Whose problem is it?

Digital Music News reported that Apple has discovered that less than one percent of their video IPods shipped after September 12 were infected with a Windows virus. Who was responsible for the problem - - Apple blamed Microsoft "for not being more hardy against such viruses," and Microsoft said it is a quality control problem with Apple that they "didn't know what they were shipping."

Regardless of where the blame lies, it is the consumer who is inconvenienced by the whole thing. The consumer is the one who will have to go to the trouble to remove the virus, even though it is said to be a low-level security virus. Microsoft has survived such problems before and has high hopes for the release of its Zune player in November. And Apple, having only about 25 reports of the problem so far, will undoubtedly not really be hurt by this with the holidays approaching. So, it will probably end up only being a problem for the people who purchased that one percent of IPods.

Choosing from the many music players available

Digital Music News contained reports today on the release of the Apple IPod nano in Red as part of the humanitarian effort by Bono to assist women and children in Africa affected by AIDS and other diseases, as well as Sony's announcement of an upcoming "video-enabled Walkman," with no specific release date, but 5 new flash music players in a variety of colors and storage sizes available by the end of the year.

With Microsoft's Zune player's scheduled launch on the market on November 14, it would seem that in the near future, even more so than now, chosing which player to purchase could not only be a mind-boggling task but could consume hours and hours of research and comparison. Are consumers actually going to be able to make a knowledgeable choice, based on performance, dependability, capabilities, and the best buy for the money.......or will it just be based on whether it comes in their favorite color or is related to relief efforts by their favorite artist, or just because one company has spent more money on its marketing campaign of the product?

Competition is good, but when does it all become too much? How many versions of the same or similar product can succeed on the market? Or will consumers just keep buying until they have tried them all?