http://www.scripting.com/ It's even worse than it appears. en-us Copyright 1997-2006 Dave Winer Tue, 14 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:53:19 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OPML Editor version 0.71 dave@scripting.com dave@scripting.com http://www.scripting.com/2006/11/14.html#theZuneOfStevesEye <p><img src="http://images.scripting.com/archiveScriptingCom/2006/11/14/jobspod.jpg" width="65" height="75" border="0" align="right" hspace="15" vspace="5" alt="A picture named jobspod.jpg">I met with the people doing the Zune at Microsoft in the summer of 2004, when podcasting was gaining traction (in Seattle no less), but wasn't showing on their radar yet. I explained how they could make their device a perfect podcast client. I couldn't tell what they were thinking of course, but it seemed they weren't convinced podcasting was real. Too bad, they could have made a simple product, not had to do any deals with Hollywood, and do an end-run around Apple, which still hasn't made the corner turn to DRM-less media (which is one of the most profound things about podcasting, and no accident, I assure you).</p> <p>A striking thing about that little section of Microsoft: pictures of Steve Jobs on doors, walls, bulletin boards, each with a quote from Steve below it. The pictures were there, I was told, to motivate them, and to remind them of their goal. The usual thing for Microsoft, a taillight chase.</p> <p>One more thought, a question actually, does anyone know about the protocol that allows Zunes to share tunes with other Zunes? Is it open and clonable (ie, if I made a podcast device, could I use the protocol). And I suppose it's naive to ask if it's patented, but what the heck -- is it?</p> <p><a href="http://scripting.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/scripting-news-for-11142006/#comment-18102">Brier Dudley</a> of the Seattle Times sheds some light. </p> <p><a href="http://scripting.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/scripting-news-for-11142006/#comment-18129">Ryan Tate</a> wonders if Zune is a developer platform.</p>