This announcement got me thinking. This move is just the next step in Apple's goal of having a piece of your music listening experience regardless of your setting. Remember Jobs' statement in assessing where people listen to music during the Airport Express launch (1-computer, 2-iPod, 3-car, 4-home). Well he did say that the solutions for listening in the car weren't adequate but they were working on something.....we'll this partnership is it.
Some other thoughts
- Interesting choice of auto manufacturers. Jobs always likened Mac marketshare to that of Mercedes-Benz. So one would think that that's where they'd end up, but they went with BMW. Not a bad move. Clearly, identifying with a premium luxury automaker was a priority -- again staying away from the Volkswagen stereotype. One would think that partnering with other automakers will happen down the road if there is a demand.
- The integration of the direct iPod output and the in-dash control provides for a minimal loss of audio quality compared with other solutions. The only other mainstream way to achieve this in the car was with mp3 CD's which are accepted by many decks.
- Very nice timing in relation to the iTMS opening in Germany. Do they make this announcement now if this wasn't yet a done deal? Don't think so.
- If people buy into this iPod-centric model of music ownership, this would continue the pace of iPod sales (good thing for Apple) and indirectly hinder the development of the alternative model of music subscription services (bad thing for Windows, rhapsody, et al.)
Any other thoughts how this announcement changes the music landscape?