Slashdot Mirror
Music Biz Figures Into 360 Strategy
C|Net has up a story discussing the thought processes on the Redmond campus, as they plan a way for the Xbox 360 to have a meaningful participation in the music market. Most likely, this will be through the upcoming Microsoft commercial download service. From the article: "The Xbox is widely viewed as a successful consumer product, and the new version will be more deeply integrated into home networks and digital living room systems. Making it a platform for digital music purchases or subscriptions could help solidify a consumer foundation that remains shaky."
So because Microsoft was late to the digital download market, they figured that releasing a bunch of digital music stores based on WMA and meant to be used by WindowsMediaPlayer they were going to somehow make a dent in iTMS revenue and market share?
And on the heels of that "success" they are now pushing the next gen Xbox as a competitor to the iPod? I bet they're all standing around in Redmond wondering "I just don't understand why this isn't working..."
Here's to hoping they still don't get it for a long time to come!
What? No, you say? Well... I don't really have much use of an Xbox playing music other than a novelty.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
I think there is too much marriages going on... the games are going to be filled with crappy music, they will be littered with ads ingame, flashed in our faces on TV... but, will any games actually be any good? It's all over-hyped.
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
First of all, unless the interface for doing it is really good, most people would rather use their computers. I've never used any of Microsoft's music store programs so I can't say whether or not they're worth using.
Also, because the next-gen consoles are not going to support dial-up, people who don't have access to broadband services won't be able to use the service.
Unless you'll be able to transfer the music files off your HD, the service will be completely worthless. MS has said you'll be able to view files on your PC on the Xbox through some form of connection, but I don't know if it works the other way around.
The original Xbox had a file system that a PC couldn't handle, so you can't just take the HD out and stick it in a PC. The only way to do it was to FTP to your Xbox. I'm not sure if this required modding it or not.
Additionally, with a 20 GB HD, an Xbox 360 would be a slightly more expensive, larger, and significantly less portable iPod or MP3 player. Unless they can offer a subscription service for an Xbox that's really cheap to justify possibly not being able to move the songs elsewhere (can you even burn CDs?) I don't forsee anyone buying it.
The article isn't too clear on exactly how the Xbox 360 will play into the online music business, but I can't see too many practical fits for it. Sure you could download music onto it, but why not just download it on your computer and transfer it to the Xbox, or buy a CD and copy it to the HD? Using a gaming console for music is really stretching it.
...does the 360 still play games?
next thing you know, people will start saying that Nintendo will die because they dont offer music downloads/home jukebox/AC unit controls with the Rev. --- Parallel to DVD playback this gen.
What will be the big 'useless but must-have' feature after the next gen? Oh the shame of making something that ONLY plays games!
Perhaps TFA would explain this more clearly if I bothered to read it, but I doubt it.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
With Apple, they don't even pretend to play with others on DRM...while Microsoft promoted the tech to 'partners' while working on competing services.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
are you joking about the limitation of playing secured wma files being a limitation of the ipod? i guess in that school of thought its a limitation of the xbox360 if its not able to play the secured files downloaded off of itunes or from your ipod.
There's a difference. Microsoft is willing to sell licenses for its secure format to other established companies that make playback hardware. Apple is not.
Cool, you installed an XBox 360 into Terri Shiavo? Will she run Linux now? (probable answer: Yes but I couldn't get her to leave hibernation mode)
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
the Home Entertainment division is in the crosshairs of the MS bean counters and they are itching to pull the trigger and put a quick end to the mess.
This is very likely, hoever if Sony is serious about shipping the PS3 HardDrive with Linux then M$ may see it as a signifigant enough threat to pump another couple billion dollars into their XBox division. Even Microsoft has to draw a line somewhere though.
I predict that if the XBox 360 doesn't post a profit within 2 years it will get nixed. Hmmm, that sounds a lot like what happened with the dreamcast...
Will I be able to put a 360 in my pocket for music while I exercise, etc? Or will it require a backpack with a spinal tap, ala the Borg...
Did you guys read about the iPod 720 that will play every game ever invented?
Neither did I. Jack of all trades, MaSter(bater) of even more.
I believe by "Marketplace losers" the grandparent was talking about finances. I'm not sure how much M$ has lost in the XBox venture but it's well over a billion dollars now. Microsoft's XBox division has been able to post a loss every quarter except for the one quarter when Halo2 was released.
Xbox Back to Losses
Now that more and more CDs are now crippled copy protected versions, will the Xbox still be able to rip them? If not maybe people might start to wake up and get angry about fair use going down the toilet. Or perhaps I live in a fantasy world.
Because that's not their department?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
the point is just as you say; MS is willing to sell its licenses. it wants everyone to play by its rules and follow its vision. what about the vision of others? getting away from /just/ music, look at some of the other more popular media formats. divx, xvid, mp4... when MS decides that it is willing to go that extra mile to incorporate those into xbox360 or even WMP itself, then you wont have these issues. MS is willing to play nice with everyone, but only if they are playing by MS's rules in the first place.
apple has a similar stance. its just that apple is more outwardly honest: now that they have the best product on the block doesnt mean that they HAVE to share with everyone. its a messed up stance on their part, but at least its honest.
The people at M$ have said that the 360 will be compatible with every MP3 player on the market (including the iPod)...so it won't be pointless at all. Also, how many people that download music actually download it with a dial up connection?
------So says the Godfather, Amen...
The current X-Box has only drawn profit for one quarter out of the 4 years it's been out. I don't think Microsoft cares if they lose money. They know that if they can keep throwing enough at the games industry, they can infect and destroy all competition.