I think that Nikon put Zeiss up to this, in order to give us Nikonians something to crow about, after having to take a back seat to Canonites FF sensors and higher megapixel counts.
So Nikonians can now say "Nah, Nah....we have Zeiss lenses and you don't"!
<wide grins>
On a more serious note, I see this as a good thing. Zeiss is known for making some of the best lenses in the world, bar none. But they need a platform for that glass. It would be a shame if Zeiss left the market, like so many other manufacturers are doing due to the rapid changes in the photographic market. So from that perspective it's a good piece of news.
Personally, doesn't interest or affect me that much. I like high end zooms for their convenience and the quality of the pro-level zooms is pretty close to that of primes. For all but the nitpickiest of pixel peepers, there is no effective difference. And I am not about to give up my vibration reduction (VR/IS) and silent-wave high speed autofocus (AFS) capabilities just so that I can brag that I have a Zeiss on my rig.
And I can say "Nah, Nah....you have to use an adapter and we don't...Nah, Nah!", until Nikon announces their 53.1mp OF (oversize frame) model this Fall. ;-)