I just read an article with Steve Jobs (of Apple Corp fame) denouncing the Microsoft Zune and its great ability to pass a song over to someone and allow it to be played three times.
While I have commented on this, I have now started to realize that Microsoft may either be a secret (or inadvertent) genius.
Think about it…let’s take the Microsoft Xbox. EVERYONE and their dog knows that you can modify this by cracking it open, adding a chip and voila, done. But what do people need to do with it before all of that?
Purchase it. Purchase an honest to goodness Xbox. Not someone’s copy of an Xbox. You have to go out and buy one off the shelf and then lining Microsoft’s pockets with cash.
Granted, they lose money on their game sales, but heck, they’re still making money on the hardware sold.
Now, if we think about this Microsoft Zune player…how long can we anticipate that someone will hack into it so that we can share songs with EVERYONE, with no play limit at all? It will be genius! Everyone will want a hacked Zune player. People have already hacked their iPod but withiout WIFI, there isn’t much you can do in terms of sharing songs easily.
I tip my hat to you Msoft. Clearly, you are not the buffoon I thought you were. However, if you don’t know yourself, then I suppose you’re just the inadvertent genius.