“Microsoft has spent the last few years getting smacked around by Apple in the digital-music market, and it must be getting tired of this treatment. So it’s doing something drastic: It’s throwing its own MSN Music store under the bus and launching a new music program that spotlights another company’s service,” Rob Pegoraro reports for The Washington Post. “Microsoft’s new Windows Media Player 11, released in test form last week, looks and works little like older versions of the company’s music and video organizer — starting with its front-and-center placement for Urge, a new music store from MTV.”
Pegoraro reports, “Microsoft and MTV say this integration of software and store offers an ease and simplicity to match iTunes. But if a week’s trial of the service is any clue, Urge will have a hard time competing with such also-rans as Rhapsody, Yahoo and Napster, let alone Apple.”
“Windows Media Player 11 isn’t any old beta release; it’s essentially a system upgrade, one that can be removed only with XP’s System Restore tool. Nobody should install this kind of preview software lightly,” Pegoraro reports. “Like every other Windows Media-based store, Urge suffers from the Not iPod problem — its downloads don’t work on Apple’s elegant music players. Instead, you can choose from a wide assortment of other devices that all seem to fall short of the iPod’s high standards… Not only has MTV failed to match iTunes, it has repeated some of the worst mistakes of earlier iTunes challengers. Apple needs — and customers deserve — vigorous competition. But that’s not going to happen if the best Apple’s rivals can manage is a combination of beta software of dubious reliability and a tie-in to a music TV channel that devotes most of its airtime to things besides music.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Gandalf” for the heads up.]
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Related articles:
USA Today reviews URGE music service: crashed often, not all videos played, trouble playing music – May 18, 2006
MTV, Microsoft URGE music service begins life with a severe handicap – May 17, 2006
MTV’s and Microsoft’s URGE should concern also-rans like Real, Napster and Sony – not Apple – May 15, 2006
MTV’s and Microsoft’s iPod-incompatible URGE online music outfit faces uphill battle – May 15, 2006
EMI Music Chairman: Music subscription services like Napster and Rhapsody haven’t beeen huge – January 23, 2006
Oppenheimer downgrades RealNetworks based on Microsoft’s ‘URGE’ partnership with MTV – December 15, 2005
MTV-Microsoft URGE music service not targeting iPod, iTunes users; Real CEO PlayedForSure? – December 13, 2005
MTV and Microsoft team up for new digital music service ‘URGE’ – December 13, 2005
Study shows Apple iTunes Music Store pay-per-download model preferred over subscription service – April 11, 2005
OMFG, I think I’ve stumbled upon MS and MTV’s horrible secret ! ! !
Ready?
URGE is an anagram for Grue.
Are you now as spooked out as I am? <shudder>
I was eaten by a Grue in Zork many a time. Keep your lantern lit!
It is dark…you are likely to be eaten by a Grue
BTW: The Enchanter trilogy was the BEST. I solved the first 2 – Enchanter and Sorcerer (although I did have to get a cheat sheet for the maze near the end of Sorcerer). Spellbreaker is nearly impossible. I couldn’t solve it. I still have it running on a C64 emulator on my Win notebook though. I will not give up. I have a cheat file for it, but cannot even get far enough to where I want to look at it – I think it’s the hardest Infocom game ever made.
Is there an infocom parser for OSX? I’ve seen the original Z i-iii as actual programs, but I haven’t looked any further than that.
I was amused by the article’s slam against an iRiver player. I get so sick of Slashdot geeks going on about how indisputably superior iRiver players are to the iPod.
With all the hype that has been given and the failure of delivery it’s time once again to purge the urge.
GRUE:
And I thought my folks were being cruel. They were actually commenting on my height but what I heard was, “Look you, gruesome.”
Get your Grue on here!
http://ccxvii.net/spatterlight/