The Chicago Tribune’s James Coates takes “a look at [his] last week’s column about Microsoft’s new Zune music and movie store and associated player. It gave a confused description of what will go into that great Wiki in the Sky as the day Mighty Microsoft corrupted a once-praised program called ‘Plays for Sure.’ Plays for Suckers would be more accurate.”
“I waxed poetically about Zune last week largely because it is based on Microsoft’s extremely well-protected Windows Media Video software. WMV was supposed to be a universal way for hardware companies as well as record- and movie-makers to be sure that the users of various mobile players could smoothly use duly licensed songs and shows,” Coates reports.
“The idea behind WMV was that Microsoft would vigilantly protect against efforts to crack WMV’s digital rights management, thus freeing individual movie studios and record companies from the need to produce their own copyright protection,” Coates reports. “Stickers were plastered on players and Web sites endorsed by Microsoft as safe and legal under the Plays for Sure program.”
“Zune, boasted Microsoft, was based on WMV technology for universal protection standards. What it didn’t say at the time, except in the 4th footnote to the product description, was that files bought in Microsoft’s coming Zune store would not work with other copy-protected WMV files even when the owner had a Plays for Sure license,” Coates reports.
“In one fell swoop the company made a mockery of Plays for Sure promises. For example, the exciting new Amazon.com deal to distribute feature-length music and movies from a half-dozen major Hollywood studios and about 30 cable television channels as duly licensed WMVs would not play on Microsoft’s Zune. Plays for Suckers files will only play on all of the other mobile players that Zune will compete against in a marketplace overshadowed by Apple’s iPod,” Coates reports. “I repeatedly asked Microsoft’s representatives to address the ethics of this about-face, but they refused to talk about it.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “obvious” for the heads up.]
We (MDN and MDN readers) should all take credit for this about-face, even if Coates is unable and/or unwilling to give it or to apologize to his readers properly (please see related article below).
As for Coates’ line about “Microsoft’s extremely well-protected Windows Media Video software,” perhaps he should try much harder or just retire now, as he routinely makes glaring mistakes (please see additional related articles).
Related article:
The Chicago Tribune’s Coates: ‘Zune owns the catbird seat thanks to Amazon.com’ – September 17, 2006
Microsoft working to update Windows Media DRM cracked by FairUse4WM – August 29, 2006
Microsoft’s PlaysForSure cracked: FairUse4WM strips Windows Media DRM – August 25, 2006
Well, one down.
Who’s next?
It is about time trolls and winsuckers open their eyes as Coates reluctantly had to do.
Caotes suckers, Plays for Suckers, … the truth is surfacing!
I clicked on the ad to the right of this box that says I can have a FREE local weather indicator to my System Tray!! Sadly, it’s Windows- only. My dreams have been crushed.
Microsoft’s efforts to crush Apple and win over the media content and file format war are going smoothly.
Keyword: “Past” as in that’s where Microsoft is, and will stay.
I wrote this joker an e-mail for being an MS monkeyboy. After reading that article I couldn’t wait to “correct” him.
Wow, Vista soars! I’m gonna dump OSX and get Vista! “It brilliantly and intuitively lets one use a PC with extreme efficiency and/or enjoyment” !
Hot damn, hold me back !!
“extremely well protected” files AND “exciting Amazon service”… what planet is this guy ON?
What a plonker!!!
He calls Widgets, Widgets… but really means Gadgets. Confused?
How can he be in denial that Vista is nothing but a clone of OS X (from day 1) & not OS X 10.4
This makes me angry.
People see what they want to see.
But here you have a chump telling people what he thinks they should see!
LOL OzzysCross trust me, as a windows user you dont want that free weather indicator that brings pop ups everytime you look on a web page that has even the simplest words like “The”
relevent content my ass
Anyway..
They guy is smoking happy weed. Vista is a train wreck!
bozo
S.
Coates seems to suggest that transparent graphics have only been around in the Mac OS since the introduction of Tiger. That’s wrong isn’t it?
