There is a lot of talk making the rounds about Apple buying Universal Music Group for upwards of $7 billion.
Why would Apple spend all of its available cash (and then some) to purchase a music company when it could just as easily sign licensing deals to access the same music? I think this Slashdot comment nails it. It’s a way to prevent Microsoft from shutting them out of the digital music equation. Microsoft, in retaliation, is obviously trying to drive the price up to punish Apple or to put the price out of its reach. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.