Ahem, Mr. Morris. Your attitude is displeasing. I don’t think I can top this total smackdown, but to say that I don’t even give it six months. Corporate arrogance never ceases to amaze me. This may be a “product review” but it feels political to me:

No, the Zune’s sole wireless feature is “squirting” — I know, I know, it’s Microsoft’s term, not mine — music and pictures to any other Zune device within direct Wi-Fi range. Even if the track is inherently free (like a podcast) the Zune wraps it in a DRM scheme that causes the track to self-destruct after three days or three plays, whichever comes first.

After that, it’s nothing more than a bookmark for purchasing the track in the Zune Marketplace. It amounts to nothing more than free advertising.

The Zune is a complete, humiliating failure. Toshiba’s Gigabeat player, for example, is far more versatile, it has none of the Zune’s limitations, and Amazon sells the 30-gig model for 40 bucks less.

Throw in the Zune’s tail-wagging relationship with music publishers, and it almost becomes important that you encourage people not to buy one.

The problem with consumers is that once they decide they like something, it’s very hard to convince them they don’t. They won’t care how many of the ’majors’ go swirling down the toilet so they can keep those features, either.