The video store will be forgotten by children one day. All videos and movies are available to be downloaded Letsmix. This will make a trip into the video store obsolete. Don’t laugh. If you ask a child to open the windows, they’ll understand what I mean. They will soon be the same when it comes to renting a film.
The benefits to the consumer are immense, especially in today’s age of high gas costs and bad traffic. When video content can be downloaded from their computer, who wants to drive all over the place to access it? It is much easier to just click a button. The days of the video-store are gone as more people consider their computer to be the centre of their entertainment system. Microsoft’s Vista operating-system, which features incredible integrated video/entertainment capabilities, is another step in the direction of the consumer adopting their computer to be the center of all their entertainment.
Millions of people have bought iPODs for mobile video viewing and, less frequently, Microsoft Zunes. This makes it easy to download their content instead of waiting for delivery or driving to get it. The 5th generation iPOD as well as the Zune being released in the last quarter (2006) have been incredibly successful. Apple sold 14,000,000 units in the fourth quarter 2005, thanks to the video-capable iPOD. Despite having a larger screen with a full-color display and WiFi networking capability that could have helped Microsoft to close the gap with Apple, Zune sales were slower than expected.
Microsoft’s marketing strategy is largely responsible for the Zune’s failure to sell at the same level as the iPOD. Microsoft’s marketing strategy has failed to properly communicate the Zune’s many colors to the buyers. Microsoft’s propensity for using marketingspeak to describe Zunes, rather than clearly explaining why consumers want them, is another reason Zune sales have been slow. Microsoft talks about the Zune as “it’s not a gadget.” It’s an entrant in the new connected entertainment marketplace for creating new shared, social experiences based upon content. ?
Microsoft launched the Halo 3 edition Zune in May 2007, hoping to reverse their previous failures to grab consumers’ imagination. This special edition comes with Halo audio and visual content. It also features Halo 3 graphics. The Halo 3 edition Zune was not available at Game Stop as of press time.
The Zune failed to overtake the iPOD as the leading portable video player. There are fewer technical reasons. One reason may be the Zune’s inexplicable exclusion of a scroll-wheel from its feature set. Although it appears to be a scroll wheel control it is actually a 4-way cursor control just like a remote control on a TV. The 4-way cursor is not what most consumers want to use to control their portable videos players. So they voted for the iPOD. The Zune is a superb player. Also, the video quality is amazing for a small handheld. Consumers who purchased their Zune with this in mind can download and enjoy all kinds of videos, TV programs, and movies on a very portable platform.
The iPOD will support Apple’s AAC codecs, MP3, Apple Lossless and WAV formats to audio downloads. H.264 video content is supported. Also known as MPEG-4, part 10. This is a standard that allows for high quality compressed video. Microsoft’s WMA/WMV audio and video formats are used in the Zune. H.264 can be used in video and audio, as well as MP3 or AAC. Both players are capable of storing JPEG images. To enable video in different formats and resolutions to work with portable players, there are many file converters that can be used with either player.
There are many options for downloading video content for the Zune and iPOD. iTunes offers music downloads for $.99 if you have an iPOD. This service is great and has a large selection of content. But, this can mean that consumers will need to pay a lot of money to fill up their player. You can also load MP3 files directly from CDs, or download them from other online music sites to fill your iPOD/Zune.
Microsoft offers Zune Marketplace, a subscription that provides unlimited downloads and costs $14.99 per month. Microsoft calls the unlimited option the “Zune Pass”. Zune users can either download individual songs or entire albums. Microsoft began collaborating in June 2007 with several artists to promote both their Zune player and their download services.
One of the many unlimited video download options is a popular option. These services cost a one-time fee that is usually $30 to $75. After paying this, you can download unlimited amounts of music and video content. It is clear that many consumers prefer this model to the subscription-based download model. Many of these networks offer a huge amount of content. This includes TV shows and movies aswell as music and video.