Word: microsoft
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Microsoft has been the dominant force in computer software for so long, so it's had a really hard time with Apple's supremacy in the digital music space. Microsoft first tried to go after the iPod/iTunes juggernaut by providing the backbone software for a coalition of digital media companies: Creative, iriver, Samsung and others on the hardware side; Napster and even competitors such as Yahoo! and RealNetworks on the software side. It teamed with music muscle MTV Networks to build the smartest service of them all, Urge. But marketing never followed Urge's soft launch, and it's still...
...Microsoft conceived the Zune as an answer to iPod, with attractive similarities as well as key features that the iPod lacks. It is very much like an iPod - at $250, the 30GB music and video player is the same price as an iPod, only a little larger in size. And, like iTunes, the Zune software combines a media organizer and an Internet music download store. The so-called "iPod killer" additions are wireless connectivity for Zune-to-Zune sharing of music samples, a movie-friendly wide screen, and an "all you can eat" monthly music download plan...
...question isn't what can the Zune do that the iPod can't do, but what can the Zune do that all the other non-iPods can't? Microsoft's answer is wireless connectivity. It's not a bad idea: You're listening to a song and think, hey, I should send this track to my friend. You click on the song's name, then select "Send." Nearby Zunes are quickly listed, and you select your friend, who then clicks OK to permit the download. In seconds, the entire song is transferred. Your friend has three days to listen...
...wireless feature is well implemented - it reminds me of the wireless networking found in the Nintendo DS. But Microsoft has been maligned for not doing more with the wireless technology, and I half agree with the critics. If a small startup called MusicGremlin can make devices that not only share music with one another but let users download songs without a PC, why can't mighty Microsoft make...
...While the Zune Marketplace is fairly similar to the iTunes Store, at least for music, Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Points in lieu of dollars and cents. As I understand it, this is a way to guarantee credit-card transactions of $5 or more - the minimum amount of points you can buy is 400, at that price. The trouble is, because there's an exchange rate of 80 points to the dollar, it's easy to think you're paying less than you really are: Tenacious D's new album lists for 1,200 points. That...