Gunning for Apple's Glory

wired: At a recent panel last Tuesday, several digital-music experts in London were asked to identify a likely successor to Apple's iPod...As you'd expect, the answers were somewhat mixed. "The iPod may face new challenges from music-playing cell phones and online subscription services that gain more traction, but it will likely reign supreme because it taps into the way consumers enjoy music...According to keynote Charles Arthur, "Handsets still suffer from unreliable connection speeds and security issues. For example, today's handsets don't offer elegant backup options for purchased songs, leaving consumers at the mercy of network operators to replace their collections if handsets are lost or damaged. At least computers let users burn CDs of their purchases to guard against loss."