Two Weeks on Apple’s Ping OR “Is Anybody Out There?”

When it comes to technology, I am under the firm belief that it is important to give something a real go before judging it. I’ve been on Apple’s Ping music-based social network for 2 weeks now and I finally feel like I am ready to make a ruling. Unfortunately for Jobs and co., it’s not one they are going to like – Ping is bad. Really bad. Terrible in fact. So bad that I would rather listen to a two hour recital for the local beginner’s Suzuki violin-based music program than spend another hour messing around with Ping.

The worst part might be that there are so many different bad parts, that I have no idea where to start. But here goes my attempt. The five reasons why Apple’s Ping needs to meet the fate of Google Wave (at best) but should really disappear all together in order to facilitate quick un-remembering.

Five Major Ping Fails:

1. Population – Apple billed Ping as its very own music-based social network, the final nail in MySpace’s coffin capable of rivalling and even surpassing the social aspects of Last FM (though without the all important streaming function). However, for either of these predictions to come true, large numbers of people would actually need to be using Ping, which they are not currently doing.
2. Sign-Up – To be able to get a Ping account, it is necessary to go through an iTunes store account. This isn’t a problem in and of itself except for the major issue that in most countries outside of the United States it is necessary to use a credit card to create an account. Do you think nearly as many people would be on Facebook if it required a credit card to sign up? Definitely not. Yes, there is a work around (by going through the App Store) to be able to get an account, but it is cumbersome and few but the most keen and most savvy potential Ping users would be willing/able to follow through. There are lots of people who do not have and do not want a credit card (I being one of them). Apple needs to stop pretending like we don’t exist.
3. Search – Those few people (especially interesting people) that are actually on Ping are next to impossible to find. Without being able to easily connect to friends on other social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, or even being able to find people via an email contact book, building a network is very difficult. Add to that ridiculous suggestions from Apple on people/artists to follow (no Apple I do not want to follow Miley Cyrus!) and this alone is a recipe for disaster.
4. Personalization – Considering that Apple is the largest online music retailer, it should certainly know better than to suggest that a person can only like three different genres of music. Furthermore, that Apple would force Ping members to choose from such a limited list is downright embarrassing. Where is folk on the list? Or blues? Can’t jazz music be inspirational? When has someone ever responded “soundtrack” when asked what kind of music they like to listen to?
5. Like – Ping only allows users (at time of posting) to like music they have purchased or are purchasing from the iTunes store. For someone like me who prefers to buy CDs, this means that my commitment to purchasing music in local record stores or at concert venues doesn’t count for anything. I understand that Apple is a company and wants to make money, and quite possibly thinks that this constraint will encourage people to buy more music from the iTunes store. But, at the same time Apple needs to recognize, if it is truly serious about becoming the network for music lovers, that none of the major social networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. – grew within a highly commercialized network model and there is no reason to suggest that Ping could be the exception. Even where social networks, Last FM being a prime example, have developed a highly commercial model, they have done so after generating a wide user base who is familiar with the services offered and is excited about the great value that they will be getting for any dollars spent.

Now I’m not doing anything as drastic as shutting my Ping account down completely. I hope that Apple goes back to the drawing board, and does so quickly, to be able to work out all of the major kinks in Ping. But, I remain cynical. Apple, at least lately, seems to have forgotten what it is to be cool. Bullies and control freaks may seem cool in high school, but in the real world it is the carefree, the open, the useful and the fun that are cool, just like it was when we were children. Apple it’s time to grow up.*

* Note in interest of fairness, this was written from a MacBook (though using open source software).

Tags: Apple, music, music streaming, Ping, social media, social networks, technology