Zune File Sharing – Will RIAA be pissed?
Here’s a video of the Zune sharing files with another Zune. Seems like nice user functionality, but I wonder how the RIAA will respond. Maybe MS will just buy the entire recording industry with it’s spare change.
Who will win the MP3 war – Zune or iPod? Tell us what you think at ZuneBunker - the safe place to watch the battle unfold.
September 29th, 2006 at 8:57 am
The RIAA is very likely to be upset. The number of those using this feature for only home-made files is likly to be small so expect a big response, unless it is an artifact of their music store’s licensing arangement.
In terms of the more global question: Zune vs Ipod a lot depends on:
-Zune pricing and final features when released vs Ipod pricing and features (don’t count Apple out for some big surprises.
-How the public perceives the ergonomics and aesthetic qualities of the Zune – it seems rather big and bulky to me, rather like the boxyness of the Handspring Visor Prism vs the Palm Pilot, despite the cool graphics, the Zune does not have the soft edge sleekness of the iPod.
-The Zune’s battery consumption rate. With all that going on, how long does it last?
-How hot does the Zune get – if at all.
-Is there significant danger of cracking a screen that large easily? How long is the screen covered? Is there an equivelant of the Apple care replacement plan?
-Will the zune interface with software packages for slideshows and movie making as the iPod does with the iLife suite? Will its store interface act as a whole media center as the free iTunes package does? Will the Zune store be able to buy from the apple store? Will the Zune suppliers give away free media each week as Apple does?
-Is there any risk of MS running into a patent lawsuit with Apple over its click-wheel as it did over the whole windows interface? Could this be a Blackberry like risk to the whole device?
In any case, the Zune will, must capture some of the market. But Apple’s dominance in this market has come about for a reason – high quality product planning by smart people providing great customer service. Apple got there fastest with the mostest and the bestest. Even if Zune becomes wildly popular, MS has already lost the major battle because the Zune is at the high end of the market and Apple’s media sales are probably dominant in the Shuffle – Nano end, which are/will probably remain at a much lower price point than the Zune.
Will I mind having a 5th gen 30 gb iPod nano when the Zune comes out?
No way. I love how seamlessly it interfaces with my iLife suite, and I don’t even have the current one yet.
Peter, Technical Reviewer and Button Pusher
The Peter Files Blog of Comedy, Satire Commentary and Technology Review