When Steve Jobs first mentioned Apple's Ping music service, the first thing that most people thought of was "social networking." And when you think about social networking, the first word that pops into most people's heads is "Facebook."

So why then, isn't there any connection between Ping and Facebook? According to Steve Jobs, it wasn't for lack of trying. The Apple chief told All Things D that Facebook demanded "Onerous terms that we could not agree to."

What does that mean? Well, we know that Apple doesn't play well with others, so it could have ranged from a simple point of impasse to a massive difference in opinions between the two firms.

Could it have something to do with access to user information? Facebook has been notorious for exposing and sharing more data than its users would like, perhaps Apple wasn't willing to hand over the keys to user iTunes accounts.

Or perhaps there was a business angle. Facebook has amassed a huge user base, and should the company look to get into the music distribution business, having a blueprint of the current market leader's setup could prove invaluable. Apple is no doubt aware of this and perhaps they just didn't want to give Facebook that sort of information.

Regardless of the reasons, it's a safe bet that we won't be getting much more information any time soon. Both companies are notoriously tight-lipped about such matters.

On another note, the Ping network itself is getting mixed reviews. While some analysts are looking favourably on the move, others, such as Forrester analyst Mark Mulligan are less impressed.

Writes Mulligan:

"At risk of sounding over cynical this sounds very similar to Microsoft and Yahoo citing their massive installed bases of email users as a social network simply waiting to be connected. Similarly Nokia with their handset customers. Apple now appears to be joining the ranks of multinational companies who mistake large installed bases of engaged customers as a dormant social network."

03 Sep 2010