While it was absolutely clear from the beginning, that the Zune will fail, I am still a bit astonished here. When the current line of Zunes and iPods was introduced (almost simultaneously), the entire tech press went on and on about how MS has closed the gap, and has fairly competitive devices and improved software now. It is quite a bit hard to understand, how they completely failed to generate any gains out of this initially positive reception. I would have at least expected sales in the area of 2-3 millions.
On the other side... They are not really making any efforts to create more transparent offers and a more accessible ecosystem. With Apple it is one iTunes store for everything and pretty consistent pricing, irrespective of the target device. MS of course has to make things as difficult and confusing as somehow possible, see the MSN Mobile Music service for a good example (read this great piece of marketing, if you have not seen it yet: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q...rn-to-drm.html - simply stunning). So, if I want the same song on my Zune and my WinMob phone (nope, I have none), I have to buy twice and both will cease to work when MS finally closes the thing down (which is rather a matter of weeks than months)? While I am sorry for the people being laid off, MS does not deserve any better. They should really focus on their core business: sell companies virtual "software assurance" and "upgrade advantage" packages, and then hide for the next five years.
great link...i read in disbelief how arrogant and how stupid MS feels its customers are, their dna is wrapped up in that article....that's why they fail, and will continue to fail...this guy is an embarrassment at every opportunity MS screws its customers so why even use them...that's what's happening now, enterprise is looking and their fortunes will follow. those that have a choice avoid MS
I would hardley say the ipod is innovative anymore. Maybe in 2003 or 2004. It is 2009 though the ipod is still just an ipod. There are hundreds of music players that do the exact same thing and or more. Sales don't reflect quality. We all know that already. Sales reflect popularity. And now that itunes is DRM free. Well..
So if the iPod is so popular, why doesn't Apple just stop updating them and let's see how much sales they continue to have.
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
I doubt their sales would even improve if they opened up to macs or linux, I don't eve think many people using Macs would even go for Zunes.
Frankly, it's irresponsible for MS to continue to throw money at the Zune, especially in light of their recent announced layoffs. They need to get back to their core competencies (is that an oxymoron in this context?) and fire Ballmer to pull them out of their funk.
By "core competencies" you can only mean blocking distribution channels for products where they hold a monopoly share.
As has been seen time and time again. If Microsoft can't stop people from buying another company's products people tend not to buy Microsoft. Except for WordPerfect of course as Corel has really mucked that up.
"Ballmer to pull them out of their funk."
Ballmer? He isn't a leader. He's currently the anchor around Microsoft's neck. For those of us not wanting Microsoft to turn things around, the best way for them to keep mucking things up to keep him involved as much as possible.
Layoff the entire Zune division and Microsoft is well on its way to that 5,000 cut it said it was going to make.
Of course, if they do that, there will be a brief dip in unemployment as I hire a bunch of people to throw the biggest schadenfreude party to date. The biggest one in history will be when Microsoft throws in the towel in the OS Wars with Ballmer handing over his sword at Cupertino!
I disagree that the iPod isn't still innovative. Sure, the Classic, Nano, and Shuffle are similar to other offerings (thanks to copying of the market leader). However, the iPod Touch is amazing. With the iPod Touch, I don't have a need to drag my laptop along with me a lot of the time. I can surf the Internet, check my email, and the list goes on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel0418
I would hardley say the ipod is innovative anymore. Maybe in 2003 or 2004. It is 2009 though the ipod is still just an ipod. There are hundreds of music players that do the exact same thing and or more. Sales don't reflect quality. We all know that already. Sales reflect popularity. And now that itunes is DRM free. Well..
Haha! I had a very similar conversation with a friend of mine, he then laughed at me for buying my music on iTunes.
I do agree however that its a good way to find new music. But then again, there are websites like Playlist.com, even MySpace, and YouTube, that are great places to discover new music. AND... they're free.
You could even use something like Pandora to listen to the music you like. If you use Pandora on your iPhone it will give you an iTunes Store link to the song under the album art cover. Oh...for to mention that Pandora is FREE!
