iTunes 10 adds ‘Ping’ social network, TV rentals, AirPlay
Jobs noted that one of the most important features of iTunes and the iTunes Store is discovery—that is, enabling users to discover new music from artists they might not already know. Ping is designed to add discovery features directly into iTunes.
Jobs described Ping as “sort of like Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes.” You can follow your favorite artists to keep up with tour schedules and new album or song releases. You can also follow your friends to see what music they are listening to and downloading, or even what concerts they are going to. Ping will also track your top ten songs and albums and let you see the charts of your friends.
You can post updates to your Ping account, which your followers can comment on. You can also comment on posts and images that your favorite artists share as well. Jobs noted that there are fine-grained privacy controls that allow you to control what gets shared, and he described the settings as “super simple to set up.” The $64 question is whether iTunes users have the energy and desire to stay on top of yet another social network. At least Apple won’t have trademark worries—Karsten Manufacturing Corporation, better known as the maker of Ping golf clubs, has reached a trademark agreement with Apple over the use of the name.