If MS released the Zune in Europe, that would turn it's fortunes around no end. I am among an ever growing number of UK residents that would LOVE to have a Zune wih full access to the market place etc-a worthy alternative to iTunes (which I believe it is) would be snapped up here; and I'm sure the rest of Europe.
Yes, it would require spending money to get it launched etc but I can't see that it wouldn't turn a pretty decent profit...

I think they should sell off all the Dynamics products. Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, CRM, Solomon, FrX. These are just a huge distraction from their core operating system and platform businesses. They put MS in competition with way too many partners and cause a lot of bad feeling against MS. They don't fit in with other MS technologies. They are all acquired and integrate poorly. Generally these are all perceived rather poorly in the market.

@Joe,
You claim that Microsoft rewards loyalty with loyalty, but then turn around and claim that Microsoft fired employees for "mere bloodletting" for Wall Street?

I believe you are wrong on both counts.

1. Microsoft once rewarded loyalty with loyalty, but Bill Gates lamented that he made employees too rich too quickly, and since then Microsoft seems to have neither the attitude nor the financial growth to continue their reward system with the same fervor as before.

2. And Ballmer may or may not be shedding crocodile tears, but I don't believe that even he would throw people away just for a mere show on Wall Street. There must be layers of inefficiency that have grown up due to the common disease of complacency that afflicts nearly all successful companies. And while his vision is clouded by greed, it's not so completely blind as to equate a "mere show of bloodletting" with company reward of loyalty.

Your ability to attract posters like chips b malroy, maddog, Richard Pogson, The Hand, Goblin, billybob, and others is the only thing that keeps your blog alive. It certainly isn't your writing in which you claim that the Stalin-like behavior of executing or exiling your most loyal troops is classified as "rewarding loyalty."

#1 - Zune - dead on arrival - a total money loser
#2 - Xbox360 - a mostly long term money loser
#3 - MS Live (or whatever its called now) the search wars are over and MS lost to Google
#4 - VISTA - dead on arrival and cant be resuscitated
#5 - Windows Mobile - too little too late and the market has moved on to someone else (Google/Apple)
#6 - Steve Ballmer - Lost his way, doesn't understand the marketplace, doesn't provide leadership

Whom Would You Lay Off at Microsoft?

While once you hire many foreign workers, and then start to layoff people, there will be calls to lay them off first. MS is resisting the calls from Senators to do this, as MS have to pay their planes flights home, so actually has finical incentives to layoff US Citizens first.

But I would say, that Congress needs to cut or stop the H1BN foreign employees program for MS and other high tech companies, during a recession. MS is employing fully 1/3 of its workforce as Foreign workers. And you just know that Bill will be asking Congress for more again this year. telling Congress that the American worker just can't cut it, again.

Now, as to "What would You Lay Off at Microsoft?

Zune, no brainer folks. Marketing, is not going happen, as Ballmer as already announced big cuts in Marketing and Advertising. Hopefully this will also cut back on the money for shills and freebies like free laptops and computers.

XB0x360, is the worse behind it yet? By worse, I mean all the hardware problems. While it is showing a small profit now, that profit will most likely never pay for itself compared to all the R&D initially, and the RROD billion dollar exchanges. But if the product is stable enough now, hardware wise, (jury still out on this) then XBox360 may still make a few bucks, and the games sold for it, the real money maker. So MS should continue the XBox360.

MSN/Windows Live, just the fact that I had to type that name, is reason enough why their product is a failure. Nobody knows what it is called from week to week, or cares. MS will continue to pour (waste) money on this, trying to "kill" (throw chairs) Google. Its not going happen, and as much as Steve Sweaty would like it to be the "future of MS," it not going happen. While MS would be better off looking at another future, and selling off the ever shrinking Search/online advertising business. Same with most of MS's Data Centers, sell. Not going happen, but this will drag MS profits down longterm.

