I think the Zune's closed-DRM approach is a terrible idea from the consumer standpoint. It may be great for boosting the income of the Zune division, but this type of system plays on the average consumer's ignorance of the evils of DRM. It's as if Microsoft looked for reasons why the iPod is so successful and the only thing they could come up with was that iPod-compatible, DRM'd music can only be purchased from Apple. How on earth can this be viewed as a positive when every tech blogger on earth has complained about investing hundreds of dollars in iTunes purchases, which can only be used on one brand of device?
If we have to accept DRM as a necessary evil, then I'd much rather deal with the greater selection of stores and devices offered by the PlaysForSure system than yet another 'one player - one store' system like Zune Marketplace or iTunes.
Wake up Microsoft! There are so many great things about the iPod that you could have implemented on the Zune (like the amazing integration between player and software), why would you focus on copying one of iPod's biggest flaws?
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