(Image source: spotify.com)
Web apps are meant to function online. Today, Spotify tries to challenge this by linking it’s online music service with Apple’s offline device, iPod.
Yes, from now you can connect your iPod to your computer’s USB port as usual. No need to turn to iTunes, just look at Spotify’s screen, you can see your device appear in the sidebar. You can sync your playlists and your own MP3 tracks to the iPod. What’s more, you can even buy new tracks from Spotify directly. The money you’ll need to pay is charged in this way:
- 10 tracks for €9.99 or €1.00 per track (£7.99 or just under 80p per track)
- 15 tracks for €12.99 or €0.87 per track (£9.99 / 67p)
- 40 tracks for €30.00 or €0.75 per track (£25 / 63p)
- 100 tracks for €60.00 or €0.60 per track (£50 / 50p)
Wow, that (almost) makes Spotify the web version of iTunes. Would Apple feel intimidated? May be. Of course, at this point Spotify is not yet a replacement of iTunes. It cannot bring you to the app store or back-up your iPhone. But this is a good sign of the development of web app technology. Web apps are getting more and more powerful. Perhaps one day we no longer need desktop software?
See Spotify’s blog announcement here.