MS needs to lose DRM. It crippled Vista, what else could need all that extra cpu and memory, and still not do anything more than XP? And now they want to bring DRM back to scam cellphone user. DRM tarnishes what little reputation that MS has left for the general public. DRM is not about Freedom, its about MS controlling what you can do on your own computer.

@Philosopher,
Thats for the mention, There are a lot of great posters here now. Your name should have been on that list, and a few more like Ralph, Marco, KitKat,smist08, Will, its hard to remember everyone. But thats a great thing, as we get more folks telling the truth, and some that there is a better way (Linux/OpenOffice) than just the M$ way.

I agree with you that Microsoft has to invest more in Search and Razorfish. If it cuts either of both it is essentially saying that we cannot compete with Google.

Soapbox I am not so sure.

Regarding Zune -
I think its time to abandon Hardware + Software strategy for Zune. We have to remember that Apple is competitor in this market and traditionally Hardware or creating cool factor is not the strength of Microsoft and except Zune all the competition with Apple is on Software, especially OS.

So i think Microsoft should play to its strenth even this area and compete by creating Itunes like app but compatible to available to most of the Mp3 players in the market. Just like what it did with PC OS and Mobile OS. We have to remember that not just i-pod is the reason for dominating the market but i-pod and i-tunes together dominate the market.

I completely agree with Rich, the Zune could do incredibly well in the UK with the right decision making, I had the marketplace over here for a year or so and now my US bank account has closed I can't wait for them to release it here.

Zune doesn't need marketshare to be a success, it needs more users and with them the subscription income- look at Xbox, that's a product that lives off subscription, the Zune is no different, it's a stellar product.

For that reason I'd lay off the marketting team (like they did, yay!) because they're a completely waste of space- with such good products I'd expect more from that team.

Who else to get rid of?...

Nobody. But they should restructure. Make the IE team get a new major release every year, minimum. Make a team dedicated to gadgets, for Live/Kumo, for Windows (7 only has one new gadget), Sideshow etc- and make a new backend so they work together, MS makes good products and needs them to be showcased better- they rely too much on others to make their products a success.

If you think the Zune would sell in Europe, I have a very pretty bridge in London to sell you. ;-) It's a dog and needs to be dropped pronto.

Quote Joe Wilcox "Working for Microsoft has been an assured lifetime job,"
-
Sounds a little like what was said about IBM not so many years ago.
-
Quote "If MS released the Zune in Europe, that would turn it's fortunes around no end. I am among an ever growing number of UK residents that would LOVE to have a Zune wih full access to the market place etc-a worthy alternative to iTunes (which I believe it is) would be snapped up here; and I'm sure the rest of Europe.
Yes, it would require spending money to get it launched etc but I can't see that it wouldn't turn a pretty decent profit..."
-
Absolution rubbish. Ive yet to find anyone who does not have an interest in IT who knows what Zune is. A worthy alternative? Youre telling me that the current scheme Microsoft runs is better than the ipod DRM free catalogue?
-
Even if it was, I have news for you, nothing will be snapped up anywhere. We are in a global credit crisis here. For the shill poster who was after my location (in previous thread) heres your scoop. I am a UK resident, and I am telling you, its hard to find anyone who knows what Zune is, let alone wants it.
-
For any UK readers here, please try my theory. Ask your friends and workmates about Zune, see what they say.
-
To make a sweeping remark like "snapped up" reeks of an attempt to generate interest, and my question would be: If Zune is so great, why hasnt it been "snapped up" anywhere else?
-
A little fact for our Zune UK activist up there, if we want to look at figures for a minutes and what the UK wants, it appears that its neither Zune nor itunes since the amount of pirated mp3 through the BT trackers has increased so much, its one of the reason why packet inspection and throttling are now topics being discussed by the IP providers and the government.
-
DISCLAIMER:
Before any of our dubious posters accuse me of being a pirate (thats a common one thrown at Linux aswell) I will say this. I have a very unique taste in music and I order my albums direct from the bands I listen to. The only .ogg or .mp3's I have on my system are those belonging to podcasts. If you care to look at my site on my thoughts on DRM you will actually see Im anti-piracy.

