While certainly not a good thing for MS, it doesn't look to me like something they're doing to intentionally screw people over. At least if anyone's trying to screw anyone over, it's not MS - maybe the camera store, as another poster pointed out, which I would agree with, based on my own past experience in such establishments. That said, I don't want to specifically implicate anyone of wrongdoing without having complete evidence of such, so for all anyone really knows it could have just been one big unfortunate f---up.
What this does look like is some team within MS that handles some aspect of Bing and/or Bing cashback might not have thought through this whole scenario enough. It looks, though, based on the update provided on the site, that somebody at MS has taken notice of the issue. Whether they take action to prevent future incidences of this, and how quickly and thoroughly they do remains to be seen. Hopefully the folks over at Bing can demonstrate some agility here.
FYI - The original release of the Clix supported MP3, as well as DRM & non-DRM WMA. Newer releases of the firmware also include support for OGG Vorbis, and there is also a firmware that supports Rhapsody - so it's plausible that, even if MTV were to totally pull the plug on their existing WMP11 store, that there is a feasible migration path for their existing subscriber base. That would still amount to a bit of a dick move in my book on MTV's part, but I don't think it's a total catastrophe.
FWIW - My favorite music is always on CD and ripped to my computers for device sync. I still love going into an indie record store, chatting it up with fellow music lovers. Subscription services are nice and great for discovering new music, but I never put too much stock in them precisely because that music could suddenly be unplayable next month and need to be deleted.
As a proud Clix owner myself - still eagerly awaiting that 8GB Clix2 - I'm disappointed with MTV for ditching PlaysForSure, but I don't think it's the end of the world
I thought I'd just write yet another knee-jerk reaction to yet another macboy's rationalization of blatently one-sided yellow tech journalism, but I decided to RTFA before making an ass of myself. What do you know? My knee-jerk reaction was right.
Seriously, all this article was missing was a picture of Steve Jobs kissing a baby. Maybe on the web version they could've thrown in some of that background music from the WWII newsreels...
And, wow, you actually approve of sensationalist journalism, and average joe doesn't actually want to hear real news - just what he would want to hear? Never mind actually informing average joe, that might require research and objectivity! That's just cramping his style, so it's ok for him.
Wait, hang on - maybe this was just an opinion article by a guy with an opinion - nope! It's a tech article by a guy who "writes on technical and computer issues".
I'd be surprised if this guy actually paid for his iPod.
The MTP driver in Windows Media Player 11 does implement uploading files from device to PC. Plus, drag-and-drop through the shell extension is still there and MTP devices still don't require a 3rd-party driver install.
Have I missed any hard drive functions you would want to have in a "it-just-works" media player?
If you really want an MSC-based media player (and don't care much about DRM support), you can still find them. You might have to look online, though, but they're out there. I know that iriver still makes a few MSC media players. In fact, the only MTP-only device they make is the Clix, which is, by many accounts, one of the best, if not the best, MTP-based media player on the market right now.
...it would take at least an hour pointing out all the blatent inaccuracies (I'll give the benefit of the doubt and not call the author a liar, for now), which could be better spent on actual work, and would probably get modded -57 anyway for taking a non-anti-microsoft stance on an issue on Slashdot and never be actually read by anyone.
I will, however, voice my agreement with the "fud" tag applied to the article.
Subscription is not rental. Rental occurs on a per-track basis for a given period (defined by the service) and is not automatically renewed. Subscription allows access to an entire online media library for a given period (defined by the service) and must be automatically renewed by the service. If they do it right, you shouldn't have to re-sync your device to update the licenses any more than you would have to for recharging the battery.
Rental just doesn't work for music, as many people here happily point out. It is nice for movies, seeing as the studios seem very reluctant to lower full-length hollywood movie purchase prices below $20. $2-$3 a night is still a bit 7-11 to Blockbuster's supermarket, but more competition and more volume will undoubtedly lower that price over time. If movie purchase prices go lower than $10 across the board, then rental may even start to go away altogether.
So, does the idea of a subscription movie service sound a little better now? (I know, I'm on Slashdot. This is just asking for flamage, isn't it?:))
Personally, I'd rather take my 20000+ legally downloaded tracks from Urge (and still scratching the surface) for $15/month over paying $20000+ to Apple. If/when I ever unsubscribe to Urge, I will know exactly which tracks to actually buy, if necessary.
PlaysForSure is not DRM. WM-DRM is DRM. Both PlaysForSure and Zune use WM-DRM. PlaysForSure is nothing more than a logo slapped on a player (portable or network connected) saying that it will play any music or video purchased from a store that also has the logo. Zune is a player and a store that are tightly integrated together to enable some of the little niceties that are harder to do when one has to worry about being compatible with a variety of devices or a variety of online media stores.
