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Zune — $249.99 On Nov. 14

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-price-war-on-songs dept.

Cubricon writes, "As expected, Microsoft has dropped their price on the Zune in response to Apple's recent iPod updates. Ars Technica has an article that discusses the Zune's use of Microsoft's prepaid 'points' system for songs. Will the masses notice the difference between an iPod and a Zune? Will they want the FM and wireless capabilities?" The Zune lists for $0.99 more than the comparable iPod and songs from the Zune Marketplace will cost just under $0.99.

12 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. FM... by Kaenneth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Everyone should have a battery powered radio receiver. Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Flooding, Volcanos (like Mt. St. Helens) happen, and you need a way to receive emergency information about which way to run.

    1. Re:FM... by Paul+Slocum · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have an iRiver with FM, and I use it all the time. Often I'm listening to NPR in my car and have to run in somewhere, so I just turn on my iRiver and put on my headphones and continue listening wherever I am. Or I turn it on and start it recording and listen to the rest of the program later (thanks to Rockbox)

    2. Re:FM... by kfg · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I live in ice storm country. Happens all the time, if only because when the power goes out the computers go down and the batteries are left to "rot" on the shelves because managment has forgotten how to take your money without 'em.

      You have a different perspective on "looting" if you've been through a disaster or five. Sometimes you've just got to take the fucking shit you need to survive and let the insurance companies deal with it later.

      Do some volunteer work afterwards to deal with the broader social karma.

      KFG

    3. Re:FM... by blowdart · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That would depend on the country. Certainly as the main BBC and local BBC radio stations are on FM in the UK the likelihood is that they would be used. The Cleveland protocol came into force when the Buncefield oil storage depot exploded, and local radio, on FM was used to broadcast advice. The UK government's emergency web site recommends a battery powered or wind up radio. The spoof site is funnier though.

  2. the microsoft way by Scrameustache · · Score: 2, Interesting

    songs from the Zune Marketplace will cost just under $0.99.

    At first...

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  3. What are we, retarded? by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 5, Interesting

    but in the US a point is currently 1.25 cents

    Um, yeah. I'm not buying into some funky dirka-dirka currency that can fluctuate at the company's sheer will.

  4. MTP vs UMS by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Interesting
    > You can mount an iRiver, an iPod, (and I gotta believe a Zune) as a UMS device, working just fine on the "next generation of car stereos with USB."

    Read between the lines of this MS developer's post, in which he says "PlaysForSure does not require devices to support only MTP - UMS can be implemented too, but under certain conditions that prevent newbies from transferring content via MTP, switching to UMS and then calling tech support because they can't find/play their content"...

    Now re-read that sentence while pondering the notion that Zune will not support PlaysForSure.

    This is a Microsoft product. More so than Apple products, less so than Sony products, it's still all about vendor lock-in.

    I speculate that Zune will be an MTP (Media Transfer Protocol)-only device. UMS (USB Mass Storage) cannot be supported, because only by eliminating UMS can Microsoft mandate the use of WMP10/11 and the accompanying XP/Vista DRM platform.

  5. Radios in general by Gadgetfreak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    People think I'm a bit odd... I have a TON of gadgets, but still don't own an iPod or "popular" MP3 player. The reason: Nobody makes one with both an AM/FM tuner in it. So I still use my Panasonic CD player with MP3 capabilities... as it has an AM/FM tuner in it. I enjoy listening to live baseball (and occasionally other sports) games on AM radio, which is why it's of key importance to me. I realize radio is a secondary feature for a music player, but my stance is simple:

    If I'm paying several hundred dollars for a portable player, it should damn well have an FM *AND* AM tuner in it.

    Simple as that. Until then, the CD/MP3 player that cost me $50 3 years ago will do just fine.

    --
    "No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
  6. Re:Sweet by mythz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What REAL competitor? it is a rebadged gigabeat. The difference is that M$ can afford to lose money and spend millions on advertising.

  7. Much Worse than PlaysforSure by MBraynard · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I have a Sandisk player with Yahoo Unlimited and an FM transmitter. Totally content to have everything and owe nothing for $10 a month.

    This is worse because if I actually wanted to BUY a song (own forever, burn to CD, etc.) then it only costs $0.79.

  8. Re:Monday Morning Quarterbacking by roscivs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think the original poster just made a mistake. He's not the only one.

    --
    ~ roscivs
  9. Re:Fuzzy Math? by cuantar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Because of this, Zune songs will actually be *more expensive* than songs from iTMS, because in order to buy just one, someone has to spend a full dollar. One of those points will go unused, sure, but what can you do with one point? Until you spend $79, you won't ever have actually paid $0.9875 for anything. With Apple, at least when you buy a song they only charge you for the price of the song.

    Very sneaky of them.

    --
    Legalize it.