“Software giant Microsoft is casting its sights on the digital media marketplace by positioning itself as pro-consumer-choice. The company unveiled its MSN Music Service and its PlaysForSure logo, which indicates interoperability among portable devices, digital music stores and PCs that run Windows Media software,” Scott Banerjee reports for Billboard.
“‘Obviously, the digital music scenario is exploding,’ said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman/chief software architect at Microsoft’s Digital Entertainment Anywhere launch event Oct. 12 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. ‘Once you’ve picked the music stores you like,’ Gates said, ‘that should in no way constrain the devices the music works with,'” Banerjee reports. “‘We want to give you choice, but we want you to know exactly how that ecosystem fits together,’ Gates said of the PlaysForSure logo. ‘And so you don’t have to think about file formats or conversion, you know that all the richness of the experience will carry across to those devices.'”
Banerjee reports, “‘PlaysForSure is a good way of sorting through the confusion, but there is still a lot of work that consumers need to go through,’ Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research said. ‘It’s not likely consumers are going to go to a music store, look for a particular logo and then go buy a player with that logo on it … By contrast, Apple has a much simpler message; it’s about the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, and by the way, did we mention that iPod?'”
“Apple Computer recently reported that slightly more than 2 million iPods shipped for its fiscal fourth quarter, with iPod revenue for the third quarter totaling $537 million. Revenue from the iTunes Music Store and related iPod services and accessories totaled $98 million,” Banerjee reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How nice of Microsoft and its partners to clearly identify devices, PCs and music services that won’t work well or at all with Apple’s market-dominating iTunes Music Store (70% of legal online music downloads) and even-more-dominating iPod and iPod mini (92.1% of hard drive-based music players). This’ll make it easier for consumers to avoid making expensive mistakes. They should’ve just called it “Don’tBuyThis.”
M$ is bluffing !
can the fsck heads at MDN shut the fsck up about Microsoft for once.
why are so guys sooo into bashing ms? its sad.
To so-called mac_user:
Because Microsoft is a joke and the rest of the world is finally figuring it out. No company on earth deserves more bashing.
Bash away, MDN!
MS wants to give you choice… as long as your choice is Windows Media. No thanks. The world has spoken and we’re tired of crap hardware and software. We’re switching to the Apple way of doing things and feeling stupid about all of the time we wasted with Microsoft and Windows. Luckily, we’re also feeling quite happy now that we have Mac OS X and iPods.
PlaysForSure = PlaysForShit
If you buy something with a “PlaysForSure” logo on it, you should be required to slap a sticker on your forehead that says “PaysForShit.”
dont be so naive, microsoft has more money than any company on earth. they will bundle their shit with the next windows, advertise like crazy, loose heaps of money but will get a fair market share. like xbox, its a load of crap but people buy it… I hope apple is smart and wins, but microsoft will become the domanint player in any market they wish to enter… watch out, they might make cars next!!
very few have mentioned the inordinate overhead of using “plays for sure.”
you need windows, IE (of course, so more exposure), certain scripts on, and Active X, all on top of WMV. all these components snake through your OS and embed itself into your experience.
Apple has simply created iTunes, though it piggybacks on quicktime. however, these can be uninstalled, removed, etc. without affecting anything else, but in acting, also do not affect anything else. that’s the Apple approach, and that’s the Microsoft approach.
now, can you blame MDN for their take? all Microsoft ever does is spread its tentacles into every aspect of you life. if you feel something in your pants in front of a PC, it might just be Microsoft installing itself into your body.
remember: Bill Gates testified in court that the modular approach to coding is deficient! that’s why the British experts tried to refuse Windows on their warships. but of course, lesser minds and bigger pockets prevailed.
seriously, how can anyone defend a company who believes that its OS and software should be designed so that every component depends on every other component. it’s for very simple, specific reasons why Windows is so vulnerable, and why you cannot uninstall a web browser from your OS.
if Microsoft designed a house, putting up a picture frame could collapse the building. thus, only THEY can do anything, and you become entirely beholden to them. scary, ain’t it. yeah, plays for sure is pays us for sure.
Should have named it “Sure don’t buy this”
All it means is your locked into WMA(10) only DRM with no way out.
One of these days old Billy Boy, your precious M$ is going to be broken up into tiny pieces.
The Justic Dept. fell for your threats last time, but they will get stronger and just do it anyway the next.
Does MA BELL ring a bell Monkeyboy?
another thing: okay, sure, it’s nice to have a choice in music players, or even different websites to buy music – IF the dominant player and site is not so elegant, simple, and reliable.
just thing about this: Apple has put themselves in a position where they can only survive by maintaining not just consistency, simplicity, beauty, and variety of music, but actually superiority. Has anyone praised Apple for taking on that responsibility? They bet their company on being able to deliver absolutely the best in both online music software and hardware.
plays for sure means that Microsoft does not have to undertake much responsibility for software or hardware. it’s out of their hands! if you have a problem with music services, not their problem. if you have a problem with players, not their problem. all they have to do is collect the money in the middle, and deliver very little in return, plus avoid all the liabilities. their approach ensures their mediocrity because they have no incentive. they just collect the toll, and the others have to make sure to be “compatible” to plays for sure however Microsoft changes their coding.
to summarize:
as usual, Microsoft took the approach which ensures mediocrity, and Apple took the approach which demands superiority. telling, isn’t it?
one question:
as a consumer, especially if you purport to support competition, freedom, and excellence, which should you choose?
mediocrity or superiority?
iPod and iTunes is NOT all marketing. it took years of substance before the marketing caught on. I mean, $400 for 5 Gb? gimme a break. but that’s how it started. give credit when it’s due, and keep giving to make it even better!
as i have said before – I am a Mac user. I love my iPod and iTunes.
