking that the late Steve Jobs enjoyed digital music on his home stereo through his iPod or MacBook. Quite the contrary, though, despite him single-handedly taking the music industry by storm with the iPod and the online iTunes digital music store a decade ago, Apple’s cofounder preferred listening to vinyl. In an interview with Walt Mossberg and Peter Kafka at the “D: Dive into Media” conference, musician Neil Young said the digital age “degraded our music” quality-wise.
A better techology is needed, Young cried. Conceivably, only one man would have been up to the task:
Bloomberg expands on that saying that Jobs was actually working on a high-fidelity music service:
We also love Young’s take on piracy:
While chief executive officer of Apple, Jobs sought to offer uncompressed music digitally, Young said today at an AllThingsD.com media conference in Dana Point, California. Apple “pretty much” has stopped working on the project, said Young, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who is known for the songs “Harvest Moon” and “Heart of Gold.”
We can imagine Jobs’ reaction to Young’s school of thought, even if he only pointed out the music industry’s Achilles’ Heel. Young also said this of record labels:
Young’s thinking on the labels much echoes that of Steve Jobs, as laid out in a prophetic 2003 Rolling Stone interview:
- Rare Steve Jobs autographed iPod shuffle is up for auction on EBay (9to5mac.com)
