Pure old Microsoft. Never shut up when your down.

It may cost $30,000 to fill a ipod 120GB but most people don't even like enough music to fill half of it. The rest is in music videos/podcasts.

I don't care if I get all the music I want per $15/month. Zune has a crippiled music selection compared to the 7 million (largest) selection.

There maybe no difference for people in the U.S. But everywhere else iTunes is pretty much the only music/video store. Zune like the 360/netflix/hulu are all U.S. only.

At least when I pay for my music/movies/videos in iTunes I know I am the forever owner. I know that I don't have to pay ever again. I would not like to pay $15 as if I lost my job there goes all my music.

For the record I am not a apple fanboy, I just hate when Microsoft thinks they are the advantage when they are quite clearly not.

The other guy brings up an interesting point. If in fact you lose your music once you decide to stop paying $15 a month, how is that better than paying $0.99 for a song and knowing it's yours to keep? Another point is the fact I'm sure Microsoft makes the ZunePass only available to Zune users thus you have to buy a Zune. It's their attempt to switch people from iPod to Zune and it won't work. People buy an iPod because 1. It's a status symbol and 2. The iPod just looks better than a Zune.

Also isn't Napster and other services that you can pay a monthly fee already around? How would ZunePass be any different the Napster minus the fact ZunePass is exclusive to Zune while Napster you can use your iPod? Wouldn't Napster be a better alternative that ZunePass because there are less limitations?

People use iTunes because as the guy below me stated, the music is yours to keep. Unless ZunePass or any other monthly place allows you to keep the music you downloaded rather than delete it once you cancel your subscription, there is no point in using any other service than iTunes.

The second-gen Zune devices are half the price of the same-gig iPods (and with bigger display screens), and the Zune software plays the native mp4 format of iTunes. What I'll be curious to see is if the library difference is really that significant -- or if it's mostly obscure stuff nobody wants. Either way, since I can play iTunes files on a Zune, without even converting to mp3, it does seem that Zune is a better deal.

i have to agree, it was awesome when i merged my itunes library into my zune software. i just downloaded it, trying it out, seeing if getting a zune would be worthwhile. the fact that my purchased itunes songs can be put on the zune is a huge, huge thing. i have been weening myself away from itunes since i started a few years back once i found out about DRM/mp4. i agree that i do like to have my music permanently, so if you got 20 songs a month, or 2 albums or so, i would say the zune pass is indeed a bargain. however, using it to hold all my itunes tracks and previous mp3 files on one player is the dealmaker for me.

If i could use my iPod with zunepass, i might try it. the one thing that holds you back is not owning the songs.

sure the example of your friend spending 29,985 more than you did holds true. but your friend has his songs for eternity. you have your songs for a month. and also. nobody fills up an iPod.

so with iTunes if you don't want to buy any songs for a year it will cost you $0. with zunepass you just spent $60. when maybe no decent songs came out.

Ipoduser - While what you said is true, you seem to forget to mention who zunepass would be good for.

If you listen to a LOT of music (like me) Zune Pass is a steal. I myself will listen to 10-20 albums in a month. Yes I have to pay the monthly fee for as long as I want these albums, but I would have spent $1000+ in a year.
Also one thing people forget is that you get to keep 10 songs at the end of the month forever. So it's only $15 for 10 songs at $1.50 song, and unlimited access to as many other songs as you want for free. Sorry but that's a great deal. By saying this I am in no way saying Zune is better than iPod (because that is definitely not true).

The point of Zune Pass is that it's an entirely different model of music ownership. With iTunes, you own the music, in a heavily DRMed way, but only have access to what you buy. With Zune Pass, you get to have the music collection of your dreams, right now, but it's a rental. It's a matter of personal preference. You get 10 tracks a month to keep, so there's ownership as well, and if you pay $15 a month for the package, you're effectively only paying $5 a month for the rental, of unlimited downloads and streaming. iTunes and Zune Pass are in no way equivalent or comparable systems; they're trying to do very different things. But it seems ironic to me that it's Microsoft that comes up with the game-changing new model for music and Apple that sticks with a system that's basically business as usual. If you build a "walled garden" like iPod/iTunes, shouldn't you try to grow something unusual in it?