Hoping to make a bigger splash in the digital music downloading category, Ruckus Networks has announced a new service that allows students with a validated .edu email address to download music for free. Yes, there are some restrictions that go along with the service and there are some big shortcomings (in our opinion) as well. The Ruckus plan was pitched to the four major record label companies and some independent labels as well who have all agreed to participate in the new service as somewhat of an experiment. The experiment really is based on the fact that the service will be deploying an advertising supported model rather than a subscription based model. Will it pay off? Initial reaction would be no. The validated college student with the .edu address can download music for free to their computers. That's all nice and good. But the real value for the student is to transfer the music to their portable device, which in nearly nine cases out of ten mean transferring to their iPod. Here is the first hurdle for Ruckus. The transfer option is not free, it costs $4.99 a month, still a great deal, but the kid will still be laying out some dough after being pitch a "free" service. Second problem, and clearly the significantly higher hurdle, almost the size of the Empire State Building, quite frankly. The transfer service is not compatible with the iPod, thus shutting out about 90% of all prospective students. So, really the value for Ruckus is to reach students in their dorms or off campus residences when they are studying or hanging out. If that's the case, chances are the window that is playing the music from the Ruckus service will be minimized while the student is performing another task, consequently "blocking out" all display advertisements.
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