I am not sure why you are astonished. The first generation Zune really was a disaster. If it is still up, you can to Microsoft's Zune Blog and first generation users would really rag on it. The software was buggy, and Microsoft didn't come up with significant software updates until the second generation Zunes shipped. I played with a friend's once. The player seemed well constructed. It, however, was supposed to have more features then the iPod. First, the advertised squirting feature seemingly half of the time didn't work because Microsoft allowed content right holders to choose whether the songs could be squirted or not. Interestingly enough iTunes "squirts" songs to WiFI connected computers. If you live in a school dorm, it is a great way to learn about new music and to see what other people are listening to.
Second, unlike with the iPod, you could not use the Zune as a hard drive, an alarm clock, a stop watch, a address book, or to watch videos or photos on the television.
Who was going to give the second generation a chance after such a lame handling of the first generation? Further, when you consider Apple has like a gazillion accessories for the iPod, it makes it hard to take a chance on a third party player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreyfus2
While it was absolutely clear from the beginning, that the Zune will fail, I am still a bit astonished here. When the current line of Zunes and iPods was introduced (almost simultaneously), the entire tech press went on and on about how MS has closed the gap, and has fairly competitive devices and improved software now. It is quite a bit hard to understand, how they completely failed to generate any gains out of this initially positive reception. I would have at least expected sales in the area of 2-3 millions.
On the other side... They are not really making any efforts to create more transparent offers and a more accessible ecosystem. With Apple it is one iTunes store for everything and pretty consistent pricing, irrespective of the target device. MS of course has to make things as difficult and confusing as somehow possible, see the MSN Mobile Music service for a good example (read this great piece of marketing, if you have not seen it yet: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q...rn-to-drm.html - simply stunning). So, if I want the same song on my Zune and my WinMob phone (nope, I have none), I have to buy twice and both will cease to work when MS finally closes the thing down (which is rather a matter of weeks than months)? While I am sorry for the people being laid off, MS does not deserve any better. They should really focus on their core business: sell companies virtual "software assurance" and "upgrade advantage" packages, and then hide for the next five years.
If you live in a dorm or apartment complex, iTunes is really a great way to listen to what other people are listening to. It used to be you could copy other people songs off their computer using iTunes. Apple shut that down, but you can still listen to music that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macxpress
You could even use something like Pandora to listen to the music you like. If you use Pandora on your iPhone it will give you an iTunes Store link to the song under the album art cover. Oh...for to mention that Pandora is FREE!
Lol it's just an iPod. Why is it new innovation? Have you been to an mp3 isle lately? There are mp3 players smaller than the nano that can do much more. More games, better ui, and smaller sleeker devices. The nano is just popular to people like you who care what other people think. Lol ok that was dumb but nah people like it because it is an apple product. It's not innovative in anyway it's just a smaller iPod just like past nanos.
Name them Daniel... what are these mystery devices with "More games, better ui, and smaller sleeker devices" you talk of....?
If you are unable to recognize the innovation that exudes from the ipod touch, I would have to question if you understand the meaning of the word.
I am not sure why you are astonished. The first generation Zune really was a disaster. If it is still up, you can to Microsoft's Zune Blog and first generation users would really rag on it...
What you say is true. My astonishment resulted from a different point of view though. If they have been able to sell roughly two million players in 2006/2007, while the reviews were mostly negative and clearly rated it worse than the comparable iPods, it astonished me, that they were loosing market share in 2008 when reviews were almost unanimously positive - some even stated the the newest Zune software outperforms Apple's in some areas... (or, sarcastically, do the MS buyers loose interest, once a product becomes good - Pavlovian conditioning - masochism?).
Nobody can take a significant piece of the cake away from Apple, unless they become sloppy or overdo it on the pricing - so far they have only made the products better and prices went down. You have iPod connectivity in most cars, quite a few hotels and now even some planes. A competitor would have to release a much better product for a much lower price (not really possible, as almost nobody could buy the required volume of Flash memory to match production cost) and build up an competitive infrastructure at the same time, and would still have problems to get anywhere close. Not quite possible. I will never understand what made MS even start this...
The rental vs. purchase discussion is a non-discussion once you realize that a majority of people don't keep listening to new stuff. They listen to the same music over and over again. That is the normal music listening pattern.
The only people who keep listening to new music are people who really love music and spend a lot of time on it. This is a real minority.
