John Gruber has decided to write about Microsoft’s Zune, Magic 8 Ball style. It’s amazing how much he can convey by asking the right questions and coming back with those classic answers.
Q: So Microsoft has confirmed that Zune, the “iPod/iTunes killer” project that Engadget has been reporting on for a few weeks, is for real. It’s a “music and entertainment” project that will involve portable players, an online media store, and desktop software for managing media and getting content from the store onto the players; all of it integrated and all of it produced and sold exclusively by Microsoft themselves. Does this sound familiar?
A: YES — DEFINITELY.
It definitely gets funnier/more disturbing from there. He points out how by creating an entirely new DRM system (still rumored) exclusive to the Zune that its partners will be less than thrilled. Will PlaysForSure be left high and dry? You’ll have to read it to find out.