I think the marketing/advertisement department should be retooled and rebooted. the current marketing department suck at reaching out to the common consumer (maybe they're good at reaching businesses). the ones who did the server 2008 advertisements did a really good job. the ones who did vista sucked, "the mojive experience" my ass, it's a lame attempt at my "the windows scenario" bid with the stupid yet catchy slogan "experience the experience".

the Zune is a great device which I believe surpass the iPod in quality, service, features and ease of use. it was again let down by lack of proper advertisement/marketing. case in point: my sister was in search of an mp3 player so I suggested she looked around and sort of recommended the Zune because of it's "all you can eat" subscription based service. her reply was "what's that?" lots of question signs popped up over my head like a bright idea bulb would, how the heck she doesn't know what a Zune is?

"soapbox" I always thought that was a weird name to give a video service. and are they still using flash to deliver the videos? why haven't they silverlight-it-up a long time now?

while I'm talking about product names, please tell the make "kumo" is a joke or just a code name and that Microsoft is really not trying to deploy that name....regardless of the word kumo's significance (if any) carries no zing to it, no smiles no nothing, it's a word that just sounds really out of place. who ever came up with that name should be banned from making up product names.

flight simulator, I applaud them for having the balls to cut it, still I believe they should of done so a year ago because it is a dying franchise (if it's not dead already)and it wouldn't seem so significant today.

live search should stay but be more aggressive.

Quote "the Zune is a great device which I believe surpass the iPod in quality, service, features and ease of use. it was again let down by lack of proper advertisement/marketing"
-
So what happened on newyears eve? Why doesnt MS like to have its name displayed on the Zune site? (hint:its at the bottom of the screen in a small font)
What service/features are we talking about here? Are Microsoft now offering something better than the DRM free catalogue of Itunes?
Id suggest that it was let down simply because people dont want it. (Rightly or wrongly) people want the fashionable Ipod, it may be hard for you to believe but (IMO) I dont see the average consumer considering that Microsoft is a fashionable brand. Maybe Im wrong? Can someone correct me on this?
-
That is what sells devices such as the Ipod (IMO) and whilst Microsoft is trying to make efforts to save face on the previous lackluster projects of the past (IMO), its loosing custom to other companies on products its traditionally used as cash cows.
-
Could I clarify something please. The comment in relation to the Zune subscription where you said "all you can eat". I believed for your monthly sub, you only got to keep one album, or am I wrong?
-
Can I also challenge "the ones who did vista sucked" (in relation to marketing) If the product (IMO) had been fit for purpose, then it wouldnt have mattered how bad the marketing was. Fact was it was globally disliked (IMO) and the fact it wasnt the great OS people expected.
I think the fact that so many people DID buy it, was the reason why its issues are so well known.

I'm always surprised at the number of people from the very countries in which capitalism was "invented" (UK & USA) who seem prepared to contemplate the total market dominance (aka monopolies) by Apple ITunes, Google Search, YouTube etc. Given the probable demise of Yahoo, then apart from MS, who else will provide competition to these new behemoths.

@smist08 - totally agree, the Dynamics products are a really bad fit at MS; high end CRM & ERP ain't desktop word processing & presentation slides.

As a developer I'd like to see them fold their Mono contribution into the .NET "division". This division would then produce a family of .NET products - Windows.NET, MacOS.NET, Linux.NET and even a z/OS.NET. Then port VS2010 to the other platforms.

To Goblin : Sorry my friend but I have a fool question

"For the shill poster who was after my location (in previous thread)"

They were for you as well?
-------------
chips b malroy

"I guess. Somehow, I think he was also trying to get some personal information on Marco, as he was asking in a round a bout way, where Marco lived"
----------------
Because it's very interesting
It's would be supposing a systematic examination about the people who are posting here.

