
Apple Just Uploaded a U2 Album to Your iPhone and iPad – And Seriously, WTF - bane
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/10/wtf-is-a-u2/?utm_campaign=fb&ncid=fb
======
grey-area
I think people object to this not because they hate U2, but because this is a
reminder that you don't really control your device, or even the content on it.
Apple controls it, and will add or remove content as they see fit.

It reminds me of the incident where Amazon remotely deleted copies of a
certain book about a future technological dystopia from kindles.

~~~
allegory
This.

I don't dislike U2.

I do dislike someone deciding whether or not I may or may not like U2 and
adding it to my device/playlists.

I recently canned all of my Apple kit and went back to Windows after a number
of issues over the years with controlling my devices[2]. It's the only viable
platform for me[1] that is improving its reputation and putting the users
first.

[1] I can't use *nix platforms for everything I do otherwise I would be using
FreeBSD...

[2] Buying and selling iOS devices is a PITA due to the activation lock and
getting data in and out of them is troublesome too.

~~~
manicdee
It's only added to your device if you had "automatically download new
purchases" selected.

It's not added to your playlists.

Do you also complain about the socks from your parents for Christmas?

~~~
aikah
> It's only added to your device if you had "automatically download new
> purchases" selected.

Except I didnt purchase that music.It isnt a new purchase,it's just stuffing
phones with promotional content.

And if you equate Apple forcing promotional content down to users with parents
giving christmas gifts you are insulting (at least my) parents.

~~~
manicdee
The album appeared in your iTunes account as a new purchase. There was not
"forced down to users" about it.

------
rmc
It's probably not wise for Apple to show how little control users have over
iCloud stuff, considering the celebrity photo leaks of late.

~~~
spindritf
Most of their users seem to be heavily invested, both financially and
emotionally. And if you're not willing to walk away, they can do whatever they
want. They have all the leverage.

~~~
dreamfactory2
brand erosion

------
jacquesm
Or: How Apple played favorites with a band that needed no promotion
whatsoever.

I remember when Windows came with a copy of Edie Brickell and the New
Bohemians 'good times'. That was at least a discovery of a nice song by
someone I never heard of.

U2 is past it's 'best before' date anyway.

~~~
jimhefferon
> Apple played favorites

I don't see that as the point of this article. I see the point of this article
as that if you buy from this vendor then you have, in the final analysis, no
control over the device you paid for, over your own property.

~~~
jacquesm
That's another angle, and it is at least as bad. But when you're in the
business of playing middle man to a whole industry I really don't understand
why you would play favourites at this level.

The fact that you have no control over your device is something that I wrote
about the other day so I'm well aware of that. (And I had not even taken into
account the eco system owners, just carriers versus public).

------
ancarda
I don't see it on either my MacBook or my iPhone. Both of which do automatic
downloads. The album is on my "purchased" list so I can download it if I want
to, but it wasn't pushed to my phone/Mac. This seems fine to me.

------
cell303
Actually Apple has just accomplished what privacy advocates around the world
couldn't have done: Getting people concerned about the issue (by hitting them
where it actually hurts: music taste). I think it's a great and mostly
innocent example (the music is really, really shitty though) of the problems
that 'the cloud' poses.

~~~
rmc
_I think it 's a great and mostly innocent example (the music is really,
really shitty though) of the problems that 'the cloud' poses._

The naked-photos-of-celebrities the other day is a very non innocent way to
show people the problems with the cloud.

------
acheron
"Bono, you've sold millions of albums, you should be happy. It's not like you
can force your albums into the libraries of people who don't want them."

 _Bono slowly gets an evil grin, like the Grinch._ "Get Tim Cook on the
phone!"

~~~
aikah
Well, I hope at least ,with that money he can reopen "the Kitchen" in
Dublin,it was a nice place.

------
xorcist
Three million copies! I thought it was well established in court that copying
equates lost revenue!

Who's going to pay for this? U2 must have lost billions!

(Unless the music industry have come on this around lately. Surely they
haven't?)

~~~
uptown
Apple paid for it. They said so during the iPhone launch presentation.

~~~
xorcist
Oh. The joke is on me then.

------
Skiptar
I suppose this looks like a great idea on the face of it. U2 is suddenly on
millions of devices. However, wouldn't this mean that they've essentially made
it impossible to make it onto the music charts which are based off sales?

~~~
pan69
I don't think U2 gives an awful lot about music charts (any more).

Personally I always liked U2 (grew up in the 80's, so...) but I also think
this is an awkward move and maybe more importantly, unnecessary. It just feels
out of place.

~~~
gioele
> I don't think U2 gives an awful lot about music charts (any more).

Well, in 2009 U2 complained a lot about the disappointing placement of "No
Line On the Horizon" in the selling charts.

> "[We didn't] pull off the pop songs," Bono admitted. Bassist Adam Clayton
> agreed. "The commercial challenges have to be confronted," he said,

[http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/26/u2-bono-
disappo...](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/26/u2-bono-disappointed-
album-sales)

------
manicdee
While watching the keynote, I thought to myself, "I wonder how many people
will complain about the free album?"

And here they are, not only looking the gift horse in the mouth, but
questioning its pedigree, complaining that it's a clydesdale when they wanted
an arabian, and complaining that their stable which is designed to accept new
horses automatically, accepted a new horse automatically.

