Whatever you do, don't get a Zune

[Undertoad]

Zune is Microsoft's answer to iPod. And all signs say this thing is going to suck hard. To start,

It’s true: The Zune is incompatible with Vista

It may be because the Zune does not support the DRM in Windows Media Player 11. (In other words, in attempting to prevent you from stealing music, they are making it harder and harder for you to actually play music, an increasing trend.)

Incredible! But what about XP? Well, Engadget tried it on a Media Center XP system:

Installing the Zune... sucked

But wait, there's more. MS is making agreements for licensing music from the major record labels. NY Times:

Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi, will receive a royalty on the Zune player in exchange for licensing its recordings for Microsoft’s new digital music service, the companies said.

Universal, which releases recordings from acts like U2 and Jay-Z, said it would pay half of what it receives on the device to its artists. The company is expected to receive more than $1 for each $250 device, according to executives who were briefed on the pact.

It's like buying a refrigerator and paying extra because you might to use it to keep cheese.

In discussing the rationale for the royalty, Chris Stephenson, general manager for global marketing in Microsoft’s entertainment unit, said the company "needed people to rally behind" the new device and service.

"It’s a higher-level business relationship," he said.

You may notice that, as a consumer, you are not a part of this higher-level relationship.

Even with all these complaints, I would vomit all over it for the ultra-stupid marketing "Welcome to the social" they came up with, which shows happy young people being social while listening to their in-ear bud headphones. Right, that's what we want from our music players; social activity. Except that we can't hear each other, and we're using a device that expertly prohibits sharing. Social, that's what we can't get from an iPod but can get from a Zune?

We'll be social all right... to figure out how to make the thing work.

[Pie]

...anyways, who's going to buy one? Doesn't everyone already own an iPod?

[Undertoad]

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play...r.business.cnn

According to the above review [warning: video], the "social" is that if you ever find someone else with a Zune, you can share a song with them, and they can listen to it up to three times, before it will no longer play and they are forced to buy it. The Zunes will sync up to copy the file and its DRM.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

. . . you can share a song with them, and they can listen to it up to three times, before it will no longer play and they are forced to buy it. The Zunes will sync up to copy the file and its DRM.

I wonder if it'll add its own DRM to plain vanilla MP3 files?

In addition to all the stuff you said, it sounds like people who bought into the "plays for sure" system are getting screwed.

[Undertoad]

The Zune will not share nicely with the "plays for sure" stuff. (Just like the next device will not share nicely with the Zune. Of course. Getting you to buy all your music twice, three times, four times is the game here.)

And now, this guy points out how the "Zune marketplace" forces you to buy "Microsoft points" to buy music, as opposed to the plain old US currency that the iTunes store uses.

(But it's convenient for you, because you can also use your Microsoft points on Xbox Live, in case you fell for the idea of paying to connect to other people on the internet to play games with them.)

[Elspode]

Something I noticed in the Sunday newspaper ad blitz that began this past weekend for Zune: Nowhere in *any* of the ads did it identify the Zune as being a Microsoft product.

What's *that* tell you about this guaranteed loser? Microsoft is so intent on protecting digital rights that they are goig to drive people away from their products, so they're just sort of soft peddling the fact that it is their device in the ads?

Vista is also going to see a major loss in market share for them, I believe. I don't think many people are eager to upgrade to an OS that is designed around preventing them from doing things that they were able to do before.

[DanaC]

Y'know, way back in the mists of time, when only a few thousand people were predicted ever to need a computer and no brand of computer could relate to any other brand of computer, Microsoft broke the mould with its attitude towards compatibility and 'universal' access.

Now they are retracing their steps back down the path towards individual systems which won't interract with anybody else's individual system I wonder if this is a result of the whole monopoly issue? Given that they are not going to be allowed to singlehandedly control that universal access, they are abandoning the concept entirely.

[wolf]

No fear. I won't buy an xBox, either.

[Flint]

I'm sure "they" would love to eliminate all open formats... are the "conspiracy theories" of p2p advocates hitting a little close to home now? But wait - you can't record new music unless you have equipment that allows you to do whatever you want with whatever data you want. Ohhh... Will we see a spike in sales of "recording" gear? Or, conversely, will we have to use vintage gear if we don't want to purchase the right to make new music?

[SteveDallas]

This is exactly why I've always rolled my eyes when I heard people complaining about the closed Apple ipod/itunes system, and the Windows setup was so much better because you had a choice of hardware. (Mind you, I'm not defending Apple--I think their DRM bites. But it's ridiculous to pretend Microsoft is better.)

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Pie

...anyways, who's going to buy one? Doesn't everyone already own an iPod?

Errrr, nope!
I get a friend to burn CDs for me to my special request and play them on a CD Walkman. You might have heard of them, they were pretty cool about 20 years ago

But I don't pay any extra to put cheese in my fridge. It's the damn Olive Tax that gets me every time.

[DanaC]

I don't have an ipod......practically everyone I know does though. I saw a report about ipods losing their cool appeal now that they're ubiquitous.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I saw a report about ipods losing their cool appeal now that they're ubiquitous.

Not to worry, there'll be plenty more dumb shit people don't need, but must have.

[Elspode]

Mostly, I'm okay with things as long as I can rip my CDs to mp3 (or, let's face it, those lent to me by others...like the library system, for example) and put them on my player. However, I think that sooner rather than later, the only way you'll be able to *get* music is in a protected digital format that completely prevents you from replicating it at all, period.

What's next? Genetically engineering people so their ears won't hear a song unless they've paid?

[Ibby]

Even locked iTunes songs are relatively easily unlocked through burning and ripping, and i'd say only like 5 or 6% of my iTunes library is locked. iTunes is an amazingly good media player, and I used it before I ever got an iPod, so iPod was a logical next step.