They were for you as well?= They were looking for you as well?

@Marco
Yes, shortly after those series of posts on the other thread, I recieved an email. It was a rather convincing one that was asking me to confirm some details. It appears a site which Ive registered on has passed my details to someone rather dubious (IMO)
-
Its a shame that in order to access that particular site I used a proxy, and whats even more of a shame was that I had used the name of an ex-WWE wrestler as my details along with the address of Acacia Avenue (the street where the character Banana-man lived) so it didnt give much away!
-
The reason I know it was linked to a poster here, is that unfortunately for them, was the fact that they had made the same spelling errors they do here (and their posting style was exactly the same, even down to sentence structure!)
-
Unfortunately, I cant prove anything, so I wont name and shame (and its not one of the more recent handles). Rest assured though, Im looking into it and if I can confirm the identity of this sender, they will be named both on my blog and here.
-
So for the people who are trying to confirm who I am. I live in the UK and I am male. Which according to stats is about 28.6 million people.

To Goblin:

I am simply amazed

What is this?

Yes, there are a lot of money at stake, but this is NOT the cold war.

Goblin us could be alert (you have my support-Although it means little-).

----------------
To Goblin and all you friends:

What can we wait now?

Someone infiltrate posing as someone who is not?

Yes, we should be alert.
--------

@All,
I wouldnt like to say who (or for what purpose) people are trying to indentify me, it could simply be for devilment by an individual who has nothing better to do, it could be some sort of scam/con or it could be something else.
-
I am very aware of my words when I post, hence the overuse of IMO and "alleged", since alot of what we discuss is based on opinion and allegations and something which an upset recipient could bring a civil action against (and in light of the type of evidence we are dealing with, who knows what possible ruling could be made)
-
The nice thing about this site is that we dont really have to claim anything about anyone, IMO the dubious posters show themselves up very nicely and all we have to do is challenge their inappropriate remarks.
-
Id say the regular open source supporters here have the moral high ground. We havent had to resort to vulgarity, homophobia and other bigotry to get our point across. We havent had to make light of health conditions (such as mental health) merely so that we can "fudge" out someones post.
Now there is no way we can prove who is behind these comments or even why they post, what we can do is keep our moral highground by providing links supporting facts we post, highlighting the alternative viewpoint and dispelling any myths/propaganda that may be posted.
-
The encouraging thing for me is that I have received many emails from people pledging to do the same thing on other sites.
-
Our "mission" is not to convince people to switch to Open Source, its merely to give the alternative option and let users decide for themselves.
-
Oh and so that this post cant be accused of going off topic, in answer to the question "Whom would you lay off at Microsoft?" Id answer Steve Ballmer. In my opinion from the many forums I read, I believe that the general feeling about him is not too good. (IMO) (ALLEGEDLY) (IMO)!?!?!

Sorry could I just correct a typo. In my earlier post where I said:
-
"The reason I know it was linked to a poster here"
should read:
-
"The reason I believe it was linked to a poster here"
-

I'm sorry but it seems you don't have access to the larger picture.

you talk about apple's scheme, you're right, it is a scheme. you paid $1 for each some then you have to pay to remove the drm. check this and tell me if I'm wrong: a customer bought 1300 songs from itunes, now they have one of two choices either buy the songs again or the 40cents upgrade for each song. if the customer chose to upgrade his her library (because there's no option to choose which songs you want to free up) 1300 x .40cents = $520. so in all the customer pays $1820 for 1300 songs. you see what they did there?
with the Zune service you have access to millions of songs and right now it's on 2 screens: the Zune device and computer, and more screens to come.

remember this: the Zune is a service and device.
it will be released on multiple screens. do you know the significance of this? from your comments it seems you don't know so let me tell you. having the Zune service across the mobile, Zune devices, TV, computer, the xbox. there really won't be a need to take out drm because the Zune service will be everywhere:

scenario: on the street with your mobile and download a video from skymarket/Zune service, walk into your sync enabled car and the video starts playing through your car speakers automatically, drive home, take up your Zune and step out your car and the video starts playing through your Zune, walk into your house and turn on your TV and hit the Zune button to connect to the service and hit the button "play current" and the video starts playing on your TV, you sit back and enjoy.