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
Do you seriously think there's much incentive for Microsoft to release a Mac client for the Zune? Yes, there's a user here who wishes there was such a thing, but I really don't think many Macintosh users would be interested in a Microsoft device, even if it does offer some functionality missing in the iPod (such as the subscription service). It would also require Microsoft to port their DRM library.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macxpress
I agree..Microsoft should just stop with the Zune. Its never in a million years going to catch the iPod.
I don't think Microsoft needs to catch up to the iPod in order to consider the Zune a successful product. I think their interested in creating an entire home media experience with the XBOX 360 as a media extender, the Zune as a portable media extender, and at the heart, expanding their virtual operating system monopoly to entrench Windows Media Center as the media server. Without a portable device, they have no chance against iTunes. If Apple only did a better job of advertising the Apple TV as a media extender, I think it'd be endgame.
Layoff the entire Zune division and Microsoft is well on its way to that 5,000 cut it said it was going to make.
Of course, if they do that, there will be a brief dip in unemployment as I hire a bunch of people to throw the biggest schadenfreude party to date. The biggest one in history will be when Microsoft throws in the towel in the OS Wars with Ballmer handing over his sword at Cupertino!
The saddest thing about the possible demise of the Zune though, is that it *is* rather innovative in many ways.
I know I'm not going to get any friends on this list by saying it, but the Zune and the Zune marketplace and the deals that MS had around it were (or still are) the most innovative thing the Microslut has done for years and years.
The device itself is a bit solid, but well designed for a 1st generation MS effort, the software is some of the nicest looking they have ever made even if it has some usability problems. The "social" is a great idea that only fails because of their ridiculously low market share. If Apple had done "the Social" it would have been the biggest thing since sliced bread. One thing Apple fails miserably at is social type applications and catering to the social needs of it's customers.
So in dire economic times (like now), Microsoft is likely to cut off Zune and throw it away to "concentrate on it's (boring) core competencies" as they say.
The great irony here is that those guys behind the Zune effort are some of the best people, with the best ideas they have. Microsoft now is in the position of maybe having to cut away these innovative, creative types to focus on the drones that check for errors in Excel code? Horrors!
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
Please explain why a Mac user would want to use a Microsoft device. Not only that, the reality is that Mac users are a minority. Adding a Mac client would expand their market by 10%. A Linux client would expand their market by 1%. Those are serious diminishing returns, if the Windows user market can't sustain the Zune, then Mac and Linux users won't either. Porting apps take a lot more than 10% more work, so the additional customers would cost more to support than their Windows user base.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinN206
* Microsoft failure to expand to other markets besides the US (don't know why)
All those other points aside, for this point I would blame the music companies. They've segmented all their download rights to a per-country basis and you have to make negotiations for each country. Apple takes a while to add countries too. The recording companies simply haven't caught up with the new reality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brlawyer
Sorry, but if you feel like paying something per month to get a lot of music, at least try eMusic...DRM-free, a good number of downloads per month and very low prices...to use a rent model for music is to be masochistic...
It looks like maybe you misunderstand, read post #30.
eMusic's selection is fragmentary at best, the bands that I checked were only represented by a few of their albums. I didn't appreciate the fact that credits don't roll over, and you can't buy more music a month than your credits allow, that's incredibly constraining.
Quote:
Originally Posted by parky
If it is so great - why is it not working?
You are in the minority regarding renting music, the majority prefer to buy it.
That is clear if you look at the failed rental services.
Even MS and all their marketing money can't sell a player and a rental model.
I think it's probably a misunderstanding. Usually, Microsoft doesn't have much for marketing money, they've generally spent less on marketing than other companies do. They certainly didn't market Zune as much as Apple did when Apple started selling the iPods. What marketing MS did do was poorly executed.
Frankly, I don't think people understand the math behind it, which is understandable why it fails in the US because Americans are generally bad at math, our typical students would probably get whooped by Europe's special ed students.
If you spent $15 a month buying albums, you'll buy 18 albums a year. Ten years of that means that you own 180 albums, and who knows, maybe you'll decide you don't like some of the older ones you bought, maybe only 15 of them are in your rotation. In comparison, $15 a month of renting gets you access to several hundred thousand albums, all commercial free. But people are fine with spending, $30, 50 75 or more on cable TV for video that is infested with horrible ads, which is also a rental, cancel the cable and the cable goes away. You can record cable for later, but then, it's also possible to record music using the analog ports too, the same analog hole applies to both mediums.
