Review of the Microsoft Music Service on Silconvalley.com


I've made no bones about my like of the iTunes Music Store over all the other or soon to be offerings out there, especially the poser Real (can't link you to them, the bastards don't support Mac and if you try to go it redirects you to buy their shitty software.)

Now, for the record I'm not a Microsoft Hater. I'm an open standards lover. Microsoft doesn't do that. Microsoft, as they euphemistically put it 'embrace and extend' a standard so that you have to buy their stuff for it to work right.

I've made no bones about my like of the iTunes Music Store over all the other or soon to be offerings out there, especially the poser Real (can't link you to them, the bastards don't support Mac and if you try to go it redirects you to buy their shitty software.)

Silicon Valley News ran a review of the Microsoft Music (again no Mac support) store. And my favorite quote of the entire article was:

"Microsoft's batch of music products, launched Thursday to challenge Apple's dominant iPod and iTunes, resembles the smart but awkward efforts of a high-school nerd who can't quite match the cooler-than-cool prom king."

Well I think that about sums it up.

You need Internet Explorer 6 for Windows to use the thing, and on top of that it doesn't support the #1 music player, Apple's iPod. For a while their FAQ had a little jab at the iPod and how it doesn't support their service.

One of the things I really am not happy with is the current trend to have 50 different DRM schemes. Apple, Microsoft, Real, and all the other freaking ones out there. Of all of the Microsoft is the most evil because it follows their 'embrace and extend'. I'm concerned that Apple will fuck up their considerable lead by not letting others come to the party. And with recent news blurbs about Microsoft telling the record labels to put strong DRM into their next operating system. It could come to a point where no CD works in anything but an Intel computer running Microsoft's operating system.

While I'm all for the record labels getting bent over, based on past events I see this only ending in one way, and that is with Microsoft owning the records label distribution methods outside of a ancient CD player - even if they let that happen and don't end up licensing it too car stereo manufacturers to 'unlock' the CD. And that my friends, is unacceptable.

Posted: Sat - September 18, 2004 at 10:35 AM           |

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