I am sorry to report that Ping is dead. For the millions out there who used it, it is a tragedy…
“We tried Ping, and I think the customer voted and said ‘This isn’t something that I want to put a lot of energy into.”
- Apple CEO Tim Cook
Ping was a social network for music released two years ago, created as a way to share purchases from the iTunes store. You could also discover new artists on Ping and follow their work, with updates about upcoming new music from them.
But what could Ping have been…
Although it was a failure compared to the likes of iTunes, the iPod and the iPhone, and there was never destined to be a social network based on the database visuals of iTunes, it could of found itself a useful service for Apple, especially with their new-found integration with Facebook on the ios 6 operating system. Imagine it coming up at the side “Generic Name is now listening to Generic Band on/using iTunes” with a link to purchase it underneath the notification, just like you see with SoundCloud, Deezer and Spotify. Apple could of even linked it up with iTunes Match (iTunes in the cloud essentially). The link could of send the potential consumer the 90 second previews which could make another sale, especially on a mobile device that would sync it to the cloud and give them the chance to listen to that song anywhere and everywhere. Convenience is key, and although users will find it easier to personally share to Twitter and Facebook, a service that did it for them would of been preferred for both Apple and the iCustomer.
By Mark at http://papercomets.wordpress.com (my first post to MTT so excuse any grammatical errors and the like). Thanks!