Apple Dropping iTunes’ ‘Ping’ Tool, Possibly Adding Social Media

Always changing to fit in with our growing technological times, Apple has said they’re going to put a stop to their “Ping” tool in iTunes.

The “software-based music orientated social networking service” will say its good-bye on the next iTunes update, according to Billboard (via NME). The service was launched in late 2010 and allowed users to “follow their favorite artists and friends to discover the music they’re talking about, listening to, and downloading.” It seems Ping hasn’t been so successful, mostly because other social networks (mainly Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify) were already doing this, and the competition is steep.

Last week Apple held a conference in San Francisco where they introduced their next version of iOS 6 (the operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch), in addition to Mountain Lion (the future version of the Apple Mac operating system). During the meeting they talked about their plans to incorporate different social networks (like Twitter and Facebook) into their products, including iTunes.

Not sure about you guys, but I never used Ping, so I’m not too bummed about this. As for their integration of social networks? I’ll be interested to see what they do with this, but personally, I’d be happy if iTunes just kept to itself. I like it the way it is…alone.