this/similar kind of integration the service is heading so killing the Zune would be a stupid move.

when heading into a business/market it is expected the you won't be making any or much money for roughly 6months to a year. with this kind of market and apple's dominance in it, it will take much more time to actually make money. they are losing money now to make money later.
it is about getting enough market share now and not about making money.

I hope you get the big picture now.

Whom Would You Lay Off at Microsoft?

Simply to Ballmer (he is very good but not for MS current) BUT I hope that it will be not happening.

@krenshaw
-
Quote "I'm sorry but it seems you don't have access to the larger picture."
-
Oh krenshaw, no youre right, I dont know alot about the Zune, and to be fair I am a coder not a gadget fan. The same could be said for my knowledge of itunes (although the wife does own an ipod)
-
Of course, being not as "hip and cool" as the rest of the Zune owners, maybe you could explain a couple of points to me.
-
Quote "Zune service across the mobile, Zune devices, TV, computer, the xbox."
-
Thanks for that, youve highlighted the lockin factor of proprietary perfectly. It may sound like a weird and strange question, but what if people dont have those things? Surely DRM free is better because there are no restrictions what so ever. Can Zune be compatible with the WII for example? Which other mobile devices are you talking about?
-
Now prepare yourself for a shock, there are some very strange people out there who dont want to buy all Microsoft brands (or at least, MS compatible ones) they want to buy whatever they choose. Im sure your MS sharing world is great, but its not much of an incentive if someone doesnt want an Xbox is it?
-
Quote "on the street with your mobile and download a video from skymarket/Zune service, walk into your sync enabled car and the video starts playing through your car speakers automatically, drive home, take up your Zune and step out your car and the video starts playing through your Zune, walk into your house and turn on your TV and hit the Zune button to connect to the service and hit the button "play current" and the video starts playing on your TV, you sit back and enjoy."
-
Please tell me this MS world dream is some sort of joke Im not getting. If its not, you forgot to mention the bit where on news years eve it packs in for a day. Im really sorry but what you have just described sounds more like something out of 1983 rather than something to look forward to. Does anyone really want to live like this?
-
Quote "customer bought 1300 songs from itunes, now they have one of two choices either buy the songs again or the 40cents upgrade for each song. if the customer chose to upgrade his her library (because there's no option to choose which songs you want to free up) 1300 x .40cents = $520. so in all the customer pays $1820 for 1300 songs. you see what they did there?"
-
Oh I do see, all too well. Since the customers Apple currently have seem to be celebrating the anti-drm files, I dont see alot of evidence of disgruntle at this removal you talk about, since moving over to Zune and replacing them with them there will be even more costly (or am I wrong)
-
As for new customers, I think the DRM free fashionable ipod will be more desirable than a Zune that allows them to transfer their music to devices they may not have/want.
-
Quote "I hope you get the big picture now."
Oh I certainly do. Whose big picture are we talking about? By your description of this brave new Zune World, I only see lockin and product restriction. Perhaps people see it differently.
-
At the end of the day this is all a moot point anyway, since you are trying to convince users who have already made their mind up, and since it appears the vast majority have chosen the Ipod, Id say youre "flogging a dead horse"
-
and can I just add aswell, that if people really wanted to strip the DRM from their legally bought mp3's, there is a way to do it which is no big secret, so infact (legality and possible copyright infringement argument aside) its not really a big deal.

@ krenshaw

Please understand, everyone has a right to how they want to consume music. Some (not many) like the subscription model while most prefer to own their tracks outright. I happen to prefer to own my music, both CD and download. I will be upgrading my library as part of the DRM removal, you get a new track with double the sampling rate.

