The only valid reason that I've seen is that they are trying to create a new eco-system that includes the viral distribution of music with renumeration going back to the artists. Like youtube, independent artists could sign up for it and skip the whole record label. Microsoft becomes the label and the distribution company.
This new DRM supports this model, but is different to the existing PFS DRM.

Still nothing here that is as functional as the Napster plugin for MCE. No 6ft interface to browse the marketplace.

Unlike IE 3, Zune is far removed from the core applications and operating systems Microsoft wants to sell, and it may have little to do with selling music at 99 cents a throw. The player hardware was cobbled together as a 12-month, crash project, and from initial reports it looks like the all imortant software was rushed to market as well. So why would Microsoft, a company with essentially unlimited resources create such a stop-gap product?

I believe the real purpose of Zune is to limit the rapidly developing trend of Windows users migrating to Apple's OS X. If he has to spend a few hundred million dollars on Zune to keep 1-2 million Windows users "on the plantation", Steve Ballmer might see that as a fair trade. It is just the latest example of Microsoft's hyper-paranoia.

We might be looking at this all much deeper than needed. Marketing is Bills arena. This isn't the total it is just the DOS version. ADD ons are comming. There is not a total build out, it all evolves and gets just a little better. That is what drives sales. You can add speakers getups get the idea. This is long term stuff with blocks to keep the user doing as you all have above. It's not the spend it's the preception. Music is music.

Microsoft doesn't get it. The jig is up. Consumers want style and simplicity, something that Microsoft has never had.

"The jig is up"? I don't get how Apple fanboys think that just because they can play music and draw pretty pictures in Photoshop, Microsoft is going to go out of business.

The parallels to IE3 are warranted, but it's really hard to compare something that was free like IE3 and subject to fairly rapid upgrades over the course of 5-7 years with something like the Zune that costs $250 and may take 12 months before the next model comes out.

I'm no iPod historian, but didn't Apple start out with 1-2 models and the memory based players came onto the scene a couple of years later? Everything I've read about the Zune player itself suggests that it's every bit as competent and compelling as the iPod, save the software and smaller music library which will of course improve in due time.

One of the real points to be made here is that DRM is not going away people. It's only going to get better at stopping the casual copiers and in time the fair use will most likely become something 95% of those of us out there can live with. Like everything else, M$ is now giving Apple serious competition which will lead to more rapid innovation on both sides, making consumers that much more happy with their iPod or Zune.

Ed T : "and from initial reports it looks like the all imortant software was rushed to market as well"

Huh?
I bought my Zune first thing yesterday morning.
The "all important software" as you put it, is excellent.
The user interface is intuitive, well designed, well thought out, very easy to use, and very fast.
As proof, when I gave it to my 6 year old daughter, she was able to navigate swiftly and easily with no imput from me whatsoever. Ended up loving it.
Why don't you CRAPPLE FanGIRLS go get a life for a change, instead of spewing out garbage all day,, every single day of your useless lives?

Smithy:

Your irritability and insults don't exactly lend credibility to your rapturous review of Zune. When I consider that most of the critiques that I have read have given either faint praise or uninhibited condemnation of Zune, I have to wonder if your standards of performance are significantly less than those of most people or maybe you actually never used an iPod for comparison.

After five years time I had expected something as good or better than iPod. Instead, it appears that Microsoft is serving a half-baked baguette. I’d rather feast on my iPod and iTunes rather than munch on Microsoft’s mistake.

CNET rated Zune hardware "8.0 out of 10", "Excellent". They give Zune Marketplace a "7.3 out of 10" "Very Good" rating, which is better than most MS version 1.0 software.

A 2006 Zune can/will be software upgraded to offer additional wireless features in the future. A 2006 iPod will never have any wireless features.

As a practical matter, I won't consider buying an iPod, because iTunes doesn't offer a subscription music service. (Yes, a subscription, like cable television or satellite radio.)

first of all the main point of having the zune come out is to give ipods monopoly a run for its money. I bought one first thing it came out and I personally love it more than any other MP3 player of its kind (Ipod). First Point, Ipod does not feature a FM transmitter a feature that will cost you from 50 to 100 dollars more, zune has a 1/2 inch bigger screen also its wide screen capable with ipod cant do. you can wireless transfer songs to and from zunes and pictures and videos. if people from apple think their Ipud is better more power to them. I say lets give it a year or so then pass judgement. This relates very closely to the whole ps3 vs xbox 360 war. people are to quick to jump sides just because its the newst stuff. so in conclusion, lets stop bichering back and forth about stupid stuff and get down to the facts, on a hardware scale the ipod is dwarfed by the zune, where as on establishment and acceptance the ipod has that. it also has had a few years start. so if you really think your ipod is better, just find a friend who has a zune and play with it trust me its not that bad, you wont taint your ipud hands. P.S. motion sensor click wheel is over rated and pointless.

Hola faretaste
mekodinosad

Interesting article!
Where can I find more on this theme?