Microsoft Targets iTunes Prices in New Zune Pass Commercial

[LagunaSol]

I'm not sure the Wii ad the Xbox 360/PS3 are the same market.

Really???? Just because they don't all target the teen hack and slash gamer?

And if they're not in the same market, why did Microsoft introduce their Mii-ripoff avatars? And why is Microsoft working on a motion controller?

Seems they are the same market - Sony and Microsoft just failed to realize it before they got pummeled by the big N.

 

[WeegieMac]

Sorry, but I just can't get over the comedy gold that is Nintendo waltzing in with an underpowered console and absolutely wiping the floor with Sony and Microsoft and all their billions of dollars. Despite the raging derision of Sony and Microsoft and their fanboy masses when the Wii was announced.

True innovation > throwing boatloads of money at a problem.

It's just a beautiful thing.

P.S. did Nintendo sell the GameCube at a loss? Nintendo 64? SuperNintendo? Maybe they did, I don't know.

The Wii wasn't actually that innovative, motion sensor controls have been around in some form for a while, just not as the primary control method.

What Nintendo done brilliantly was get non-gamers into the console by releasing games that could be enjoyed by all ages and which were basic yet fun to play.

They got to the people who didn't care about HDMI, 5.1, 720p, 1080p, Blu-Ray, etc ... and it worked.

I don't game anymore, but I have owned all three consoles at some point. It is amusing to see such an underpowered console lead the market. It remains what I believe is the only true "games console" in the old sense of the term ... my favourite console, despite gaming since the age of 8 and now being 30 (just today incidentally), was the Sega Dreamcast. A pure, unashamed, gaming console. Shame it didn't stand a chance against the shadow of the forthcoming PlayStation 2.

 

[BongoBanger]

Really???? Just because they don't all target the teen hack and slash gamer?

And if they're not in the same market, why did Microsoft introduce their Mii-ripoff avatars? And why is Microsoft working on a motion controller?

Seems they are the same market - Sony and Microsoft just failed to realize it before they got pummeled by the big N.

Eh, dunno. I've had consoles since the SNES came out and the Wii is something totally different - it's very family centric and is largely being bought by people who wouldn't normally get one or as a secondary console for parties or other social occasions (playing Nintendo Sports after a few beers is great fun! ).

As for peripherals, Sega, Sony, Nintendo and latterly MS have been churning these out for years (I had the gun for Resident Evil: Gun Survivor for the PS amongst others). I'm sure they'll continue to do so.

Consoles are funny things - Nintendo led the way for a long time with the SNES, then Sega smashed everyone with the Megadrive, then it was the Playstation then the Wii. We'll need to see what comes next.

 

[powers74]

erased

Another Microsoft ad that successfully illustrates the type of consumers who are likely to buy a Microsoft product, people who have mistaken their own stupidity as thriftiness and who allow a commercial to overwhelm their common sense and their ability to add.

Genius.

And another thing I want to know: When someone decides they want off the Microsoft train and discontinue their subscription *which was a really good deal* do they get to chose those 10 songs per month, or does MS just wipe them out indiscriminately?

 

[LagunaSol]

What Nintendo done brilliantly was get non-gamers into the console by releasing games that could be enjoyed by all ages and which were basic yet fun to play.

Isn't that "innovation?" Gaming (Sony and Microsoft style) had become a boring fragfest of monotonous FPS, racing, and sports games with steep learning curves and complex control schemes. Nintendo simply brought gaming back to the masses.

The problem with Sony and Microsoft is they only considered video resolution and polygon counts to be "innovation" - when obviously the consumer was looking for something else entirely.

 

[GenNovE]

1) It wouldn't be different.

2) I like to see choice, even if all the choices available aren't my cup of tea.

3) Apple wouldn't run an ad with such an obvious play on customer ignorance. $30,000 to fill an iPod, what a crock of dung.

1. how would it be different?

2. I AGREE 100%

3. How is it an obvious play on customer ignorance? If apple advertizes that their ipod can hold up to 30k songs. Isnt it obvious that it would take 30k songs @ 99 cents each to fill it up?

If anything this ad is attacking the obvious. IPOD HOLDS 30K SO IF I WANTED TO FILL IT UP BY BUYING MUSIC FROM THE ITUNES STORE IT WOULD TAKE 30K TO DO IT.

