[swombat]

That's a pretty big feature change... is that a mistake or did they somehow slip that past the record labels?

[sprout]

No it's not. This is only really useful if you want to use a computer's built-in speakers to play music that's located on your iPod.

[jonknee]

Some of us can play to remote speakers (AirPlay) which makes this more handy. I can choose what room(s) to play something in from iTunes. If someone comes over and has a new track they want to play for everyone it's now easier. Still not as easy as it should be, but nothing with the RIAA / Apple is perfect.

[Setsuna]

>"slip that past the record labels"

What does this feature has to do with that?

/curious

[eli]

There's no technical reason to prevent people from getting music back off their devices. So the assumption is it was part of the DRM requirements that Steve Jobs claims the record labels forced him to accept.

[andreyf]

Either (a) there were legal changes in Apple's contracts with the record labels, or (b) they might get be sued for enabling this feature.