In Fiji (and prob. many other countries) iPods are taxed as 'luxury items' so they're v. expensive (I'm talking F$500+ for a 8 GB Nano, whereas I got mine back in Oz for A$240). You a number of the older Shuffles and more of the el cheapo knock-offs... but not many more, I think people would prefer to own a real iPod if they could afford one.
Stop complaining - - I'd rather be in Fiji paying twice as much for an iPod than the -8 (that's a minus) degrees F (that's Fahrenheit) I woke up to this morning.....
Comments
lol
While it was absolutely clear from the beginning, that the Zune will fail, I am still a bit astonished here. When the current line of Zunes and iPods was introduced (almost simultaneously), the entire tech press went on and on about how MS has closed the gap, and has fairly competitive devices and improved software now. It is quite a bit hard to understand, how they completely failed to generate any gains out of this initially positive reception. I would have at least expected sales in the area of 2-3 millions.
On the other side... They are not really making any efforts to create more transparent offers and a more accessible ecosystem. With Apple it is one iTunes store for everything and pretty consistent pricing, irrespective of the target device. MS of course has to make things as difficult and confusing as somehow possible, see the MSN Mobile Music service for a good example (read this great piece of marketing, if you have not seen it yet: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q...rn-to-drm.html - simply stunning). So, if I want the same song on my Zune and my WinMob phone (nope, I have none), I have to buy twice and both will cease to work when MS finally closes the thing down (which is rather a matter of weeks than months)? While I am sorry for the people being laid off, MS does not deserve any better. They should really focus on their core business: sell companies virtual "software assurance" and "upgrade advantage" packages, and then hide for the next five years.
great link...i read in disbelief how arrogant and how stupid MS feels its customers are, their dna is wrapped up in that article....that's why they fail, and will continue to fail...this guy is an embarrassment at every opportunity MS screws its customers so why even use them...that's what's happening now, enterprise is looking and their fortunes will follow. those that have a choice avoid MS
I would hardley say the ipod is innovative anymore. Maybe in 2003 or 2004. It is 2009 though the ipod is still just an ipod. There are hundreds of music players that do the exact same thing and or more. Sales don't reflect quality. We all know that already. Sales reflect popularity. And now that itunes is DRM free. Well..
So if the iPod is so popular, why doesn't Apple just stop updating them and let's see how much sales they continue to have.
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
I doubt their sales would even improve if they opened up to macs or linux, I don't eve think many people using Macs would even go for Zunes.
Frankly, it's irresponsible for MS to continue to throw money at the Zune, especially in light of their recent announced layoffs. They need to get back to their core competencies (is that an oxymoron in this context?) and fire Ballmer to pull them out of their funk.
By "core competencies" you can only mean blocking distribution channels for products where they hold a monopoly share.
As has been seen time and time again. If Microsoft can't stop people from buying another company's products people tend not to buy Microsoft. Except for WordPerfect of course as Corel has really mucked that up.
"Ballmer to pull them out of their funk."
Ballmer? He isn't a leader. He's currently the anchor around Microsoft's neck. For those of us not wanting Microsoft to turn things around, the best way for them to keep mucking things up to keep him involved as much as possible.
Of course, if they do that, there will be a brief dip in unemployment as I hire a bunch of people to throw the biggest schadenfreude party to date. The biggest one in history will be when Microsoft throws in the towel in the OS Wars with Ballmer handing over his sword at Cupertino!
I would hardley say the ipod is innovative anymore. Maybe in 2003 or 2004. It is 2009 though the ipod is still just an ipod. There are hundreds of music players that do the exact same thing and or more. Sales don't reflect quality. We all know that already. Sales reflect popularity. And now that itunes is DRM free. Well..
Haha! I had a very similar conversation with a friend of mine, he then laughed at me for buying my music on iTunes.
I do agree however that its a good way to find new music. But then again, there are websites like Playlist.com, even MySpace, and YouTube, that are great places to discover new music. AND... they're free.
You could even use something like Pandora to listen to the music you like. If you use Pandora on your iPhone it will give you an iTunes Store link to the song under the album art cover. Oh...for to mention that Pandora is FREE!
Second, unlike with the iPod, you could not use the Zune as a hard drive, an alarm clock, a stop watch, a address book, or to watch videos or photos on the television.
