from an alternate universe

Microsoft has launched a mobile music service, crippled with DRM.

In 2009. While almost all music is available for digital download without DRM, legally, from the likes of Amazon or iTunes.

There are some baffling quotes in this article. It’s an interview with Hugh Griffiths, Head of Mobile at Microsoft UK. Here are some of my favorites:

“At the moment, to be honest with you, we don’t have the functionality in-house to provide a mechanism for transferring between mobile phones and PC. We don’t have that functionality available.”

So, Microsoft does not have the technology available to copy files. It’s really hard you know, what with all those zeros and ones you have to keep track of.

“Q: Can you really expect people to buy music that’s locked to a device they upgrade every 12 to 18 months? A: I didn’t realise phones were churning that quickly in the marketplace these days.”

This is Hugh Griffiths talking, the Head of Mobile at Microsoft UK. You’d expect him to perhaps know a few basic facts about the customers he’s targetting?

If this guy is representative for the average Microsoft employee, I’m not surprised that they are laying off thousands.

So, you can buy music from Amazon or iTunes that you can copy to any device, without limits. Or you can buy music from MSN Mobile music service that can only be played on the phone you download it to, and that you loose when you upgrade your phone. Oh, and it’s about twice as expensive as the uncrippled version of the music.

I’m going to hazard a guess that this service is not going to be a huge success.