It's been an exciting couple weeks for fans of digital downloads of music and movies. On September 14, Microsoft officially announced its Zune portable music player along with the Zune Marketplace download service intended to go head-to-head with Apple's iPod and iTunes.
Although pricing hasn't been announced, the Zune plans to introduce a number of clever features, including the ability to allow users to share music with friends by wirelessly sending tunes to each other for a limited number of plays.
Apple, of course, isn't standing still. Two days earlier, Apple announced several new models of its iPod music player but, perhaps more significantly, it also introduced the availability of movie downloads from iTunes -- which has now changed its name from the "iTunes Music Store" to simply the "iTunes Store" -- along with a planned device dubbed "iTV" to beam movies from your PC to your large-screen TV.
But that's not all. On September 7, Amazon.com announced its "Unbox" service offering downloads of TV shows and movies, with an option to either rent or own the digital movies. Apple, on the other hand, provides a "download to own" service only.
While it looks like the era of ubiquitous digital entertainment may finally be upon us, it's not clear that all of these models will prove to be successful. Knowledge@Wharton technology editor Kendall Whitehouse spoke with Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader and legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach to find out which of these approaches will deliver the best entertainment options to consumers and the most value for their companies' shareholders.
If you have iTunes, you can subscribe with one click: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/187.cfm
If you have your favorite podcast source, the url is: [continue]
Page 1 of 14
> >>