| When we all first heard about Microsoft's | | | | Now, If it was me. I would have even allowed |
| Zune -- it sounded like a decent contender | | | | Zune music to be shared with no restrictions. |
| for an Apple iPod competitor. Big screen, | | | | But I am a communist. |
| video, pictures, wireless sharing of music | | | | |
| plus rewards for people sharing music. It | | | | I am also a realist. Microsoft needed to keep |
| sounded like it was to good to be true (or to | | | | the record labels happy. However, they could |
| good to be Microsoft). It sounded like a big | | | | have easily done this by restricting the |
| fat powerful idea. | | | | sharing of Zune purchased music and allowing |
| | | | a free for all with any other media. |
| But reality and corporate trenches are a | | | | |
| bitch. Here is only some of what went wrong. | | | | I think Microsoft knew this all along, but |
| | | | failed at the negotiations table. |
| Pay Per Sale to Universal | | | | |
| | | | Setting the Price to High |
| Despite what most thing, the decision to pay | | | | |
| Universal for each unit sold was a relatively | | | | If I was Microsoft (what I believe to be a |
| good strategic move. This will force iTunes | | | | smart modern organization), I would have the |
| to renegotiate with potentially different | | | | knowledge that traditional marketing is dead. |
| terms with the Major labels. ("If Microsoft | | | | All the money they spent on TV advertising |
| did it, then so can you"). | | | | campaigns and branding could have been much |
| | | | better spent. |
| However, take special note that giving | | | | |
| Universal a piece of the pie indicated that | | | | They did something right with paying bloggers |
| both sides are in agreement that there is a | | | | to speak Zune and promote/critique it. (This, |
| relatively large amount of piracy that | | | | is not a paid post). |
| happens on these devices. Therefore, the | | | | |
| payment is basically a levy in MP3 players | | | | They should have passed the marketing savings |
| which goes right into the labels pocket. | | | | onto the customers. I would have priced it |
| | | | quite below iPod ($50 dollars seems like a |
| Wireless | | | | doable number minus a multi million dollar |
| | | | advertising campaign). |
| Seth Godin has clearly demonstrated, in his | | | | |
| book The Purple Cow that for a product to be | | | | Combined with wicked sharing functionality, |
| popular, it must be remarkable in some way. | | | | this would have been a low market disruption |
| The wireless feature was it for Microsoft, | | | | that could have changed the world. |
| but here is where they botched the job. | | | | |
| | | | Sadly, many MP3's from SanDisk and creative |
| Here is what they should have done, since | | | | seem to be on par with this initial Zune. |
| they already agreed to pay for the piracy | | | | |
| subsidy. It should have been a free for all. | | | | No Podcast Support |
| Let people share everything that wasn't | | | | |
| purchased from the Zune store. Let them trade | | | | Podcasting is essential. I use my iPod to |
| video, audio, text, ebooks, cracks, patches, | | | | stay updated with News and the going-ons of |
| everything. Publish an API and let people | | | | Silicon Valley. I plug in my iPod, it updates |
| build applications on it. Make it every nerds | | | | my podcasts automagically, and I listen to |
| dream. | | | | them at the gym. I won't buy a Zune because |
| | | | of the inconvenience of this lack of a |
| But they didn't did they? The reality is, | | | | feature. |
| they basically made the wireless connection | | | | |
| useless. Every file that you desire to share, | | | | There inability to have a backbone at the |
| regardless of whether it came from the Zune | | | | negotiations table, the pointless advertising |
| store, or your own CDs is wrapped in a very | | | | campaign, the high cost, and the under |
| restrictive DRM which limits three plays or | | | | utilization of the wireless functionality |
| three days. | | | | will be the death of the first iteration of |
| | | | the Zune. |