Hands On: iTunes 10's Ping feature

03.09.2010

The biggest problem with Ping, however, is limiting it to only that music that Apple sells. When I was setting up my profile, and choosing my favorite music, I wanted to add The Beatles--but obviously I couldn't because they're not on iTunes. I wanted to add some of my favorite Jerry Garcia albums, but only a few of his albums are there (and not even the best ones). The list goes on. This means that people can only discuss or share music that is sold by the iTunes Store. While this covers a lot of music, it's far from exhaustive.

Ping might be successful in the long run, but limiting what users can say to comments about music sold on the iTunes Store could be Apple's social networking Waterloo. While there's plenty to talk about, users won't be able to bring up bands that aren't sold by Apple. I'm sure Apple has a plan, but so far, users seem to be greeting Ping with a big shrug. I know I have.