 

[Sehnsucht]

The ignorance...

Eventually digital format will evolutionaize and the only way it will do it is by being clouded. PHYSICAL FORMAT IS DEAD is only alive to people who refuse to let go of the past. WHO WANTS TO OWN 1000Cds taking up space?

Ugh...not that BS about "the cloud" again. Physical format is NOT dead. CDs may eventually become obsolete, but that nonsense about "the cloud" needs to stop. For one thing, music can be owned digitally without being "in the cloud." Do you have any idea how quickly storage capacities are growing every year, and how much cheaper this massive storage is becoming? I just purchased a 32 GB flash drive. Nearly seven years ago, I paid close to $70 for a 256 megabyte drive. Now there are 32 GB flash drives and we'll soon be seeing 64, 128, and eventually 256 GB flash drives. There will always be more than enough room for storing data that people own themselves, not "store in the cloud."

And please don't try to act as though Microsoft is on the bleeding edge of technological advancement here. They are greedy scam-artists who are portraying themselves as the Dollar Tree of tech companies. Give me a break.

3. How is it an obvious play on customer ignorance? If apple advertizes that their ipod can hold up to 30k songs. Isnt it obvious that it would take 30k songs @ 99 cents each to fill it up?

Apple has to advertise it that way PRECISELY because of customer ignorance. There are quite a few people who have absolutely no idea what a "gigabyte" is...trust me, I have to deal with people like this every day at work. "What's a megagig?"

Simple fact: Apple (and all other MP3 player companies) have to advertise an approximation of the number of songs that could in theory fit on the MP3 player, since if they just said, "This is 8 GB," a lot of people would ask, "Uhhh..what's eight 'jee-bee'?"

 

[LagunaSol]

1. how would it be different?

3. How is it an obvious play on customer ignorance? If apple advertizes that their ipod can hold up to 30k songs. Isnt it obvious that it would take 30k songs @ 99 cents each to fill it up?

If anything this ad is attacking the obvious. IPOD HOLDS 30K SO IF I WANTED TO FILL IT UP BY BUYING MUSIC FROM THE ITUNES STORE IT WOULD TAKE 30K TO DO IT.

1. I said it wouldn't be different.

3. My iPod is full. It didn't take me $30k to do it. I know plenty of people with full iPods. None of them spent $30k to do it. The ad is misleading because it grossly distorts reality. It's classic Microsoft FUD.

 

[Melrose]

EDIT: LagunaSol - you beat me to it.

3. How is it an obvious play on customer ignorance? If apple advertizes that their ipod can hold up to 30k songs. Isnt it obvious that it would take 30k songs @ 99 cents each to fill it up?

If anything this ad is attacking the obvious. IPOD HOLDS 30K SO IF I WANTED TO FILL IT UP BY BUYING MUSIC FROM THE ITUNES STORE IT WOULD TAKE 30K TO DO IT.

I don't agree - most people already have a music collection. Someone doesn't wake up when they're 30 and go "Hey, I think I'll go out and get a whole bunch of music. Let's start shopping for what's available." Likewise anyone who views that M$ ad isn't going to say to himself "Wow! I guess it's time I started owning some music! Boy, this Zune looks like a great deal!"

I got an iPod and already had 98% of the music in CDs - I've only bought a handful of tracks from iTunes. Most people are the same way. If Apple forced you to buy songs from iTunes as the only way to get music on your iPod then, yeah, the ad makes sense. Otherwise it's just lame.

The ad doesn't play on customer ignorance so much as it plays on M$ ignorance - they seem to forget that anyone seriously considering a player already has a music collection.

 

[WeegieMac]

Isn't that "innovation?" Gaming (Sony and Microsoft style) had become a boring fragfest of monotonous FPS, racing, and sports games with steep learning curves and complex control schemes. Nintendo simply brought gaming back to the masses.

The problem with Sony and Microsoft is they only considered video resolution and polygon counts to be "innovation" - when obviously the consumer was looking for something else entirely.

I wouldn't call that innovation, but that's because I see innovation as something new technically, like the multi-touch interface was an innovation on the iPod when it came to the iPod touch.

