Think iPods are cool? Think again, bubba

Here is a snip by Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing, from a recent article about the Cato Institute's recent stand against DRM (emphasis mine):

... DRM lets Apple hijack the music companies' copyright monopoly and turn it into a tax on Apple customers who switch from an iPod to a competing product. You can keep your MP3s if you switch from Windows to Mac, but if you switch from iPod to Creative, kiss your iTunes goodbye.

So, if you got an iPod for Christmas, or have owned for for a while, you might want to think about how much all that downloaded iTunes music has cost you. And add that cost to the cost of the device itself. Cha-ching! but only if you're Apple.

Seems to me you can buy a pretty farking good MP3 player for the $thousands$ you've probably spent on your new coolness. But let's not stop there. You can buy one kick-ass home theater system for that kind of money.

Now I know why I will never, ever own an iPod. And I'm not buying an Xbox 360 for the same reason: DRM is built-in. I buy only "open" CDs (anyone want the latest Bruce Springsteen drink coaster? email me and it's free--don't mind the scratches, though) and rip my own MP3s, DRM free.