Theory #2
My second theory is even better, dual tin-foil I think. I think that the Zune might have been nothing more than an experiment to see how pervasive you could make <acronym title=”Digital Rights ‘Management'””>DRM in peoples lives.
When the first few proof of concept applications for Microsoft Vista came out the concept of DRM, or Digital Rights Management was put out in a very “soft” way. It was clear that DRM was an integral part of the OS design, and very reasonable sounding examples of use were shown. A doctor ensuring that only his patient could read the files he sends, a Realtor ensuring that his contract is only valid for a set number of days, and so on.
Most people in the open source community see DRM as having far more potential for evil. However, the common person probably doesn’t have the same opinions…. I see the Zune as Microsoft putting out a feeler to see just how people will react to DRM in their daily lives. If the Zune, or it’s DRM anyway, isn’t recieved too poorly, then that’s the sign that they can push a little bit more, then a little bit more…
OK, you can take the tinfoil hat off now, I think I’m done 🙂