Now you may have read that MS is launching MSN Mobile Music service in the UK WITH DRM and charging double the rate of all other services. They also will not be offering a way to transfer the music from your phone to a computer, it is just stuck on your phone. The interview was posted on PC Pro, link below.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/qa-microsoft-defends-return-to-drm.html

Now this seems like a very bad mistake but if they wish to throw money around without any possibility of a return on their investment, then more power to them. I just feel very sorry for the shareholders

@chips b malroy,
You're quite welcome. I also apologize to anyone I left off my list, including Marco, Ralph, KitKat, smist08, nOneXnOne, and Douglas S. Taylor. And anyone else my memory failed to mention.

@Carl Hajduk,
I guess I'm such an old fart that even though I was finally given an iPod by my daughter (having purchased 8 iPods for various family members but not having ever used on myself), I refrained from actually buying any music from iTunes. I simply put about half of my CD collection into iTunes (DRM free!!!!) and that filled up about half the iPod Nano. Complaints about the Beatles Anthologies not being in iTunes? You won't hear any from me--I already had the CDs and they're now on my iPod just fine, thank you very much. And missing cover art? What missing cover art? Simply search Amazon for the album, copy/paste the album image into the cover art (takes a little poking around iTunes, but it's not too bad) and voila! Cover art for all your albums!

And I won't buy anything at all from the Apple store until if and when it is DRM-free. Until then, or else otherwise, I still have the remainder of my CD collection to pull into iTunes.

And I won't go near a Zune, mostly because I hardly have use for an iPod (though I am learning to truly enjoy it because it was a gift)

krenshaw :

"this/similar kind of integration the service is heading so killing the Zune would be a stupid move."
-----------------------------------------------------
Killing "Plays for Sure" was a stupid move...yet they did it. Based on that track record, they could kill off Zune.

While I am no fan of DRM, with "Plays for Sure" any player capable of it was able of playing purchased DRM tracks.

(Although for subscription services like Napster they used the Janus DRM for the subscription part and "Plays for sure" for purchased tracks...before they dumped DRM for the purchase part).

Alas the Janus DRM is not compatible with Zune's DRM or I POD's for that matter.

Ah the "wonders" of DRM.

The whole DRM concept sucks, you bought it and you can only play it on a certain player or the computer you downloaded it on. Its like buying a car and being only able to drive it on county roads. I mean WTF?

Purchased track audio DRM can be legally broken, just burn the track to a CD and its gone. Subscription DRM is a different animal as I explained....although there are ways around that too..., according to some hacker sites ... the analog loophole is one way.

I think the audible.com has DRM, but I am not familiar with what DRM scheme they use.

@goblin

interesting I see all you're worries are about drm. I guess you don't use netflix or it's instant watch feature then, right? if you use any digital subscription based service then you would be very hypocritical and biased, because you're hating on a service/product because it's coming from a company you don't like but you would gladly use the same kind of service from other companies.

yes there are many people like you who don't like the subscription based services, but there are also many people who do use it regularly.

when I mentioned the $1820 for 1300 itunes songs including the cost of upgrade, I made no mention of anyone being disgruntled, my point was that they made a scheme to milk more money out of your pockets. if you want to pay the money then pay the money no one is stopping you, I am surely not trying to stop you from spending your money, or trying to convince you otherwise. you can go and pay more money for the actual thought of thinking that you own the music that you paid for. you don't own the music you own license to use it, because it's still illegal to re-sell it, share, or stream. so you can pay for the thought, I will pay for a service. you're paying more money and you don't mind? the old adage: "a fool and his money shall surely part" indeed, indeed.

you might not like or accept the scenario I mentioned because it's from microsoft, but I know a lot of people who would use it. no one is forcing anyone to use the service, so who don't want to use it then they don't have to use it.

I have windows mobile, PC, TV, xbox360 and Zune and this kind of service would be very very welcomed by me and a lot of people I know, it might not be what you want but a lot of people would welcome it.

