Chris Leckness

Remember the early days of the cell phone biz? You got a cool, free phone for signing up for a year. Well the cell carriers do less of the totally free phones these days, but Microsoft is looking at that business model.



Source: Zune Online via Gizmodo

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gasusan2005

I am sure they will probably use a "flash zune" for this.....

Susan

JNGold

Heh! They can't sell enough Zunes so they have to give them away for free? Funny.

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Chris Leckness

If you sit back and think about it though, $15/mo for 1 year guaranteed times upteen thousand youngsters wanting a free player = Profit.

PS. My daughter tells me that 4-5 kids at her school have one now. She also tells me that most kids that have an iPod have the $149 Nano (like her) Not many have the big boy.

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dfmclore

Not many parents are that rich or stupid "Gee dad I lost my 60 gig Ipod at school today"

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gasusan2005

I got three 30 GB i-pods for my kids (age 20, and twins 17)..... told them "This is the only one I am buying you. If it breaks or gets lost, you have to replace it"

I made them wait....didn't get it for them when THEY wanted it..... and I should have waited longer...because 2 of the 3 would rather have my Zune!

I can't fault them too much on their "need" for gadgets. They inherited that "gene" from me.

Susan

imported_doogald

The only issue I would think from Microsoft's point of view is that it would clearly put the Zune in people's minds as a bargain bin item rather than a premium player. The iPod, obviously, is seen as a premium device - people are more than willing to pay more for it - and, based on the price point at launch, it seems obvious to me that Microsoft wants the Zune to play in that same market.

I think a better idea is to broaden the product line, with flash player, add podcast support, flesh out movie content deals in the Zune Marketplace, and then see where the brand sits in the market rather than just jump right to throwing in the player for a contract. I think it is still too early for that, though, really, I am surprised that it is taking Microsoft so long to add features like these.

gasusan2005

Originally Posted by doogald

The only issue I would think from Microsoft's point of view is that it would clearly put the Zune in people's minds as a bargain bin item rather than a premium player. The iPod, obviously, is seen as a premium device - people are more than willing to pay more for it - and, based on the price point at launch, it seems obvious to me that Microsoft wants the Zune to play in that same market. I think a better idea is to broaden the product line, with flash player, add podcast support, flesh out movie content deals in the Zune Marketplace, and then see where the brand sits in the market rather than just jump right to throwing in the player for a contract. I think it is still too early for that, though, really, I am surprised that it is taking Microsoft so long to add features like these.

VERY WELL SAID..... and I agree

Susan