Where I don't mention the competitor

Microsoft has a special edition Zune coming out, the Halo 3 Zune. I can't help but think that a special edition like this is probably the key to the Zune's success. See, they couldn't compete with other mp3 players because it is freaking huge and the interface is terrible. Then they lowered the price by 30 dollars in hopes that being a little bit cheaper than the competition would help them out. Then they put out a special edition Zune at, presumably, the same price that has a tie to a popular video game.

It is almost opposite of the pc market. Windows dominates the market because it is what people know and other operating systems fall to the side. Well in the instance of mp3 players, the Zune is falling to the side.

iPod vS. zUne

I have read two articles today that have gotten me thinking. The first on TUAW and was basically asking whether people would be willing to pay a subscription fee to rent music from the iTunes store. I am an advocate of this whether other people are or aren't. I think the subscription services are great and allow people to hear new music that they otherwise would not have listened to. That is basically why I have XM radio. There is a lot of stations that I will tune into and just listen for new bands that I like. I also signed up for a napster account and am able to use their online service for free to listen to certain songs a total of three times before I have to actual get a paid subscription. I have also found this helpful for when I am looking around and find a band I think I might like, then I go to napster and listen to a couple of songs prior to purchasing.

The second of the two articles, which I have a link to on the right, was considering the possibility of Microsoft taking a cell phone approach to their personal digital playing personal listening device. Basically a person would sign a contract saying that they would pay 15 dollars a month for a given amount of time, likely 2 years, and by signing that contract and paying the monthly fee they would get a free Zune and access to the music on the store. I am opposed to this. I don't want to solely rent music. I want the availability of owning my music, and being locked into a contract to rent music just seems ridiculous.

Also, for the foreseeable future, the Zune is still locked to Windows and I haven't heard or even made up a rumor in my own mind that they will some day support OSX.