This article says a lot about the author. Bizzaro claimed he was “an MS monkeyboy”, well … it appears it just isn’t so. True, he passed along MS press releases without adequate fact-checking, but he came clean once the truth became known. And NOT “on Page 6, below the fold”. Nor did he make any excuses for MS, he came right out and attacked them – “Plays for Suckers” is not the sort of thing a butt-lick would say.
So … call him gullible, or even credulous, but go a bit easier on his ethics. Hmm, question is … would you/he rather be known as an ethical dupe or smart scam artist?
OzzysCross101:
Too bad it doesn’t work on a Mac. But then again, the spyfware that comes with it doesn’t work on a Mac either!
And while I’m sure you were in jest, just a reminder to every Mac OS X Tiger user, there are more weather widgets for Dashboard than you could ever need.
I think you guys at MDN are kinda foolish.
I send you a link when the Sony mylo Personal Communicator comes out. And you say this is not news and it won’t be popular. This thing will contend with the ipod down the line. and you guys don’t have the wisdom to see it. I think you should check out the features and realize that the iPod will have these features soon enough. Sony will also add to the mylo’s feature set. The Mylo is currently 18th on the amazon top sellers list and is getting very popular.
Have a look before you shut people down.
I’m all for Apple. Having been an apple user since 1984. I’m a stock owner, so naturally i look around for stuff that would counter apple’s products.
Check it out.
Yes, haha it was a joke. Naturally, I have my weather widget in Dashboard always there when I need it.
I remember a friend of mine downloading this. When I was on his computer, it was popping up for no apparent reason- and had nothing about weather on it either! He says alot of things on his PC did that anyway, one more thing shouldn’t hurt. I felt bad for him though.
MW: Hmm, wonder what the weather’s like outside? ||Hits F12||. Ah, partly cloudy, 77º. I’m going outside now.
Sony mylo- Windows only, therefore who gives a flying f—
Next up will be Dvorak. He’s been really quiet recently. I think he’s planning on another “article” that will be totally wrong. It will be based on a Zune he gets from Microsoft.
You wait. He’ll do it.
Coates:
“Writes for Suckers”
Black Mac, how is the Mylo related to Mac/Apple/iPod news?
It’s a product that will fail much quicker than even the Zune. Think about it. It has a $350 list price and only 1GB of storage unless you buy additional Memory Sticks, which even then aren’t really going to make this a real media player.
There’s no camera, no other things common to PDAs or cell phones. The communication aspect only works in wi-fi hotspots. As a VoIP phone it sucks, even relative to VoIP phones.
And while you can stream content to someone else who has one, that means you have to actually located 1 of those 12 people in the world and be within a few meters.
There’s no video-out on the thing so forget about hooking it up to a TV. It’s funky with the naming and formating of video files, so you pretty much have to use their software to both convert files and transfer them.
I could go on and on, but there are a ton of better communication devices, a ton of better media devices, and many better combo devices.
i’ve actually used a zune. i have access to one of 350 zunes that microsoft has distributed interally for a beta test.
i also own three ipods and a powerbook.
having said that, i really like the zune. this is apple’s first real competitor. it’s a bit large at this point, but it has got some sweet features that the ipod simply cannot match.
in some areas the zune exceeds the ipod, in some it’s on par, and in others it is behind.
however, this is a really nice product and the first real competitor that apple will face.
but — the pc software, “zune marketplace” is not very good. it needs work.
having said that, i would consider purchasing one of these as my next music player since it has many more capabilities that the *current* ipods do.
f
“…having said that, i would consider purchasing one of these as my next music player since it has many more capabilities that the *current* ipods do.”
Many more?? Such as? It doesn’t do video, doesn’t do iTMS, doesn’t do AAC, is bigger, has little aftermarket support, doesn’t even do ‘plays fer shur.’ Sounds like it’s pretty limited to using on Windows also…
Anyway, I’m still curious what you mean?
daveo,
Yeah common, please do tell us what all these ” sweet features that the ipod simply cannot match” are?
daveo, are you going to tell us about these “sweet features that the ipod simply cannot match”, or are you talking complete rubbish?.
