The problem was that even though it had the Plays for Sure logo, it wouldn’t work with subscription content. It only took me a few minutes to figure out why. A closer look at the Plays for Sure logo indicated this device would work with downloaded content but not subscription content. Oops. No biggie. Problem was with me or as we used to say in technical support PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair). I’m actually in good company, last summer when I was at MSFT, one of the Sr. Execs made the same mistake in front of a whole room of snickering analysts and reporters. [Michael Gartenberg]
Michael Garternberg is a smart guy, but I think he’s being way too forgiving on how things get packaged and sold. The MS Plays for Sure and Music Services in general are too complex. There’s a reason why the iPod / iTunes combo works so well… it just works.
Content is content to an end user and the collective industries need to understand that we consumers (even advanced consumers) would prefer to think less about what it is they have (codec, file format, download or subscription) and more about just enjoying what we are being asked to pay for.