What Nintendo did was set a new trend and buck old ones. I'm not disagreeing with you here, so don't take the view that I am, as I agree and commented in the edit to my previous post that the Wii remains the only "gaming console" in the "old skool" term of the word.

I got fed up with the lack of innovation which is why I ditched gaming and I doubt I'll come back any time soon. I remember the excitement when 3D arcade games came to the home for the first time with the PlayStation, we'd never seen games like Tekken, Ridge Racer, WipEout, or Tomb Raider before. Now it's Tekken 6, Ridge Racer 8, WipEout 5, Tomb Raider God Knows How Many, and it's boring.

The Wii is for games, pure and simple. Microsoft and Sony have lost track of what gaming means, although Sony Computer Entertainment were led by Sony Corp when Blu-Ray was included in the PS3 to become Sony's Blu-Ray Trojan Horse, which has hindered the PlayStation brand more than it's helped it. The take up, in comparison with the PS2, over the same timeframe since launch is quite some viewing ... the PS3 lags behind the PS2 by quite a fair sum.

 

[GenNovE]

Ugh...not that BS about "the cloud" again. Physical format is NOT dead. CDs may eventually become obsolete, but that nonsense about "the cloud" needs to stop. For one thing, music can be owned digitally without being "in the cloud." Do you have any idea how quickly storage capacities are growing every year, and how much cheaper this massive storage is becoming? I just purchased a 32 GB flash drive. Nearly seven years ago, I paid close to $70 for a 256 megabyte drive. Now there are 32 GB flash drives and we'll soon be seeing 64, 128, and eventually 256 GB flash drives. There will always ample room to store data that people own themselves, not "store in the cloud."

And please don't try to act as though Microsoft is on the bleeding edge of technological advancement here. They are greedy scam-artists who are portraying themselves as the Dollar Tree of tech companies. Give me a break.

What is funny is that the reality behind it there are millions spent on making you believe physical media is still relevant.

Do you know how many companies would cease to exist if people really embraced technology for what it is?

I mean everybody is entitled to having their own opinion. but I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT EVERYTHING I OWN IS IN THE CLOUDE BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

I use mobileme FOR ALL MY PICTURES AND VIDEOS I USE IDISK FOR ALL MY DOCUMENTS. My iphone have access to all my pictures and videos, documents and music over 200gb worth of media and not even touching 200mb of my phones drive.

I have no need for physical media. I USE MY IPHONE to access documents.
Take this for example i went to register for school i needed copies of my tax forms and I WAS MISSING my 2007 form. I SIMPLY LOGGED ON TO MY IDISK EMAILED THE FORM TO THE STUDENT ADVISOR and was on my way.

No need for flash or usb drive. COUNTLESS OF LIKE EVENTS PLAY OUT ALMOST DAILY FOR ME.

I CAN GO ON BUT I GUESS IM LEAVING IN THE FUTURE BY MYSELF.

And no think otherwise. MICROSOFT IS A FADING FLAME LACKING CREATIVITY.

 

[WeegieMac]

I think the bottom line here is that anyone who agrees with Microsoft's latest offering is kidding themselves on.

The advert is only true IF someone went out of their way to fill a 120GB iPod with music bought only from the iTunes Store.

Are we to assume that every iPod owner, even 25% of them, don't own a single CD album? To do so would be absurd, everyone has a CD collection of some kind when they move to MP3 storage.

I posted a screen of my iTunes library with 142 albums (now 143 because I just imported another CD), all but one of which were imported from owned CD's and CD's borrowed from friends/family. One album, one single album, was bought on iTunes and it was out of morbid curiosity that I done so.

 

[hazza.jockel]

I realize this is a Mac forum but it still gets to me when everyone just poo-poos MS at the first chance. Often in contradictions to what you (as a collective) have said before.

This ad is good. It appeals to people who might spend a lot of money on their music. In case you haven't noticed there is a shortage of money around these days.

I really hope that apple gets blown out of the water by a MS innovation just to see the reactions here. Although Im sure you would find the bad side of it.

 

[GenNovE]

I realize this is a Mac forum but it still gets to me when everyone just poo-poos MS at the first chance. Often in contradictions to what you (as a collective) have said before.

This ad is good. It appeals to people who might spend a lot of money on their music. In case you haven't noticed there is a shortage of money around these days.

