How many times does MS need to shaft it's customers?

[W1nTry]

Not that I have EVER subscribed to this service.. however for those that have... awe shucks you are SOL (SOO outta luck, SH!T outta luck)

Zune can't play MSN tunes

No back catalogue


By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 07 November 2006, 09:03

MICROSOFT'S iPod competitor, the Zune, is going to cause a few problems for punters of the software giant's existing MSN Music store.
According to the BBC, MSN Music store formats will not work on the Zune, meaning that loyal customers will have to buy them again.

Vole is killing off the MSN Music Store when the Zune comes out on November 14, but the question of what will happen to those who spent a fortune on MSN Music Store formats has not been addressed. Likewise makers of MP3 players which are built to work with the MSN store will also find that their players will not work.

The problem comes because Microsoft has taken the Zune out of the "Plays For Sure" initiative. The initiative aims to make sure that music bought from services backing it would work with players that supported it.

This included Hardware makers such as Archos, Creative, Dell and Iriver, also backed the standard. Vole says that Windows Media Player will recognise Zune content which might make it possible to put the content on a Plays For Sure device. But it will not tell punters how to do this.

So why is Microsoft being such a bastard? According to the Beeb it is copying the Apple business model exactly. This involves control both the device and music service, to make sure you milk as much cash out of punter's as possible. µ

[Crixx_Creww]

hmm well just as the article says

if MS does it, they are bastards
if Apple does it.. they are what.. heralded as teh greatest thing since crix minis'?

[W1nTry]

This is a de de de mind of mencia award moment:

Zune does not work with Vista

Cock up in the compatibility department

By Nick Farrell: Thursday 16 November 2006, 06:45
Click here to find out more!
MICROSOFT SEEMS to be forcing punters to choose between its super soaraway operating system Vista and its iPod killer the Zune.

According to ZD Net, the Zune will not work with Vista, and can only run if punters have not upgraded from Windows XP.

ZD Net thinks that Vole had a slight problem with the release dates of the two products. Vista theoretically has only just come out and there was no way that the Zune team could have made sure that the final Vista bits worked with the new player.

If Vole did trot out this excuse it would have to explain why it didn’t have a team of Zune developers working with the Vista team to make sure it did work the same day that it released.

Now the Zune team is frantically working out a patch which Vole can release to Zune owners in time for the Operating Systems official launch to ordinary punters in January. µ

[TinyGrasshopper]

Apple's a pretty crappy company too.

[Arcmanov]

Yeah, well anyone who bought a digital-music player to use MSN formats deserve exactly what they get for being so stupid.  The internet is wide and vast, and contains a plethora of info about digital music players and formats, but not everyone cares to do a lil research before they buy a product, so M$ will continue to 'gih dem' long, hard, black 'n' veiny shaft.

[Nephilim]

who really expected this zune thing to really be any different from a new version of windows?

[W1nTry]

Apple's a pretty crappy company too.

I still rather them to MS :p

[Crixx_Creww]

Yeah, well anyone who bought a digital-music player to use MSN formats deserve exactly what they get for being so stupid. The internet is wide and vast, and contains a plethora of info about digital music players and formats, but not everyone cares to do a lil research before they buy a product, so M$ will continue to 'gih dem' long, hard, black 'n' veiny shaft.

lol lol lol @ black n veiny shaft ahhahaha

[TinyGrasshopper]

Apple's a pretty crappy company too.

I still rather them to MS :p

Yeah I'd rather not have trusted computing in my laptop, thanks


I don't think there are any real options digital music formats, at least not ones where you can buy mainstream music legally. There's playsforsure and fairplay and that's it. I don't think it's stupid to choose a format that works on more players.

[W1nTry]

[Yeah I'd rather not have trusted computing in my laptop, thanks


I don't think there are any real options digital music formats, at least not ones where you can buy mainstream music legally. There's playsforsure and fairplay and that's it. I don't think it's stupid to choose a format that works on more players.

Hmm... but you DO realize that intel has that built in to their tech regardless of apple, or ms, or whoever right? you DO realize EVERYONE+dog is finding some way to embed DRM into everything? I like apple cause they are responsible for not only the OS, but the hardware design. Apple imho has always been 1 of the more well put together products on the computer market. You're taking 1 chapter out of that book (ala ipod and music) which only until recently was not even in existence. So what's your real beef?

(just to pull an example. rem the PIII, rem the serials hardwired onto these chips? ever look in your bios and see the serial disabled?, the reason for that was cause they could trace the processors once connected to the internet, but I am sure you already knew that).

[Arcmanov]

I don't think it's stupid to choose a format that works on more players.

I would rather have a device that plays MP3s (without DRM) than the shitty WMV format, which is loaded to the GILLS
with DRM.
For example, my brother did not know of/understand the meaning of DRM when he was looking for a decent MP3 player.
After I schooled him, he bought a Creative Zen Micro, which will happily play all his MP3s, so he is unaffected by this bull$#!t move
by M$.

In this case, what you don't know can REALLY hurt.  Just ask MSN Music Store customers.

[W1nTry]

Don't iPods play mp3s anywhos?

[Nephilim]

yeah, but it is the fact that soon they might not play anything that not signed with apple's crap.

[TinyGrasshopper]

oh of course Apple makes nice hardware. That's not the issue. When they make good hardware that's a good thing. I'm a fan of the Xbox and the 360 hardware and software. I think the Zune looks like a nice device, even if it's software is crap. Not just the DRM, it's missing features that could've been awesome (A syncable embedded podcatcher, and internet radio streaming comes to mind. I'm sure if we sat down for 5 minutes we could think of more(music store, wireless desktop syncing etc.)) It still seems to have potential. If it worked with Linux and had ogg support I would get it. But in both cases Microsoft and Apple are proprietary companies, nice hardware or not. So I would always choose the open solution/company/whatever whenever realistically possible. There are just as many situations where both companies' proprietary nature has them doing crazy things. from their locking down of MacOSX to Windows being... windows to fairplay and playsforsure drm to that trusted computing chip that apple used.

[W1nTry]

Well then Grasshopper I think you will like this:
GPX2

[TinyGrasshopper]

I know the GP2X looks awesome. but i'm broke...