This is an interesting Microsoft Zune ad, and the point it makes - the cost of buying music vs. the cost of renting it (there's a subscription service for the Zune) - is true, so far as it goes. However, it misses a number of things:

• Instead of subscribing to anything, why wouldn't I just use Pandora? It's free, and gives me great, programmable variety. And it works on my iPhone, to - I listened to it all the way back from NYC last night
• The cost of filling an iPod isn't really so high, when you consider CD ripping, full album buys, and the other stuff beyond music you put on media players
• And the killer, I think: people want to own music, because they want to hear the songs they like over and over again.

What MS should be promoting is the video on demand service (subscription and free, depending on title) that you get access to on the XBox. As I said earlier, people deal with video differently than they deal with music, and I think that Apple's new rental service and the XBox's longstanding video service reflect that reality. IMHO, MS would be a whole lot better off if they got the Zune tied into the XBox, and promoted a home entertainment suite that revolved around that. It could be a great combo.

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