Filed under: Windows, Web services, Microsoft, Social Software
Microsoft hires Omniture to spice up Zune Marketplace
by David Chartier Feb 7th 2007 at 5:40PM
What's a giant mega-corporation with a struggling digital download store to do to bring some zest into the venture? Why, hire one of the most prominent providers of business optimization software, of course! Forbes is reporting that Microsoft has hired Omniture to analyze and breath some life into the Zune Marketplace. From a Microsoft spokesman: "Omniture helps us understand what our customers care about, continually allowing us to improve the online experience and provide the best possible content and services."One can only speculate as to what Omniture and Microsoft will cook up - so why not take a crack at it? To the Zune users, and specifically the Marketplace shoppers in the audience: put yourselves in Omniture's shoes. What would you change about the Zune Marketplace and experience?
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mythor said 6:56PM on 2-07-2007
The one thing I'd change about the Zune Marketplace would be... make it available outside the US. The sooner they get it available outside the US the sooner it will be seen as more of a competitor to iPod/iTunes.
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Malfeis said 8:31AM on 2-08-2007
One major step would be a stand on DRM/Wireless sharing. Microsoft seems to be under the impression that they have to bow to the demands of the media giants to make their player "acceptable," but it's quite the opposite - they need to have more sensible restrictions.
How about this: drop the DRM on songs not purchased from the Zune store, since these are OUR songs to begin with. Next, this whole 3/3 deal with the wireless sharing - nix it. A more realistic option would be to allow streaming (think mobile radio stations?) or the limitation that a song that is obtained via WiFi cannot be synched w/a PC.
I do not think the store itself is broken, but they have taken the wind out of their own sails by crippling their product. The ONLY reason iTunes has gained such marketshare is by gaining acceptance for the player first, then improving their store once the player was widely accepted. MS is trying to do everything at once, with no clear advantage in either court.
In summation: fix the firmware on the player, then worry about the store.
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