Kharnellius's Profile

Being a Math teacher I can't believe the fatal flaw the author made in his assumptions. He asserts that you are NOT getting all your money's worth when using the Zune Marketplace (hereafter referred to as ZM, and iTunes Music Store will be referred to as iTMS). Supposedly, if you spend $5 for 400 points you are somehow LOOSING money! This is quite curious. The reason he came to this conclusion, is because the author made a careless and fatal flaw in rounding. Conversions cannot be rounded arbitrarily. It is a mistake I find in the journalism industry regularly and can only figure it occurs for two reasons: 1) To use perceived “true” data as a form of persuasion. (Journalists hold significant power to change other’s views and should be more responsible than this.) - or - 2) It is simply an oversight or misunderstanding of the tools they use. I will assume the second point is the real reason simply for the sake of discussion. Let’s begin… *********************************************** DISCLAIMER: LET ME POINT OUT THAT I AM NOT ARGUING IF ONE SYSTEM IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER. I AM SIMPLY SETTING THE CLAIMS STRAIGHT THAT MICROSOFT DOES NOT STEAL YOUR MONEY OR THAT ITUNES IS A BETTER PRICE. Here is the known data for ZM and iTMS. ZM $5.00 = 400 points. 1 song = 79 points. iTMS 1 song = 99 cents According to the author... 1 pt = 1.25 cents. This is true. Therefore... 1 song costs 1.25 x 79 = 98.75 cents. This is also true. “So the answer is ‘no, the MS song isn’t cheaper, it is the same price as Apple’s’.” This is NOT true. For some inexplicable reason he makes the assumption that the 98.75 cents is rounded up to 99 cents. First of all, that would imply that the customer does NOT have 321 points left. But, they DO…AND those points contain that quarter of a penny. Notice, 321 x 1.25 = 401.25 cents. You do NOT magically have 401 cents left, you STILL have 401.25 cents left. Consider further the following. Suppose you were to buy 5 songs from ZM and 5 songs from iTMS. ZM 5 songs = 5 x 79 = 395 points You have 5 points left over to use in future transactions. And is equivalent to 6.25 cents. It cost you 5 dollars with 6.25 cents left in your account. Or in other words you spent 4 dollars and 93.75 cents. iTMS 5 songs = 5 x 99 cents = 4 dollars and 95 cents (a total of 1.25 cents MORE than ZM!) Also consider, after buying 81 songs you will have spent 6399 points. 6400 points would cost $80. In other words it cost you $80 to buy 81 songs with one point left (1.25 cents left in your account). If I used iTMS, 81 songs would cost 81 x 99 cents = 8019 cents or $80.19 iTMS – 81 songs = $80.19 ZM - 81 songs = $80 with 1 point left. I think this settles some of your bogus claims. Instead they are incorrect. ZM does NOT steal money from users and is NOT in fact costing you more. It costs less. ******************************************** Now, whether that is a favorable system is COMPLETELY of personal opinion. Perhaps this was simply an error and if so I understand but would ask the author to correct it. If he does not then he is implying that he is PURPOSELY employing improper rounding to skew data to suite his needs. As I stated before, this was simply to clear things up. Side Note: Yes, ZM DOES have those 6.25 cents locked up until the user uses them later (if you only buy 5 songs). But, if the author is seriously worried about that, then I fear there are much larger more important issues that should be addressed since clearly buying music online should not be the current priority. If the author does not like that system, then he can simply choose to not be a part of it. DO NOT, however, slander it. The author’s claims that MS is trying to confuse consumers are quite hypocritical since the author himself has confused his readers into believing they lose money by using ZM.