The Interwebs have been buzzing with news of the “authentication chip” inside the new Apple headphones. To try and put the issue to rest, BoingBoing managed to talk to an Apple PR droid employee and got this response:
Just spoke with Apple. There is no encryption or authentication on the chip, so clones could conceivably be made, just not with “Made for iPod” official certification. And now we know!
Great. But it still means that there’s still an “Apple Tax” on accessories as to make them work right and more importantly to get people to have the warm fuzzies when buying them requires paying money to Apple so that you can license the technology. Plus by doing so likely keeps the iLawyers at bay if Apple ever decided to become draconian when it came to accessories that didn’t have their stamp of approval.
Frankly, I didn’t care if their headphones had some sort of DRM scheme or not. What I do care about is the fact that my choice of headphones is being restricted by Apple because they want to keep the cash rolling in to buy Steve Jobs more black turtleneck shirts charge accessory companies licensing fees which get passed onto consumers. So what my feelings were in my original article still stands. I won’t be buying the iPod shuffle and nether should you as a closed ecosystem is not in the best interests of all concerned.