I really hope that apple gets blown out of the water by a MS innovation just to see the reactions here. Although Im sure you would find the bad side of it.

Thank you.


I visit this forum daily it is awesome but the stubbornness of believing apple is the god company is unbelievable.
You are quick to hear how microsoft sucks but say nothing drastic when apple releases a laptop with numerous issues.
instead you read things like ...I KNOW APPLE WILL FIX IT SOON...And sometimes issues dont get resolved till years later..

Macrumors is an apple infantry.

 

[WeegieMac]

I realize this is a Mac forum but it still gets to me when everyone just poo-poos MS at the first chance. Often in contradictions to what you (as a collective) have said before.

This ad is good. It appeals to people who might spend a lot of money on their music. In case you haven't noticed there is a shortage of money around these days.

I really hope that apple gets blown out of the water by a MS innovation just to see the reactions here. Although Im sure you would find the bad side of it.

No, no, no ... who is "poo-pooing" Microsoft at the first chance?

I've looked at the facts, facts which were omitted from the advert to suit Microsoft's side of the argument. Who would fill an iPod with only iTunes Store purchases? Realistically?

People import their CD collection to iTunes first and foremost, with iTunes as an option moving forward if people no longer wish to buy/keep physical media. If people wish to continue buying CD's then they will do so and import them to iTunes to transfer to their iPod when on the go.

It's THAT simple.

 

[WeegieMac]

Thank you.


I visit this forum daily it is awesome but the stubbornness of believing apple is the god company is unbelievable.

Macrumors is an apple infantry.

And Microsoft "fans" who refuse to see the facts which are so obvious it's embarrassing to have to point them out in the first place, are what bring this forum down in my opinion.

 

[BongoBanger]

I got fed up with the lack of innovation which is why I ditched gaming and I doubt I'll come back any time soon. I remember the excitement when 3D arcade games came to the home for the first time with the PlayStation, we'd never seen games like Tekken, Ridge Racer, WipEout, or Tomb Raider before. Now it's Tekken 6, Ridge Racer 8, WipEout 5, Tomb Raider God Knows How Many, and it's boring.

The Wii is for games, pure and simple. Microsoft and Sony have lost track of what gaming means.

I agree with you - the last console I bought was an Xbox 360 which I sold about a month later. The games were all carbon copies of games that were released years ago with prettier graphics and there was nothing there (a few exclusives aside which I got through pretty quickly) that my Quad Core couldn't do better anyway.

The trouble is that there's only so much you can do with gaming and too much of that is centered around focus groups which on the face of it appear to be comprised of slack jawed imbeciles. That said, there are a few rays of light starting to emerge from the dross although nothing in the same class as the original Tomb Raider or Gran Turismo for example.

Those games used to keep me in front of the TV for hours. Sadly there's nothing that really does that on the console front anymore. Mind you, the Wii is very much a short duration machine and, if I'm being honest, a bit of a dust magnet - a lot of people bought them for Wii Sports or Wii Fit and now they get pulled out once in a blue moon.

I'm sticking to PC gaming for now as there are quite a few good games popping up at the moment and in the pipeline. Not as many as years past but still enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[GenNovE]

And Microsoft "fans" who refuse to see the facts which are so obvious it's embarrassing to have to point them out in the first place, are what bring this forum down in my opinion.

I OWN A MACPRO, IPHONE, MACBOOK & IMAC.
I BUILT MY OWN HTPC & I HAVE A UBUNTU NETBOOK.

I use mobileme for cloud and use google docs etc.

That should sum up my love for microsoft.

 

[BMWFan]

Here is a very unsatisfied long time mac user who's had enough of apple and wants to switch to pc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fErFSBoj3h4

 

[WeegieMac]

One 14 track CD album, ripped at 192kps, comes in at a rough size of 56mb.

One chart CD album, bought from Tesco here in the UK, costs £8.99. Older albums, especially by the likes of Metallica cost more in the UK. Back catalogue does, but I won't consider that in this.

1000mb divided by one album @ 56mb = 17 albums.

17 albums @ £8.99 = £152.83.

1GB = 17 albums = £152.83
120GB = 2040 albums = £18,339.60 which is almost the exact amount quoted in the Microsoft advert ($30,000 or £20,000).