MW: look…
…before you leap into the world of Zune® & PlaysForSuckers™.
I can’t wait to see what M$’s “partners” do to “discuss” the issue of PlayForSure, aka PissOnYou.
doesn’t do AAC
I read that Zune does both unprotected AAC and H.264. Of course, that doesn’t mean I like it.
I can’t consider the Zune as my next MP3 player…because it’s for Windows only. Same as 99% of the MP3 players out there.
And people complain about Apple being a “closed system”…
What a fsking tool!
He can’t even suck it up and eat crow like a real man would.
Nevertheless, Rock on Steve!
By “sweet features” maybe ‘daveo’ means that fake ass “click wheel” or “UPS Brown”.
Remember dude: smoking crack is bad for your health!
Like Daveo I also work for Microsoft and have played with a zune. Its fake clickwheel works wonderfully and its excessive mass and overall bulk does not bother me. In fact it helps build up my biceps unlike the nano. It has a radio in it….now I can listen to my favorite music on my favorite mono AM stations. Did I mention that brown is my favorite color?
You apple geeks just don’t get it. You are all gaga over this little slip of a mp3 player that is easily lost due to its tiny size. Microsoft’s engineers addressed this problem beautifully making it much harder to forget it is in your shirt pocket. I will never runt he risk of tossing it into the washing machine. All this for the same price as an iPod.
You guys are all losers…..
Point of order here: when was “Plays for Sure” ever praised by anyone other than Microsoft and the manufacturers they suckered into jumping on their bandwagon?
Seems to me that nearly every potential customer understood immediately that the PFS logo meant: “doesn’t work with the only music player that matters”.
-jcr
wow, you flame me like i’m a die hard microsoft fan.
let me tell you diphits something: i grew up with apple. my dad worked for them for 10 years. my sister works for them now, and has for the last 12 years. i’m buying a macbook pro soon.
so shut the fuck up.
let me tell you about the sweet features:
1. it does do video. and it does it at a 16:9 display ratio. the screen is nice. very nice.
2. automatic discovery of other devices when wireless is turned on is *nice* and the ipod *cannot* match that *currently*.
3. transferring songs between devices is sick. i haven’t been able to use that feature yet, however it’s easy to see how it would work. it’s part of the device. it’s supposed to be networked with other devices.
4. you can set the background of the screen. you load your pictures on to the device, then as you look at them if you click the middle button, you can choose “set as background.” it changes the whole feel of the device and it’s actually really cool. the ipod should do that too.
of course, it has its weaknesses:
1. no clickwheel like the ipod has. the clickwheel is clearly a superior way to navigate.
2. size. it’s a little bulky. it’s about the size of the ipod photo when it first came out. the new 5g ipods (i have one) is a lot nicer side to side size-wize.
anyway, i don’t feel like writing anymore tonight.
kudos to those out there who can see the story from both sides, and to those who flamed me because i can tell a nice new device when i see one regardless of its origin: go fuck yourselves.
i do not work for ms. fyi.
daveo, here I fixed some of your ideas to reflect more accuracy:
1. It does do video, it does not do 16:9 ratio. It’s the same as the ipod, 320×240. The screen isn’t nice, it’s actually less DPI and stretched.
2. Automatic discovery of what other devices? You mean like a Zune LAN party?
3. Transferring songs between devices is slow. You will almost never be able to use that feature. See above.
4. You can set the background of the screen. YEah boY!!!
1. No clickwheel.
2. Size is bulky.
So you are an apple fan….big effin deal. You do not seem to take criticism well and are downright crude about it. Mugwhump summarized your comments quite nicely. The Zune has many problems with it including the fact that MS is being hypocritical about its play for sure somgs that do not really play for sure.
Geez it does video but people who do NOT understand resilution will lap up the bigger screen.
My advice to you is to get that chip off your shoulder and grow up.
mugwump – unfortunately, you just don’t have your facts straight.
Dork – thanks for the advice. My advice to you is to learn to spell “resolution”. Once you can spell, then you can give me advice.
if you can’t appreciate a product that isn’t made by apple, then you have problems.