Not a Fair Fight

[Aaron Roma]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/living/16040280.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/living/16040280.htm</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>&quot;I love Apple Computer's video iPods, but they have their annoyances... Apple is surely mulling whether to remedy some, if not all, these limitations, and now it has a fresh incentive to do so: Microsoft's new Zune player. I've been playing with the music, picture and video player for the past week, and I can't recommend it. The $250 Zune has too many drawbacks compared to a video iPod with the same price and 30-gigabyte storage capacity. But the Zune does offer a few advantages over iPods.&quot;</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Twin Cities reporter Julio Ojeda-Zapata weighs in on the iPod vs. Zune fight. All though overall, his opinion is that the iPod wins hands down, he does a nice job of pointing out some of the iPod's frustrations and the Zune's strong points. (He even tried the &quot;key&quot; test on his loaner Zune, and was quite pleased with the hardware's durability. I'm not brave enough to try that!) One of the negatives that are pointed out in this article, amongst others, is the Zune Marketplace is currently limited to 2 million tracks, compared to 3.5 million on iTunes Store. Yes, Zune Marketplace does have some ground to make up. Most of these articles never mention that when iTunes Store first launched, it did so with a paltry 200,000 tracks, and only reach 1 million tracks some 16 months into existence. Zune appears to have a nice springboard launching with 2 million. As long as they continue to add content, this shouldn&rsquo;t be an issue. Personally, I&rsquo;ve yet to have an issue find a song I was looking for on either service. Maybe I&rsquo;m just too main stream!</p>

[Vincent M Ferrari]

The truth is that for 99% of the population, the store is irrelevant anyway, whether it's the iTunes Store or the Zune Marketplace. Most people* rip their own songs off their own CDs and don't even bother with online stores. It's just the way it is.

*Disclaimer: Except for me. I have about $2500 invested in tracks purchased from the iTunes store. I rarely (if ever) bought any music until iTunes came along for the PC.

[Aaron Roma]

That is definately true for me. I've purchased relatively few tracks from iTunes. Most are ripped CD's. I would say I'd probably have $20 or less invested in tracks for iTunes. (I have downloaded a lot of the free ones looking for something new.)

[Janak Parekh]

That is definately true for me. I've purchased relatively few tracks from iTunes. Most are ripped CD's. Ditto. Now, one major problem with Zune that I've read is that of the 2 million tracks, some % of them (a nontrivial amount) don't support subscription downloads. :(

--janak

[Vincent M Ferrari]

So before I bought my 5th gen iPod, I was considering getting myself a Creative device (maybe it was the Muvo B Z hyper Gold special platinum black big edition EX + video) and signed up for Yahoo! music. I figggered it had to be cool because I could do an all you can eat thing. I came to find out that it's a huge come on and that most of the stuff I wanted (and your results may vary, but stay with me here) was not subscribeable and I had to buy it anyway.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with iTunes. That's why I don't think subscriptions are ready for prime time just yet. They're a great idea, but the truth is that they overpromise on content and undeliver on availability for subscription.

Maybe in a few years.

[Janak Parekh]

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with iTunes. That's why I don't think subscriptions are ready for prime time just yet. They're a great idea, but the truth is that they overpromise on content and undeliver on availability for subscription. It gets worse than that. I have been using Rhapsody for a few years, and I can tell you that content appears and disappears. I've decided to continue with Rhapsody, because I love discovering new music, but I would not consider it a remotely reliable source of music, and certainly not a replacement for ultimately buying tracks/CDs.

--janak

[Vincent M Ferrari]

It gets worse than that. I have been using Rhapsody for a few years, and I can tell you that content appears and disappears.


I would only say that as long as we allow DRM on our machines, this kind of thing will never go away and will only get worse. I know I'm an Apple fanboy in many ways, but the truth is I don't think Apple's DRM is so wonderful either. DRM in general sucks and it breaks and it working is at the whim of the content provider. Truth be told I'd love to be without it, but that's never going to happen. Hell, they're even building copy protection into cables for God's sake.