Michal Marek During Tim Cook's recent appearance at a conference organized by All Things Digital, which we informed you about, a service called Ping was also discussed. It is a social network focused on music and events around it, which has been integrated directly into iTunes for some time. To further support this ability to share music content, Tim Cook had the following to say:
“After researching user opinions, we have to say that Ping is not something we want to put more energy and hope into. Some customers love Ping, but there aren't many of them, and maybe we should stop this project. I'm still thinking about it.'
The integration of Ping into iTunes has really received a lukewarm response from the general public, and we can only speculate as to why.
No connection with Facebook
The first, and perhaps biggest, issue as to why Ping hasn't caught on among users of Apple devices and services is the fact that there's still no connection to Facebook. At first, everything pointed to a friendly relationship between Ping and Facebook. After Steve Jobs publicly complained about Facebook's "unfavorable conditions," Ping and other social networks kind of pulled back, worried about the implications of partnering with Facebook.
Linking with the most used social network in the world would certainly make it much easier to make new friends on Ping and overall it could get this network to more people. It is quite annoying to search for your friends separately on Facebook, especially on Twitter, on Google+ and maybe even on Ping.
Unfortunately, Zuckerberg's network is a player that cannot be ignored in any way, and in most countries of the world it completely beats other similarly focused services. At present, it is very difficult to establish yourself in this field without cooperation with Facebook. No one knows why specifically Apple and Ping still can't agree on any mutually beneficial partnership with Facebook, but it is certain that the users themselves lose the most.
Complicated use
Another potential downside is that sharing iTunes content with Pign isn't as clear and simple as Apple customers would like. There are too many options in the drop down menu on the artist page or the playlist. The ability to put together your own playlist is rather buried in the iTunes Store, and searching for each song separately is not exactly convenient. So you can create your playlist directly in your iTunes library, but then you need to figure out how to share it via Ping.
Lack of "intelligence"
It is logical that everyone first searches for their friends and acquaintances on similar networks. However, the fact that the person in question is your friend does not necessarily mean that he has similar musical tastes. Ideally, with your permission, Ping could use information from your iTunes library to discover your music tastes and then recommend users and artists to follow. Unfortunately, Ping does not yet have such a function.
In addition, there could be professional DJs on Ping who really know a certain genre and are competent to recommend interesting pieces of music to the general public. Alternative rock fans would have their own DJ, jazz listeners would have their own, and so on. Of course, various paid services offer such a thing, but Ping does not.
Marketing everywhere you look
The last but not the least problem is the blatant marketing that spoils the overall impression. The friendly environment is disturbed by the ubiquitous "BUY" icons, which unfortunately constantly remind you that you are simply in a store. Ping should not be an ordinary "social store" with music, but above all a place where you will be happy to find pleasant news to listen to.
Unfortunately, a strongly commercial environment can also be seen when sharing music itself. If you want to share a song, album, or even a playlist on Ping, your friend can only listen to a ninety-second preview. If he wants to hear more, he has to buy the rest or simply use another service.
I'm really there, but I don't invite it
Well, I don't know how to whom in the Czech Republic, but Ping has never been able to launch me. It always reports that an "unknown error (-50)" has occurred.
Does it work for someone with a Czech account?