So really, the argument could also be "choose to fill your iPod with songs bought from HMV or any online retailer, and it could cost you $30,000 (£20,000).

Microsoft's argument is null and void, because you have to spend somewhere to fill any digital media device and the $14.99 subscription needs to be continually paid otherwise every song downloaded fails to play except the 10 you get to choose to keep per month, equivalent to just one very small album.

 

[WeegieMac]

I OWN A MACPRO, IPHONE, MACBOOK & IMAC.
I BUILT MY OWN HTPC & I HAVE A UBUNTU NETBOOK.

I use mobileme for cloud and use google docs etc.

That should sum up my love for microsoft.

I wasn't making any insinuation of your love for Microsoft, I was simply stating what brings this forum down, in my opinion, using your own point as a trigger.

I'll happily slate Apple when it's merited but Microsoft's argument is flawed in this case, as I proved in my previous and most recent post.

 

[powers74]

innovation

The Wii wasn't actually that innovative, motion sensor controls have been around in some form for a while, just not as the primary control method.

What Nintendo done brilliantly was get non-gamers into the console by releasing games that could be enjoyed by all ages and which were basic yet fun to play.

That was one of the most contradictory things I have ever read! That IS innovation! It blows my mind how many people think innovation = invention (don't worry, I'm not singling you out). They are not the same any more than a seed and a tree are. You said it right there in your post - key words "Just not". That's innovation. Have motion sensors already been invented? Yep. Had game consoles been invented? Of course. Had someone used a motion sensor to control a game console? Nope. That's innovation. Taking two (or more) things that don't seem natural to anyone else to be together and making it seem natural. Had vacuum cleaners been invented? yes. Had cyclone dust separation been invented? Absolutely. Had anyone put cyclone dust separation into a vacuum cleaner before Dyson? Not to my knowlege.

Sorry, as a designer it just really gets me cooking when I see "It really wasn't that innovative..." when really it was.

 

[GenNovE]

Here is a very unsatisfied long time mac user who's had enough of apple and wants to switch to pc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fErFSBoj3h4

Funny if those 40gb would have ben on the "cloud" she would have had all of it back when she got home or even while at the apple store. Not that cloud thing again physical media rock!!! lol


I love apple.

 

[WeegieMac]

That was one of the most contradictory things I have ever read! That IS innovation! It blows my mind how many people think innovation = invention (don't worry, I'm not singling you out).

Fair enough mate, as I said to the other guy it's down to interpretation of the word ... as you've pointed out yourself.

The Wii didn't really need to do anything innovative in my eyes, it simply brought attention back onto simple, fun, gaming and away from the force fed market of HD and online gaming offered by Microsoft and Sony.

As I said before, my favourite console remains the Dreamcast ... which I imported when it launched in Japan just so I could play Virtua Fighter 3 (I was a huge Sega arcade fan and imported a Saturn before the Dreamcast). It was just a gaming system, nothing more and nothing less, even if it paved the way for online gaming with it's dial up modem and Chu-Chu Rocket!

 

[moussekateer]

I got fed up with the lack of innovation which is why I ditched gaming and I doubt I'll come back any time soon. I remember the excitement when 3D arcade games came to the home for the first time with the PlayStation, we'd never seen games like Tekken, Ridge Racer, WipEout, or Tomb Raider before. Now it's Tekken 6, Ridge Racer 8, WipEout 5, Tomb Raider God Knows How Many, and it's boring.

The Wii is for games, pure and simple. Microsoft and Sony have lost track of what gaming means, although Sony Computer Entertainment were led by Sony Corp when Blu-Ray was included in the PS3 to become Sony's Blu-Ray Trojan Horse, which has hindered the PlayStation brand more than it's helped it. The take up, in comparison with the PS2, over the same timeframe since launch is quite some viewing ... the PS3 lags behind the PS2 by quite a fair sum.

We're going off topic on this thread but I do love gaming talk. I'm a pretty hardcore gamer and a Nintendo fan for pretty much my whole life. The major problem with the Wii is that it's WOW factor disappears pretty quickly. I don't really touch it that often any more and there is a severe lack of quality games available for the console that arent a 'shake or point your wiimote to play minigames'. Nintendo might have innovated but the developers haven't sadly. The only upcoming quality games this year I can think of are probably 'Red Steel' and 'The Conduit'.