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160 GB iPod Holds $40K of Music

This has all been said before, I have the urge anyway (with the Hadopi Law looming large in the rearview mirror).

The biggest iPod music player, the "Classic" according on the Apple website:

"One word: Capacity.

With 160GB of storage, iPod classic can hold up to 40,000 songs, 200 hours of video, or 25,000 photos.** That's more than enough room for a day's -- or a lifetime's -- worth of entertainment."

It's also $40,000 of songs if purchased legally.

Where does Apple think that people get their music from? How many of their customers have spent $40K on iTunes? Might Apple subtly be encouraging filesharing via the P2P networks?

Basic economic theory says that productivity gains lead to windfall profits followed by low prices. Releasing music as MP3's instead of physical CD's is a massive productivity gain. Consequently, by artificially keeping prices high, the record companies are reaping windfall profits. Which will inevitably be followed by low prices. The battle against filesharing is really a struggle to prevent the market from becoming competitive.

I'm a music lover. Before the internet, I probably spent about $50-100 every month on albums. That works out to about $1000 per year.

Boy would I feel like a sucker if I gave my $1000 to a company making massive profits purely by artificially enforcing an anti-competitive market.

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