Also, if you're going to accuse MS of lying and glorify Apple, perhaps you can tell me how Windows Media Player 10 and 11 don't have auto sync, as Apple claims on their web site?
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While certainly not a good thing for MS, it doesn't look to me like something they're doing to intentionally screw people over. At least if anyone's trying to screw anyone over, it's not MS - maybe the camera store, as another poster pointed out, which I would agree with, based on my own past experience in such establishments. That said, I don't want to specifically implicate anyone of wrongdoing without having complete evidence of such, so for all anyone really knows it could have just been one big unfortunate f---up.
What this does look like is some team within MS that handles some aspect of Bing and/or Bing cashback might not have thought through this whole scenario enough. It looks, though, based on the update provided on the site, that somebody at MS has taken notice of the issue. Whether they take action to prevent future incidences of this, and how quickly and thoroughly they do remains to be seen. Hopefully the folks over at Bing can demonstrate some agility here.
Kudos to the finder for bringing this up.
FYI - The original release of the Clix supported MP3, as well as DRM & non-DRM WMA. Newer releases of the firmware also include support for OGG Vorbis, and there is also a firmware that supports Rhapsody - so it's plausible that, even if MTV were to totally pull the plug on their existing WMP11 store, that there is a feasible migration path for their existing subscriber base. That would still amount to a bit of a dick move in my book on MTV's part, but I don't think it's a total catastrophe.
FWIW - My favorite music is always on CD and ripped to my computers for device sync. I still love going into an indie record store, chatting it up with fellow music lovers. Subscription services are nice and great for discovering new music, but I never put too much stock in them precisely because that music could suddenly be unplayable next month and need to be deleted.
As a proud Clix owner myself - still eagerly awaiting that 8GB Clix2 - I'm disappointed with MTV for ditching PlaysForSure, but I don't think it's the end of the world
I thought I'd just write yet another knee-jerk reaction to yet another macboy's rationalization of blatently one-sided yellow tech journalism, but I decided to RTFA before making an ass of myself. What do you know? My knee-jerk reaction was right.
Seriously, all this article was missing was a picture of Steve Jobs kissing a baby. Maybe on the web version they could've thrown in some of that background music from the WWII newsreels...
And, wow, you actually approve of sensationalist journalism, and average joe doesn't actually want to hear real news - just what he would want to hear? Never mind actually informing average joe, that might require research and objectivity! That's just cramping his style, so it's ok for him.
Wait, hang on - maybe this was just an opinion article by a guy with an opinion - nope! It's a tech article by a guy who "writes on technical and computer issues".
I'd be surprised if this guy actually paid for his iPod.
The MTP driver in Windows Media Player 11 does implement uploading files from device to PC. Plus, drag-and-drop through the shell extension is still there and MTP devices still don't require a 3rd-party driver install.
Have I missed any hard drive functions you would want to have in a "it-just-works" media player?
If you really want an MSC-based media player (and don't care much about DRM support), you can still find them. You might have to look online, though, but they're out there. I know that iriver still makes a few MSC media players. In fact, the only MTP-only device they make is the Clix, which is, by many accounts, one of the best, if not the best, MTP-based media player on the market right now.
...it would take at least an hour pointing out all the blatent inaccuracies (I'll give the benefit of the doubt and not call the author a liar, for now), which could be better spent on actual work, and would probably get modded -57 anyway for taking a non-anti-microsoft stance on an issue on Slashdot and never be actually read by anyone. I will, however, voice my agreement with the "fud" tag applied to the article.
Rental just doesn't work for music, as many people here happily point out. It is nice for movies, seeing as the studios seem very reluctant to lower full-length hollywood movie purchase prices below $20. $2-$3 a night is still a bit 7-11 to Blockbuster's supermarket, but more competition and more volume will undoubtedly lower that price over time. If movie purchase prices go lower than $10 across the board, then rental may even start to go away altogether.
So, does the idea of a subscription movie service sound a little better now? (I know, I'm on Slashdot. This is just asking for flamage, isn't it? :))
Personally, I'd rather take my 20000+ legally downloaded tracks from Urge (and still scratching the surface) for $15/month over paying $20000+ to Apple. If/when I ever unsubscribe to Urge, I will know exactly which tracks to actually buy, if necessary.
Whoa - Easy there, trigger.. let's get our facts straight, shall we?
PlaysForSure is not DRM. WM-DRM is DRM. Both PlaysForSure and Zune use WM-DRM. PlaysForSure is nothing more than a logo slapped on a player (portable or network connected) saying that it will play any music or video purchased from a store that also has the logo. Zune is a player and a store that are tightly integrated together to enable some of the little niceties that are harder to do when one has to worry about being compatible with a variety of devices or a variety of online media stores.
Also, if you're going to accuse MS of lying and glorify Apple, perhaps you can tell me how Windows Media Player 10 and 11 don't have auto sync, as Apple claims on their web site?