Zune Pass More Affordable than iTunes, According to Microsoft

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 12 May 2009

Redmond-based software developer Microsoft is really driving in the idea that its products are affordable and provide the highest quality for that price –at least that is what Windows Communications Manager Brandon LeBlanc said when Microsoft launched the Laptop Hunters ad campaign. “We define the right value as simply benefits + cost. Windows PCs offer more bang for the buck” said LeBlanc at the time.

Barely has the latest Laptop Hunters ad annoyed Mackies all over the world by claiming a $2000 MacBook is not suited for an artist that wants a powerful machine to perform video editing tasks, that Microsoft is launching one other ad that touts its products’ affordability. This time the ad focuses on Microsoft’s Zune music player and claims that storing 120 GB of music on an iPod via iTunes will cost you $30,000. A Zune Pass on the other hand will only set you back $15 per month. You can watch the video for yourself here.

So what Microsoft is basically saying is that with a Zune Pass you have access to all the music you want, for as little as $15 per month, which is better than spending $30K on 120GB worth of music. The catch is (of course there is a catch, you wouldn’t expect an ad to be truthful, now did you?) that when you purchase a song from iTunes, it is yours to keep. With the Zune Pass, you do not purchase anything, you are just granted access to music; when you give up in your Zune Pass subscription, that music goes away with too.

In all fairness to Microsoft, Zune Pass does allow you to keep some tracks. Back in November 2008 General Manager of Global Marketing for Zune at Microsoft, Chris Stephenson announced that “the way people consume music has changed” and consequently Zune Pass will allow subscribers to save 10 songs per month. Each month you get to keep 10 of your favorite songs, for good. Going by this judgment, filling a 120GB device with music will take an estimated 250 years, which is way past the average life span of any human, no matter how much you take care of your body (and during that incredibly long amount of time you will have spent $45K on your Zune Pass subscription).



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