Check out CNN just trashing the Zune, Microsoft’s new “iPod killer.” The thing won’t even play music that you’ve already bought from Microsoft’s music service — you have to re-buy everything. I especially like at the end where the anchor takes out her iPod and says how much she loves it and the other anchor asks why the Zune has to be so damned ugly. DOA.
So does that mean any protected WMA file purchased pre-Zune won’t work on the Zune? That’s the impression I get.
Posted by Jon on 15 November 02006 @ 10am
That’s certainly my understanding of it. A quick google reveals that the EFF and this Harvard Law blogger believe that’s the case. Wikipedia’s entry on it claims, ironically, that it’s not compliant with Microsoft PlaysForSure.
I just learned today about how one buys songs for the Zune. You can’t. You can only buy virtual gift cards that you can then redeem for songs. But the increments of gift cards and the number of “points” required to buy a song make it impossible to use all of your points unless you buy something like 40,000 songs, if my third-grade math class memory of calculating lowest common denominator is accurate. Free money for Microsoft.
Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 15 November 02006 @ 10am
Ugh, Microsoft Points. I got to work with the points system on Xbox Live for a year or so. Its sole purpose, I’m convinced, is to present a layer of obfuscation to the user that a) prevents him from knowing how much money he’s actually spending on a given item (which explains the non-intuitive conversion ratio), and b) dissuades him from even thinking that he’s spending “money.”
The Zune deserves to die a painful death.
Posted by Jon on 15 November 02006 @ 4pm
Waldo Jaquith (JAY-kwith) is a website developer and political pundit who lives in the vicinity of Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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