There are a few reason I think iTunes Ping will, in the long run, fail. I realize the service has only been available for a few days, but I can already see it has the same problem Google Wave had when it was released. It's not part of everyones workflow.For one, you must have iTunes, not everyone uses iTunes. Until there is some type of web interface that allows you to connect with other, this will be a huge barrier. Two, iTunes must be running to even interact with your followers, share music taste, and invite others. Invitation? A service such as Like.fm or Blip.fm allow me to share my music tastes with anyone, regardless of the platform they are on. And that's where Ping will fail. I could be wrong, and Apple could choose to make major changes to the service, making something usable and accessible by everyone.
I would love to see Amazon come up with something open and web based to compete. Amazon could compete on several fronts, music of course, but also books, games, movies, electronics. That maybe on the roadmap for Apple, but you have to hit some type of home run out of the gate, or you suffer like Wave has.
While I hate to be a nay sayer, I don't think the Apple engineers thought this through for a first rev. Does it seem like that is becoming a reoccurring theme from Cupertino?
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