The amount of apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace
Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace has now reported to have passed 25,000 apps by one site tracking comings and goings within it. (source: WindowsPhoneAppslist, July 2011)
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Normally, I find that Microsoft's strategies make sense, but this is sort of... weird. So they created WMA/V protection + formats, licensed them out to a bunch of companies and launched MSN Music. They then killed off MSN Music, launched a device without support for WMA/V DRM, and hailed this as the second coming of Christ. Now, they're re-creating what is essentially a platform to sell music to people through various vendors. WTF? (Note, I do own a Zune and love it, I just don't understand this...)
I don't know why you're surprised. Microsoft just wants to license software solutions. It worked with Windows and they seem to think it will work with everything else. They only released the Zune when their PlaysforSure idea failed to kill off the iPod. It seems that people wanted to own their music and listen to it on hardware that was easy and intuitive.
The Xbox is sorta the same story. When Sony started to threaten their DirectX monopoly on PC gaming, they devised to package DirectX in a box. In fact, while in development, the Xbox was known the "DirectX-box." Of course, Nintendo kinda killed Microsoft ambitions in that area.
Microsoft seems to only respond in the hardware arena when a rival product threatens something vital in their PC software ecosystem.
@ Paul
"own their own music"
Would that be the music collection that Apple require you pay a fee to make DRM free ? Yes the iTunes store sucks balls, long live Amazon MP3.
Man, iTunes really changed things, didn't it? I remember when Napster was still all the rage and it would take at least three different apps to burn a CD. It was like this: Download music from Napster, listen to music in WinAmp, convert MP3s to WAV using some shareware crap app and another app like Nero to burn a CD.
iTunes came along and you could do all that in one app. Bang, problem solved. Say what you want about Apple, but they can come up with some great solutions.
Paul, you're a moron, and wtf are you talking about?
The music you downloaded off of Napster was an MP3, and could be transferred directly over to any one of a hundred different MP3 players.
If you want to burn it to wav and play it on a CD then it doesn't matter if you download it from iTunes or Napster or any other website/service for that matter.
You talk as if Apple created the MP3 player and created the MP3 format or something.
Good God you are dense.
I suspect he's talking about the second incarnation of Napster where they sold music rather than the P2P service. His memory obviously doesn't go back that far.
MP3 players really didn't catch on until around 2003. I remember doing mix CDs and me and my friend would just drive around listening to music. We thought that burning CDs on our PCs was the greatest thing since sliced bread. My friend even bought one of those CDs players that could hold five CDs at a time and had it installed in the back of his Civic. That car was so ghetto after that, but we had endless hours of fun.
And then later, the first DVD/MP3 players came out and you could listen to MP3s on your television! This stuff was almost like science fiction. It's all old hat now, but back then, we were stoked.
Jakem, you're right, Paul's recollection of MP3 players and MP3's in general apparently began with the advent of the iPod.
Also FYI Paul, I was listening to music on MP3 players during my workouts as far back as late 2000 / early 2001.
I was also downloading music in MP3 format from Napster as far back as 1999.
Just because your access to them was limited or your memory only goes as far back as 2005, doesn't mean the rest of ours does too.
What the heck are you talking about? Where did you get the idea that I was talking about 2005? I was actually talking about the period between 1999 and 2001, which is when the MP3 downloading rage really took off and CDs were still in vogue. You said something about MP3 players, which really weren't popular until around 2003, which I pointed out above.
So, me and my friends were still very much burning CDs between 1999 and 2003. For me it was more like 2006. I didn't get an iPod until like the 5th generation and only then because it had video, which blew me away. I'm sorry I didn't have an MP3 player like you back in 2000, but I was still fairly young at the time Napster came out.
It's so funny. Everyone is so much in a rush to discredit me, even when I'm reminiscing about childhood memories. I guess the fact that I'm a PC user who's not totally satisfied with Windows, scares a lot of MS fanboys here. Relax guys, Windows will be around a long time.
So you were fairly young around the time Napster came out...
Suddenly, everything is falling into place.
And I just realized that you're probably an old man. What the heck are you doing here? I could respect someone from 12 to 25 being here, but come on, if you're over thirty, I think the comment section should be off limits. Don't you have some diapers to change?
Actually Paul, I'm 29, turning 30.
As for you, I would say that your age is indeed a reflection of your petulant and impetuous nature.
To that end, it is you who should be leaving the comments to those of us who are mature enough and knowledgeable enough to carry on a meaningful discourse.
You on the other hand should stay in school or else you could be yet another typical Mac poster child...a yuppy/hipster with just enough cash in his wallet to buy a latte at StarBucks after blowing half a years salary (of working at that very StarBucks) on a Macbook Air/Pro.