If Apple had invented iChansons, no doubt the French would have welcomed the iCosse MP3 player with open arms - assuming Steve Jobs had changed his company name to la Pomme as well. There is no nation quite as adept as France at putting its spanner in the works of anything that doesn't originate in France.

France is running away from iTunes

The frogs want to ban the iPod, or at least make Apple open up the iTunes Music Store to every crap MP3 player out there in Euro land. It isn't good enough that Creatif and Les Dulls don't provide any music whatsoever, or that anyone can turn an iTune into a track compatible with every player on earth, just by rippng it to CD. Details, details, and annoying, but, hey, that is France all over.

France running straight into satirical attack

On the bright side, as long as there is a France, The Pisstakers will never be out of work. Just take their hypocrisy, decrying Apple for making a complete system that just works. The most proprietary piece of engineering on earth is a Citroen car. We have driven Citroens with fancy hydraulic systems. Typical of French workmanship, they work like a dream for 95% of the time, then whoosh, something goes wrong. We have bills to prove that you have to prostitute your mother for a month to cover the repair costs. And the mechanics have to do a lot more than flick a switch to get the bloody hydraulic leaks mended.

Solution to French attitude to iTunes

Instead of snubbing great ideas, the French should welcome the Cupertino kids into their back yard. Afterall, anyone who remembers the Citroen Pallas with its baked bean tins on the side of the steering column, knows there is plenty of opportunity to integrate an iPod and CD burner into a French car without anyone noticing.

Thanks to Techboggle for the idea!