Quote "interesting I see all you're worries are about drm. I guess you don't use netflix or it's instant watch feature then, right?"
-
Im not sure what worries you are talking about. If you are talking about one that limits you to sharing between the products of the same company then yes you are correct. It hardly gives the consumer any choice if they must buy a range of products simply to get the ability to transfer their own purchases.
-
Quote "because you're hating on a service/product because it's coming from a company you don't like but you would gladly use the same kind of service from other companies."
-
I ask you to retract that. It is untruthful and bordering on libel. I neither like nor dislike Microsoft. I disklike the alleged practices it engages in, but then that would be true for any company. I never said I would gladly use the service from other companies, and if you check back on my posts you will find recently I recommended getting a generic "standard" mp3 player rather than an Ipod or a subscription service. Furthermore if you check my sight you will find that I did an article a few months back which stated that I believed the anti-drm argument was actually an anti-piracy one, since if people could be trusted to act responsibly and not infringe copyright, then there would be no need for DRM.
-
I am not against any DRM ethos, but since it seems that the ones that exist, either lock you into a product and/or cause major issues with the platform they are on, I can see why consumers have voted for no DRM mp3s.
-
I dont use webbased subscription services either, but I would like to highlight I have been a happy user of "protected" media for many years now (and so have you, if you have a VCR) with Macrovision.
-
Quote "yes there are many people like you who don't like the subscription based services, but there are also many people who do use it regularly."
-
Where did I say I didnt like subscription services? I would only dislike a certain service if it limited you in choice to what you could do with your purchase (IMO: Zune) and could understand the appeal of one that doesnt (Itunes)
-
Quote "my point was that they made a scheme to milk more money out of your pockets."
-
Youve got some real front saying that. Who does Zune belong to? At the end of the day so would any company out to make a profit. Users of the Ipod seem to be celebrating the anti-drm in the main, so Id suggest you take this crusade and show them how much better Zune is. Im sure they will listen. Im not sure why you could understand my context of "disgruntled" but the point that I making was replying to what I took as your implication that Ipod users are in someway unhappy with the anti-drm decision. As you can see by the posts after, the Ipod users posting here seem quite happy.
-
Now that you are making an issue of the extra cost to Apple customers, would you not agree that if someone wants a drm free library it would be cheaper (rightly or wrongly) to stay with Apple? Afterall if they went over to Zune, they be paying out even more, and their tracks still wouldnt be drm-free.
-
Quote "you might not like or accept the scenario I mentioned because it's from microsoft, but I know a lot of people who would use it"
-
LOL so do I, so do I. Our Zune World Order will come about if people are not aware of lockin. The day you mention will be particularly sad, as it would suggest that its a world of no innovation, one product, one choice. That doesnt sound very appealling to me. That would be the same if we are talking Micrsoft, Apple or even my "first computing love" Commodore Amiga.
-
Quote "I have windows mobile, PC, TV, xbox360 and Zune and this kind of service would be very very welcomed by me and a lot of people I know, it might not be what you want but a lot of people would welcome it."
-
Yep Ive had a Windows Mobile aswell and a whole host of issues with it. I had a 360 which to be fair didnt break down like so many others. If it wasnt for the kids demanding a WII under the TV then it would probably be there still.
-
Quote "I will pay for a service. you're paying more money and you don't mind? the old adage: "a fool and his money shall surely part" indeed, indeed."
-
Im not paying anything, as I say I dont use a service like that. Who are you saying is the fool? since Im paying less than you, infact the albums Ive bought come in at £6.49 (inc postage) and I get to keep all my purchases on orginal CD with a nice cover. (oh and put them on any device I wish)
-
As for Zune, I hope people do as I request and ask their own friends/work collegues. They can then see who out of us is correct, and if infact "a lot of people would welcome it"
-
Would you like me to link to the sales figures of both units? Shall we properly compare how many people actually want this Zune World you are talking about?

