1. Jul 22nd, 2006

    Microsoft vs Apple vs Yahoo

    Details are starting to leak out about Microsoft’s new Zune device. Here’s what I learned so far.

    Microsoft is still bad at picking names. They might as well call it iPod Enterprise Edition SP2. I hope they switch to something friendly.

    Microsoft will be back-stabbing all its media player partners since they failed to deliver the expected marketshare. It will be interesting to see if the accessory market will jump in, or learning the lesson stay clear of the bait.

    Microsoft’s PlayForSure will for sure not play on Microsoft’s new device. Though I doubt customers will notice they’ve been fooled once.

    Microsoft will pay for you to transfer all your iTunes collection over. Someone will start a viral campagin to buy Zunes, transfer collections, then return the devices, just for the sake of bleeding Microsoft dry. (But they can take it)

    But really there’s one thing I’m most curious about. The one thing I really can’t wait to find out.

    Microsoft will, true to its track record, cram every imaginable feature into the new device regardless of cost to them. Apple will remain true to its spirit and only add features that matter, work well and have a profit margin. Which one will be more appealing to the consumer market? And a better play in the long run?

    So far Microsoft has only bee successful with keyboards and mice. The XBox is great, but where’s the profit margin?

    Meanwhile, Yahoo is taking a different strategy altogether. They can’t afford to make devices, so they can’t fight in the DRM market. Instead, they’re trying to get the music industry to realize we’re all willing to play for MP3s.

    At least I am.

    And I know eMusic has been doing this for years, but eMusic has a very limited collection of independent stuff. And Yahoo has a very limited collection of mainstream stuff. But if we get big brands to convience the industry MP3 is a good thing, we’re going to break out of this music collection silos.

    And buy MP3 over at Amazon.

    That’s bad for Microsoft and even worse for Apple, but it’s great for consumers.

    Posted by Assaf Filed in general

    Flexible Rails
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    • Coverage of how to use Cairngorm to architect larger Flex applications
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    1. Jul 22nd, 2006

      Paul Watson

      A co-worker told me about Zune and the first thing I asked was “It’ll do PlayForSure, right?”

      What makes you think/know it won’t?

    2. Jul 22nd, 2006

      Assaf

      Paul,

      And will it?

      Is PlayForSure — which stands for “all that is not iPod/iTMS” — exist once Microsoft puts all its device partners to sleep?

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