vs.

OK, so some of you (perhaps many of you) may file this under the who cares pile, but I thought both of these developments were pretty interesting (especially the Zune Pass changes).

iLike on Facebook now offers full-length playback powered by Rhapsody. Each month you get 25 full-length plays, followed by unlimited 30 second samples.

– and –

The Zune Pass subscription service currently gives consumers on-demand access to millions of tracks for $14.99 per month. Starting today [November 19] subscribers will also get to select 10 tracks per month to keep and add them to their permanent collection (an estimated $10 value).

To me, not being able to permanently keep any downloaded music was always the Achilles’ heel of subscription services like Zune Pass, but this new business model is something that I think could draw some people away from both iTunes and Rhapsody. Sure, the iPod is still king (or perhaps I should say the iPhone), but this bold move by Microsoft shows that the Zune (a perfectly capable device) is not going down without fight. If Zune ever adds video to the subscription service and the ability to permanently keep episodes, I just might have to cancel my cable sub (which exactly why it probably isn’t gonna happen anytime soon).