Microsoft finally advertises its biggest advantage over the iPod, cost
Greetings Readers!
Microsoft has unveiled their latest attack on Apple, but this time it doesn't involve anybody going to a retail store and purchasing a laptop. This time Microsoft is setting its sights on the iPod. The latest commercial attacks Apple for not having a subscription service on iTunes for music downloads. Without a subscription service, they claim it will cost $30,000 to fill a 120GB iPod with mp3s. Microsoft's Zune on the other hand, has an unlimited music service that is $15/mo for unlimited music downloads. It would take over 166 years of a Zune Pass subscription to equal what it would cost if you were to fill a 120GB iPod from iTunes. I believe that this is a great move from Microsoft. When you talk saving money during hard economic times, people are going to listen. Much like the Windows ads, I think that they can do the most damage to Apple if they push the issue of cost.
Of course the commercial doesn't give you the whole story, otherwise you might not be compelled to switch. All music downloaded with a Zune Pass comes with that dreaded DRM garbage that the rest of the world is moving away from. Without the pass, you can get DRM free music but not with it. The subscription has DRM so that you continue to subscribe to the Zune Pass. If you don't keep your subscription renewed, you will end up with a bunch of music that won't play. That is the downside of the Zune Pass. You get to keep 10 songs a month I believe for free but everything else will die if you don't renew. Microsoft paints a pretty picture with the commercial, but everything has a downside and this is one they hope you won't notice. Of course you could crack the DRM and eliminate that downside, but that is not legal. As much as my pirate nature would like to share information with you on how to do that, I am not looking to piss off Microsoft, especially when I have the desire to work for them at some point. Anyway, below is the new Zune ad that attacks the idea that it would cost $30,000 to fill an iPod.
Walmart Signals the Death of CDs/DVDs, Looks to the Present and Future
Greetings Readers!
For the past month, maybe more, the local Wal-Marts have been undergoing a major shift. Nearly everything but groceries have changed their location. There are now more groceries, less pet supplies, and the electronics department has roughly doubled in size. Apparently this shift is taking place across the country. A post on Gizmodo today revealed a change in business at Wal-Mart when it comes to consumer electronics. It seems they are cutting back on CDs and DVDs to focus on other products such as Blu-ray.
With CD sales down, digital downloads through the roof, and Blu-ray hoping to replace DVD, such a move was destined to happen at some point, I was just starting to wonder when. With digital downloads exceeding many peoples expectations, it is a matter of time before the CD becomes just another dead physical format. With stores such as Walmart, Circuit City, Best Buy and others still promoting the latest music in CD format, I had honestly started to wonder just when digital downloads would kill the CD. I have known for some time that it was coming but haven't seen any sites of a death anytime soon, until today.
With CD sales down 23% just this quarter for Walmart, it is no surprise that they have now started to take away floor space from the CD and even the DVD to give more room for video games, various consumer electronics such as the iPod and Zune as well as Blu-ray. Such a move is a sign of the times and that death for the CD and DVD formats is nearing. I expect to see other major retailers follow suit in the near future. I will admit that with DVD sales still much higher than Blu-ray sales, I was kind of surprised to see this move at this time. I have long believed that this is necessary for the mass adoption of Blu-ray. When stores stop selling DVDs, people will start moving over to Blu-ray, just like they did for the transition from VHS to DVD. Blu-ray certainly has other issues that it needs to conquer before it can truly take the place of DVD, but this is the first step in the right direction.
While I agree with Walmart in their move to replace CD floor space with portable media players, that isn't really going to help them gain market share in the digital download space such much as it does iTunes and the Zune Marketplace. If they expect to see real success from this, they need to bundle a deal from their new digital download store with the devices. Walmart must give people an incentive to buy music from them before the customer becomes addicted to iTunes or other download service. If they did this, they would see huge growth in their new MP3 store while slowing the growth of their competition.
This is a clear sign that these formats are soon going to go the way of the formats that came before them. While the CD and DVD still have some life in them, if other stores follow suit and this falling sales trend continues, I can easily see the death of the CD within the next 2 years, and the death of the DVD within the next 5 (likely less).
Long live the extremely expensive Blu-ray!
-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray
Microsoft Looking for Exclusive Content for Zune, Spins Wheels
Greetings Readers!
As most all of you are aware, the Zune has never lived up to anybody's expectations in terms of sales. In a far distant second place, Microsoft sells as many Zune players in a year as Apple sells iPods in a month. While it is a competent media device, there is nothing that really makes to Zune stand out as a must have device over the iPod with the exception of getting more GB for the price. Before I go any further, I should say that I am a Zune owner and will gladly point out its good points and bad when asked as I have no loyalty to a device or its manufacture. I merely purchased it because I got the 30GB version for $100 last Black Friday. Anyway, with a third version Zune still a ways away, Microsoft is trying to find any possible way it can to gain ground in the portable media marketplace.
Microsoft's latest move to try to gain market share is around exclusive content. They are trying to take the idea behind the game console market and apply it to the portable media market. While the model of having exclusive content to sell the platform would likely work if it had a larger presence in the portable media player market, I don't think it has much of a chance of working right now. Since Microsoft waited so long to get into the portable media player market, it is in a position where it has almost no chance of unseating Apple as the king of the portable media market. When you are in that kind of position, if you have any hope of gaining a reasonable amount of market share, you must have a product that is 50% or 100% better than your competitor. Microsoft didn't do this and it has hurt them. There is nothing that separates the Zune from the iPod in terms of functionality. Without some kind of big distinction, they will have a hard time promoting themselves as something other than a cheaper alternative that doesn't have the special things like the App Store. Microsoft must improve the base functionality that ships with the unit before exclusive content can make a real difference.
When you look at the gaming console market, the exclusive content model works great and always has, as demonstrated when consoles come bundled with games whether its the PS3 coming with Metal Gear Solid 4 or the NES coming with Mario Brothers. The reason that this model works here is because no console ever got to the truely dominant position or where one system tried to come out after another one already had 90% of the market. When a new generation of consoles is released, its around the same time, with similar technical specs (the Wii is a special case here as Nintendo went in another direction) so the software, the exclusive content is what really drives the sales of the consoles. Even though the Xbox 360 has similar performance to the PS3, if it wasn't for exclusives like Halo, it would not be where it is today.
Microsoft is trying to do the same thing with the Zune, get outside media companies to make shows or other kinds of content exclusive for the Zune. While this is a perk for existing Zune users, its going to have little affect on the adoption rate of the Zune or its position in the portable media player marketplace because its not on an even playing field where it is just looking for something to set itself apart.
At this point, Microsoft almost has to wait for the next release of the Zune to have any hopes of competing with the iPod. Sure, firmware updates will get you a long way, but the hardware must be more capapble before it can be a real threat to the iPod. At this point, Microsoft is just spinning their wheels with this unless they are using it as a launching platform for the third version of the Zune. If they can create a base of existing exclusive content to complement a vastly improved third version of the Zune, they might have a chance, but exclusive content on its own in this market situation is just a case of throwing money at a situation that isnt improving.
-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray
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