@goblin

lol, I didn't say anything about a Zune world order. I was talking about the availability of a service, a service that you don't have to add songs to each of your devices, they are instantly available on any as long as it's added on one. I was making reference to the future move not the now so yeah the Zune revenue got split in two.

but as I mentioned before, at this point it's not about making money because the market is already monopolized by apple. it is about getting enough market share.

if you want to buy the music on CDs and carry a big CD case in your car and when searching for a specific song you go flipping through your CD case then that's what you want. but I rather add my music/media one time and have it available on multiple fronts. that's the service I am taking about.

you say this kind of service I am talking about is boring? but the world you're living in is tedious. I will paying for this service when it's available. as I said before: if you don't want to pay for it then so be it, no one is forcing anyone into it.
it's like this: some people, like me, will pay for the better experience on Xbox Live while others will take the Playstation network because it's at no upfront cost. it's inline with what I have been saying that some will use the service and some won't. no new world order my friend. I don't know why you thought that nothing else will be in existence.

Quote "if you want to buy the music on CDs and carry a big CD case in your car and when searching for a specific song you go flipping through your CD"
-
Firstly Im sorry, since your post was regarding Zune and your championing it, I presumed the brave new world you refered to involved Zune. If it doesnt then I still challenge it unless all the devices you were refering to were generic and interoperable. So you dont think the future is Zune? Good we agree on something.
-
In regards to CD's no, youre right, I dont want to carry them around in the car, thats why theres are thing called a "standard" non ipod/zune/whatever player. Because I dont have to worry about any transferring issues, Im able to rip my legally owned CD's to .ogg and play them in the car via a memory card plugged into the car stereo. My memory card is smaller than any MP3 player so in terms of portability my 1cm x 1cm card is far more so. In addition I could plug that memory into a phone, or into the memory hole on a PC. That for me is portability.
-
Quote "you say this kind of service I am talking about is boring?"
-
Eh? Are we in the same reality here? Where did I say anything was boring?
-
Quote "I will paying for this service when it's available. as I said before: if you don't want to pay for it then so be it, no one is forcing anyone into it."
-
I never said not to. I merely pointed out that the majority of people dont seem to agree with you that the no-drm catalogue of itunes is a bad thing (as you suggest its costly)
-
Quote "will pay for the better experience on Xbox Live while others will take the Playstation network because it's at no upfront cost."
-
Now Im beginning to question who you are. "Better experience" thats not how the average home user talks and I believe readers here know that. Its a little like "feature rich Vista"
By better experience are you refering to the 3 lights of death? The thousands of 360's that had to be returned due to faulty hardware? The fact that gamers need to not only buy a game, they need an IP provider and also a subscription to Xbox live?
-
You say "people like me", I think you'll find you are in the minority. The nextgen console war has been won by Nintendo, so I think people have decided which machine gives them the better experience. Microsoft couldnt even get their HDdvd format off the ground, and Id suggest with the superior specs and blueray of PS3, Sony will shortly (if it has not already done so) be taking 2nd place in the console battle.
-
Quote "I don't know why you thought that nothing else will be in existence. "
-
Dont play the fool, you know exactly what I was meaning, the connotations being placed in your posts and the irony/satire in mine. Its a little bit like the MS article I was mentioning on another post "Is bloat a problem?" dont patronize other readers, they are not stupid.
-
Also finally, please clarify your "better experience with Xbox live". Since I dont think Im as much of a gamer as you, could you please tell us the differences between Sony/Microsofts offering. Id be genuinely interested to hear.

First layoffs ever? Since when? Actually Microsoft routinely lays off the bottom 1/3 banding of their workforce every year. There is no comparison to an "absolute" standard of quality, just a relative comparison to others in your peer group. So the internal politics are fierce; some get to be the millionaires, some are average, the rest get let go every rating cycle. I know lots of people that have been RIF'ed from Microsoft. Sheesh.

Gut!