Who was going to give the second generation a chance after such a lame handling of the first generation? Further, when you consider Apple has like a gazillion accessories for the iPod, it makes it hard to take a chance on a third party player.
While it was absolutely clear from the beginning, that the Zune will fail, I am still a bit astonished here. When the current line of Zunes and iPods was introduced (almost simultaneously), the entire tech press went on and on about how MS has closed the gap, and has fairly competitive devices and improved software now. It is quite a bit hard to understand, how they completely failed to generate any gains out of this initially positive reception. I would have at least expected sales in the area of 2-3 millions.
On the other side... They are not really making any efforts to create more transparent offers and a more accessible ecosystem. With Apple it is one iTunes store for everything and pretty consistent pricing, irrespective of the target device. MS of course has to make things as difficult and confusing as somehow possible, see the MSN Mobile Music service for a good example (read this great piece of marketing, if you have not seen it yet: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q...rn-to-drm.html - simply stunning). So, if I want the same song on my Zune and my WinMob phone (nope, I have none), I have to buy twice and both will cease to work when MS finally closes the thing down (which is rather a matter of weeks than months)? While I am sorry for the people being laid off, MS does not deserve any better. They should really focus on their core business: sell companies virtual "software assurance" and "upgrade advantage" packages, and then hide for the next five years.
You could even use something like Pandora to listen to the music you like. If you use Pandora on your iPhone it will give you an iTunes Store link to the song under the album art cover. Oh...for to mention that Pandora is FREE!
Lol it's just an iPod. Why is it new innovation? Have you been to an mp3 isle lately? There are mp3 players smaller than the nano that can do much more. More games, better ui, and smaller sleeker devices. The nano is just popular to people like you who care what other people think. Lol ok that was dumb but nah people like it because it is an apple product. It's not innovative in anyway it's just a smaller iPod just like past nanos.
Name them Daniel... what are these mystery devices with "More games, better ui, and smaller sleeker devices" you talk of....?
If you are unable to recognize the innovation that exudes from the ipod touch, I would have to question if you understand the meaning of the word.
I am not sure why you are astonished. The first generation Zune really was a disaster. If it is still up, you can to Microsoft's Zune Blog and first generation users would really rag on it...
What you say is true. My astonishment resulted from a different point of view though. If they have been able to sell roughly two million players in 2006/2007, while the reviews were mostly negative and clearly rated it worse than the comparable iPods, it astonished me, that they were loosing market share in 2008 when reviews were almost unanimously positive - some even stated the the newest Zune software outperforms Apple's in some areas... (or, sarcastically, do the MS buyers loose interest, once a product becomes good - Pavlovian conditioning - masochism?).
Nobody can take a significant piece of the cake away from Apple, unless they become sloppy or overdo it on the pricing - so far they have only made the products better and prices went down. You have iPod connectivity in most cars, quite a few hotels and now even some planes. A competitor would have to release a much better product for a much lower price (not really possible, as almost nobody could buy the required volume of Flash memory to match production cost) and build up an competitive infrastructure at the same time, and would still have problems to get anywhere close. Not quite possible. I will never understand what made MS even start this...
They're only in it for the money.
If I were able to bill Ballmer the Enbalmer all the time lost because of his Office suite bugs
(aka entire days of works), I'd be richer than he.
I predict Mi$oft will end like the Edison trust in the 40-ies.
Study Edison's history, and you'll see my point.
This is a great comparison!
Even without the whole MPPC thing, it still works.
Microsoft is to "innovation" as Edison is to "invention." Ha!
The only people who keep listening to new music are people who really love music and spend a lot of time on it. This is a real minority.
They need a ZuneTouch using their amazing multi-touch technology; you know, the one that's the size of coffee table.
.
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
Do you seriously think there's much incentive for Microsoft to release a Mac client for the Zune? Yes, there's a user here who wishes there was such a thing, but I really don't think many Macintosh users would be interested in a Microsoft device, even if it does offer some functionality missing in the iPod (such as the subscription service). It would also require Microsoft to port their DRM library.
I agree..Microsoft should just stop with the Zune. Its never in a million years going to catch the iPod.
I don't think Microsoft needs to catch up to the iPod in order to consider the Zune a successful product. I think their interested in creating an entire home media experience with the XBOX 360 as a media extender, the Zune as a portable media extender, and at the heart, expanding their virtual operating system monopoly to entrench Windows Media Center as the media server. Without a portable device, they have no chance against iTunes. If Apple only did a better job of advertising the Apple TV as a media extender, I think it'd be endgame.