But why can’t you people accept that fact that apple has the chance of fscking up in the music world.
MDN is one of the most hated sites in the Mac community. Its a disgrace to all Mac users.
and all the fsck heads here are soo naive. microsoft is much better in areas apple totally suck at – development tools. and don’t give me xcode crap. if apple improved in this area, maybe it would get more developers.
I Love Apple. I Love my Mac. I love my iPod + iTunes. I HATE MDN
Obligatory Remarks: I’d much rather see Microsoft fail due to sheer market forces. If it was broken up, it could always say, “We would have ruled the world if not for the DOJ…”
Oh yeah, and once again MS has it ass-about. Gates says you choose your music store first, then your player. Tell that to the majority iPod users!
mac_user!
MDN does sometimes go over the top on its MS-bashing. But this is understandable.
Just look what we’re up against.
Michael’s arguments are right.
Munich wanted to go Linux and get away from Windows – the first large city in the western world to ‘try’.
The plans have been shelved. Why?
Presure from politicians.
Why? …. ?
Use your imagination mac_user.
This is really frightening.
This is the richest firm in the history of the world STOPPING AT NOTHING to retain its dominance.
I think in termso of the M$ sales pitch or marketing message, the Plays for Sure slogan is just going to be confusing for consumers – especially if they realise it doesnt work with the iPod.
The player compatibility issue is a non-issue. M$ are preaching to an audience that doesnt exist.
MAC USER:
“can the fsck heads at MDN shut the fsck up about Microsoft for once.
why are so guys sooo into bashing ms? its sad.”
IF YOU WANT TO FSCK OFF THAT WILL DO US ALL A FAVOUR!
Why don’t you trade in your crappy old Imac for a Dell!
This was interesting from the article:
“A central part of these new offerings is the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, which enables consumers to store music, photos and video in a central location.”
URRM – Call me a thicko – but OSX has stored images/photos/movies in one location since the beta version!
Why o why do M$ need to create a ‘Windows MEdia Centre’ version of the OS when all they got do do is sort out their crappy code in the basic windows OS so that all images/photos/movies are stored in one place (e.g the ‘home’ folder).
Talk about rip consumers off!!
OH AND I FORGOT – MICROSOFT IS PRO CHOICE! -LLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!
PULL THE OTHER ONE MONKEY BOY – GO DANCE FOR YOUR PEANUTS!
Mac_user
If you think MDN is extreme in its bashing of MicroSoft, then you should consider the 4-letter words which you use with some frequency, e.g. hate, f*ck and cr@p.
“MDN is one of the most hated sites in the Mac community. Its a disgrace to all Mac users. “
How do you know MDN is the most hated site? Is it a straw poll of one?
And clearly some people enjoy having a go at Microsoft, so I would hardly say that MDN is a “disgrace”. It is easier to say that your extreme language is a disgrace.
Now for something lighter! We have had many alternatives to MicroSoft (e.g. MicroSh*t etc., and now we have PaysForShure. Anyone got an alternative for WMA?
John
‘It’s not likely consumers are going to go to a music store, look for a particular logo and then go buy a player with that logo on it … “
Weird, exactly one of my statements here in MDN, almost word for word.
When all those music stores where popping around my take was that people choose the player, THEN the store that is supporting it.
Apple equation is very easy: “Get the iPod and there is the best music store around fully supporting it. On Mac and on Windows.”
It would be very weird to see the opposite (searching on google for music download store, fined the one you like, then google around to find which player go with it, shop for it. Crazy at best.
but seriously… i won’t pay a few hundred bucks for a music player… ipod shouldn’t be the only player compatible with iTunes.
It should be an open standard.
The funny thing is… if Apple opened this up… all the zealots on this board who are currently “it’s ipod or nothing” would change face and say it’s a good tactical move Apple’s making.
Don’t kid yourself… apple wants your money… they do make good hardware solutions, but their business model, much like MS is ultimately to a) make money b) effect change and control the market (Empire building)
Microsoft unveils ‘Pays(us)ForSure’! hehe
otto
Apple uses AAC, an open standard; Microsoft uses its own proprietary encoding (WMA?); both Apple & Microsoft use proprietary DRMs � at the moment.
You would have to get the key players (Apple, MicroSoft & Real) to agree an industry standard for the DRMs. That’s a commercial battle which will play out in this arena.
Also, it’s good to make a profit, unless you misuse huge profits as it is said MicroSoft does.
Apple deserves to capitalise on its iPod success (and Windows’ malware problems). But it will have to make some interesting commercial decisions as the music player market unfolds.
John
WMA? Hmmm WarMongersArsenal?
all the fsck heads here are soo naive. microsoft is much better in areas apple totally suck at – development tools. and don’t give me xcode crap
This is so very, very true.
M$ suck at consumer stuff, but they are good at enterprise (or at marketing enterprise ‘solutions’ which fix deficiencies in the other stuff you bought off them at least). I don’t really know how good Visual Studio is under the surface, or Xcode for that matter, but on the surface, Visual Studio pisses all over Xcode. Visual Studio is the more mac-like experience. I’ve never had it crash. Xcode crashes all the time (It’s never lost anything, it does unexpectedly quit regularly – I’ve switched to CodeWarrior).
Oh, and the interface for Media Centre is largely considered to be very good. Very consumer friendly. Very much like a consumer device rather than a PC. Underneath it’s a pile of shit, and limited, but the interface it very good.