iTune’s Ping Social Network Won’t Connect To Facebook Because Of “Onerous” Terms
Tucked into yesterday's Apple presentation announcing iTune's 10 and its new social network Ping were signs that it would link to Facebook Connect. In fact, the email sent out yesterday when users signed up for Ping referenced Facebook. But there is currently no feature within Ping to connect with Facebook.
Steve Jobs: Facebook Terms "Onerous"
Is the missing Facebook connection just an oversight or part of a larger riff between the two internet powerhouses? A comment by Steve Jobs right after his presentation yesterday too All Thing Digital's Kara Swisher hints at a disagreement.
Apple had held talks with Facebook about a variety of partnerships related to Ping but, according to Jobs, the discussions had gone nowhere because Facebook wanted “onerous terms that we could not agree to. He did not elaborate or say if Ping would incorporate Facebook Connect in the future. “We could, I guess,” he shrugged.
Um. I think you mean a “rift” between the two internet powerhouses. Although they might be collaborating on a killer riff too.
My version of Ping (Windows 64-bit) allowed me to Facebook Connect. None of my friends were on it, and my FB account was hacked hours later (I’m very protective of my passwords). Connection?
All you need is middleware to link up your facebook and ping content. Give it a try.
For the record, Tone Bloke is not at all impressed with Ping.
This is why I’m not signing onto Ping. I’m one of the 90,000 people (PayPal’s estimate not mine!) whose iTunes accounts got hacked 10 days ago when they d/l’d and installed iTunes 10 w/ an account linked to Paypal. The hackers wiped out my bank account and it took over a week to get the money back. 🙁
Not playing this time, Apple, sorry. Or ever again for that matter.
From what Mashable is saying, FB revoked Ping’s API access because iTunes is such a large service. FB did the same thing to Twitter. The Facebook Connect was available on Ping for a few hours the day Ping was launched.
Here’s the article on Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/09/02/facebook-itune-ping/
It’s a bit of a stretch to even consider Ping a social network. It is clearly structured in a way that serve the interests of Apple, not its users. Its relevance to members is so limited that they will inevitably lose interest quickly once the novelty of the concept wears off.