If you tick the box "automatically download new purchases" you've already
"lost control of your phone" because you're accepting Apple's assistance in
getting any new media that appears in your account onto your phone.

Do people complain like this about Kobo and Kindle readers automatically
downloading new books?

~~~
onli
> Do people complain like this about Kobo and Kindle readers automatically
> downloading new books?

Kobo doesn't do anything like that, at least not mine. For one, I deactivated
wifi to have better battery life. But also before, no books I didn't buy were
pushed onto it, maybe apart from an example book I don't remember anymore.

~~~
manicdee
Kobo and Kindle both sync promotional copies (typically a few sample chapters)
of books you might be interested in.

~~~
Xylakant
My kindle only does that if I request a sample chapter. It's a nifty feature,
but I need to explicitly choose that.

------
cbovis
So if I randomize my entire library now I'm getting songs I don't necessarily
want?

~~~
tribaal
Correct.

------
lotsofmangos
This advice from usvsth3m might help -
[http://usvsth3m.com/post/97128521413/how-to-dismantle-an-
app...](http://usvsth3m.com/post/97128521413/how-to-dismantle-an-apple-bono-
bomb-heres-how-to-get)

------
herghost
No they didn't.

Apple added an album to your "purchased" list, and if you happen to have the
setting for automatically downloaded and syncing your purchases checked, then
the service automatically downloaded and synced your purchase for you, AS YOU
REQUESTED.

I'm not trying to pretend that they don't have control over my device, but
let's not manufacture outrage over something that actually ISN'T an example of
them using it.

~~~
JohnTHaller
Except you didn't purchase it. So it's not one of your purchases that should
be synced to your devices.

Additionally, given how little space most of my iFriends have on their phones,
that's also a part of the issue.

~~~
herghost
So it's a semantics argument about the difference between "purchased" and
"own".

I guess they could have implemented a whole new category of item in their
service (owned, but not purchased) or they could just set the effective price
to 0.00, or they could add it to everyone's purchased list.

Net result is basically the same, except that they made a big deal about the
whole "getting it in 5 seconds" thing as part of the keynote. I imagine it
might have been a bit (more) underwhelming if the "one more thing"
announcement was that they were making an album available for free for a bit
when their wider point was supposed to be simultaneously demonstrating their
delivery capability, reach, and - appreciated or not - largesse.

------
soneca
A brazilian judge forbid the app Secret to be downloaded in brazilian app
stores and also that the app stores should remove the app from the phones that
had already dowloaded it.

This last part was dismissed a lot as a "take this picture out of internet"
impossible decision by a judge who doesn't understand how internet works. Now
I think it is more clear that things like that _is_ impossible.

------
vicbrooker
Slightly off topic: but why didn't Tim release it by tapping his watch? Or
better yet, have Bono reveal he was wearing a watch and do it himself?

Seemed like the biggest slam dunk in history when I was watching it live.
Couldn't believe it when they did the finger touch.

Giving people the option to download/claim their U2 album would probably have
been a better option though.

------
kubiiii
I haven't checked yet but what I know is that if the album was pushed onto my
ipad, my bluetooth speaker will autoplay it everytime I turn it on.
Anticipating edit : I know there might be parameters to avoid that wether on
the ipad or on the speaker but keeping a clean itunes was the minimum hassle
solution I adopted.

------
parski
Welcome to the audio equivalent of spam.

------
Dzordz42
The bigest bomb on Apple iOS security is here. My friend bypass the iCloud
activation screen lock whit the hack tool from this page
[http://bypassicloudactivationlock.blogspot.com/](http://bypassicloudactivationlock.blogspot.com/)

------
Osmium
Despite all the hate running around (and ethics aside), I actually had a
listen to it and was pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty solid album. I
wouldn't dismiss it out of hand anyway.

------
uptown
Related: "Apple just increased my iCloud storage, issued a prorated refund for
what I'd previously paid, and put money back into my bank account - And
Seriously, WTF?"

------
davidw
I am not a fan - at all - of the snooty, sophomoric and holier-than-thou
phrase "first world problems", but I have to say that it does have a certain
appeal when considering the vehemence with which a great many have protested
how Apple has foisted this album off on them.

~~~
jacquesm
I think most of the vehemence came from the realization of 'lack of control',
but at the same time I think that's mostly limited to the tech crowd. The rest
won't even notice that a line was crossed.

~~~
davidw
If someone hasn't noticed, in the past 30 years, that Apple is _all about_
control, then I'm not sure what to say.

~~~
jacquesm
Sure. But just like there is a moment when the frog suddenly realizes that the
water _really_ is getting hotter I suspect a lot of tech types see this as
that moment.

Why they didn't notice before is a mystery to me too, it seemed pretty
obvious. But the tone is definitely one of 'wow, I didn't see that one
coming'.

------
Zlatty
Can you manually remove the songs from your iTunes and phone?

------
Sephiroth87
I guess Google could never do such a thing if they wanted...

Yeah right

~~~
forgottenpass
_I guess Google could never do such a thing if they wanted..._

How does that make it any better? I don't care about a pissing match between
people that have emotional attachments to their devices that pretend to be
criticism of the products. I care about the products and services.

------
meow8082
I'm extremely mad, iTunes has no right to just download random music on my
phone and I really dislike U2 there nothing I want on my music how do I get it
to go away?????