Layoff the entire Zune division and Microsoft is well on its way to that 5,000 cut it said it was going to make.
Of course, if they do that, there will be a brief dip in unemployment as I hire a bunch of people to throw the biggest schadenfreude party to date. The biggest one in history will be when Microsoft throws in the towel in the OS Wars with Ballmer handing over his sword at Cupertino!
The saddest thing about the possible demise of the Zune though, is that it *is* rather innovative in many ways.
I know I'm not going to get any friends on this list by saying it, but the Zune and the Zune marketplace and the deals that MS had around it were (or still are) the most innovative thing the Microslut has done for years and years.
The device itself is a bit solid, but well designed for a 1st generation MS effort, the software is some of the nicest looking they have ever made even if it has some usability problems. The "social" is a great idea that only fails because of their ridiculously low market share. If Apple had done "the Social" it would have been the biggest thing since sliced bread. One thing Apple fails miserably at is social type applications and catering to the social needs of it's customers.
So in dire economic times (like now), Microsoft is likely to cut off Zune and throw it away to "concentrate on it's (boring) core competencies" as they say.
The great irony here is that those guys behind the Zune effort are some of the best people, with the best ideas they have. Microsoft now is in the position of maybe having to cut away these innovative, creative types to focus on the drones that check for errors in Excel code? Horrors!
The fact that the Zune is STILL Windows only can't be helping them either. Microsoft's head is stuck in the sand not realising that so many people are using Macs now, especially people who use mp3 players. Terrible thinking on Microsoft's part!
Please explain why a Mac user would want to use a Microsoft device. Not only that, the reality is that Mac users are a minority. Adding a Mac client would expand their market by 10%. A Linux client would expand their market by 1%. Those are serious diminishing returns, if the Windows user market can't sustain the Zune, then Mac and Linux users won't either. Porting apps take a lot more than 10% more work, so the additional customers would cost more to support than their Windows user base.
* Microsoft failure to expand to other markets besides the US (don't know why)
All those other points aside, for this point I would blame the music companies. They've segmented all their download rights to a per-country basis and you have to make negotiations for each country. Apple takes a while to add countries too. The recording companies simply haven't caught up with the new reality.
Sorry, but if you feel like paying something per month to get a lot of music, at least try eMusic...DRM-free, a good number of downloads per month and very low prices...to use a rent model for music is to be masochistic...
It looks like maybe you misunderstand, read post #30.
eMusic's selection is fragmentary at best, the bands that I checked were only represented by a few of their albums. I didn't appreciate the fact that credits don't roll over, and you can't buy more music a month than your credits allow, that's incredibly constraining.
If it is so great - why is it not working?
You are in the minority regarding renting music, the majority prefer to buy it.
That is clear if you look at the failed rental services.
Even MS and all their marketing money can't sell a player and a rental model.
I think it's probably a misunderstanding. Usually, Microsoft doesn't have much for marketing money, they've generally spent less on marketing than other companies do. They certainly didn't market Zune as much as Apple did when Apple started selling the iPods. What marketing MS did do was poorly executed.
Frankly, I don't think people understand the math behind it, which is understandable why it fails in the US because Americans are generally bad at math, our typical students would probably get whooped by Europe's special ed students.
If you spent $15 a month buying albums, you'll buy 18 albums a year. Ten years of that means that you own 180 albums, and who knows, maybe you'll decide you don't like some of the older ones you bought, maybe only 15 of them are in your rotation. In comparison, $15 a month of renting gets you access to several hundred thousand albums, all commercial free. But people are fine with spending, $30, 50 75 or more on cable TV for video that is infested with horrible ads, which is also a rental, cancel the cable and the cable goes away. You can record cable for later, but then, it's also possible to record music using the analog ports too, the same analog hole applies to both mediums.
In Fiji (and prob. many other countries) iPods are taxed as 'luxury items' so they're v. expensive (I'm talking F$500+ for a 8 GB Nano, whereas I got mine back in Oz for A$240). You a number of the older Shuffles and more of the el cheapo knock-offs... but not many more, I think people would prefer to own a real iPod if they could afford one.
Stop complaining -