Where do new iPods leave Zune?
Here's how the new Zunes stacked up to Apple's now-replaced third-generation iPod Nano (middle).
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)With Apple's iPod announcements largely out there, I thought it made sense to see how Microsoft's new Zune lineup stacks up.
The good news for Microsoft is that its Zunes are priced right in line with Apple's new iPod Nano and iPod Classic line. From either company, a 120GB hard drive player fetches $249, a 16GB flash model sells for $199, and an 8GB flash model will sell for $149.
The bad news is that once again, Apple has made life harder for Microsoft--adding features like voice recording and "shake to shuffle" to the Nano. Apple's "Genius" feature, while not as expansive as the Channels feature of the Zune, also gets Apple in on the auto-recommendation game.
Apple is also moving ahead on the video front, whereas the Zune didn't make any meaningful advance. The new iTunes features TV shows in HD and Apple is bringing back NBC, erasing the only real video advantage the Zune had.
The new Nano has the accelerometer that's also in the iPod Touch and the iPhone.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)And of course there is the iPod Touch. Microsoft has decided to ignore the Web browsing feature even though all its models have Wi-Fi. That means that at the lower end of the market Microsoft has an advantage, as all its models can now download songs over Wi-Fi. But at the high-end, Apple has a player that makes far more extensive use of the wireless connection.
And that advantage is only growing as more applications are being written for the iPhone and, thus, the iPod Touch. For example, Apple demonstrated games such as Spore running on the new iPod Touch. The new Zunes do come with two games, but they sound more like the kinds of games Apple had for the Nano line some time ago.
Plus, the iPod Touch's Wi-Fi-based iTunes store will work in more places than the Zune Marketplace store built into the Zune. The Zune can only download music over Wi-Fi connections that are open and don't feature any kind of browser hijack--an increasing rarity at public Wi-Fi spots that, even if they don't require payment, want users to agree to their terms of service.
Update 11:10 a.m. PDT: Well, Apple's event has ended. As CNET News reported earlier, a rumored subscription service was not part of the mix. That leaves Zune with a key difference to tout. Subscription music is more than just a feature in the Zune world. It's what makes its music discovery features make sense. For example, new to the Zune are channels, such as Billboard's top hits. Getting those channels, either the preprogrammed ones or the custom ones based on a user's own collection, make the most sense with a subscription in which a user can add those tracks without having to purchase them one by one.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
iPod - 73+% market share
Zune - 2.4%
One thing that did surprise me is that they didn't lower the entry level iPod Nano price point to $99, that would have been a psychological barrier to break through. Similarly for the iPod Touch for $199 would have done that, then again, maybe they want you to buy the iPhone instead...
The real trick that Apple is using is its ingenious Archetype Branding:
http://businessmindhacks.com/post/apples-magician-archetype-branding-revisited-good-news-bad-news
Lets see, XBox360 came out in 2005, AppleTV in 07....
So Apple has had it 'longer' only in the imagined, revisionist history of moronic fan-boys.
I guess it is the only way anyone can say Apple is 'better'... Sad, really
hopefully now that it is officially supported the community will grow like xbox live did.
All of which produce 1/1000th of the noise the 360 does and have 1000x more content than Xbox Live. Incredible I know.
Must be that 'reality distortion' crap...
And the Sandisk is STILL kicking the Zune around the block.
On the merits, the Zune 8/16 and 120 beats the Ipod Classic / Nano. You can not compare the 120 to the classic - the Zune 120 blows it away with its screen. The Zune 8/16 has the edge on the Nano as well, with WiFi access / syncing.
Now to the more subjective part. Zune 3.0 software is simply better than iTunes. Now that MS has filled in all the gaps from the v 1.0 software, there is really no comparison. I know I may get flamed for this, but I do believe people who love iTunes have never used Zune 2.5 (soon to be even better with 3.0) for much if at all.
Zune Pass, Zune Pass, Zune Pass! Subscription music is absolutely the best. This is the big differentiator - but still many people do not seem to get it. Microsoft can stick around in this game chipping away at Apple for exactly as long as Steve Jobs decides not to bring subscription to iTunes. If MS has not convinced people why this is so awsome and economical before then, they are done. No doubt the Apple brain wave machine will be able to convince people overnight that it is the greatest thing ever and Apple inveted it. It was another close call this year - Microsoft be warned, you have one year to live unless you can convince people in a simple way why this is awsome (an no, for now I will not go into the virtues of Zune Pass - for another post).
Apple is of course not behind MS everywhere. The Touch is a different segment and MS is not playing. Content is better, but not by as much as Apple would have you believe.
I waited for this announcement, and I will be adding another Zune to the stable. It just has more in the Zune 8/16/120 vs. iPod Classic/Nano battle. Simple.
Anyway, that is my subjective evaluation. And I don't have a Zune and my five year old iPod sits on my desk as a backup boot device. If I do get another player it will probably be another iPod because I am familiar with them and Zune offers no compelling reason to switch to it.
Just how ?cool? can ipod be?
Yes they can do video and some gaming, but there is simply a limit to what can be done in this form factor beyond listening to music. It is now safe to say, if the 5th gen iPod is any thinner, it won't exist (unless the LHC accelerator at CERN discovers another spacial dimension when they turn it on tomorrow). Apple is up against a wall in the Nano / Shuffle category. That means its days will be numbered. Today is perfect proof. They have begun recycling designs. That is the kiss of death. My wife is fairly technical but I am sure she will not be able to tell the difference shopping in a store this Christmas between the Gen 2 and new Gen 4 Nano. For that matter, the Zune 8/16 and the Ipod Nano practically look the same to a non-techy.
It can not hold it's lead forever as there is not an infinite amount of innovation in a music player of such a small form factor. Their market share will get peeled back in time - history proves it.
Sony had the portable CD music player market locked up. Same as Apple now. It is not that Sony totally lost it's way, it was just that you could only do so much with a portable CD player. Eventually it gets commoditized. Sony already lost massive market share in the mid 90's in its portable CD business from others (the iPod simply finished the job - they were already long gone). It is not a perfect parallel because the service behind the devices (iTunes / Zune Marketplace) create a stickiness that was not there in the past, but that will fade too.
If you already have an iPod or Zune, you probably will not switch. But if you are buying your first MP3 player and see both of these on the shelf next to each other, you will have a hard choice to make (unless you just blindly go for a brand name)
All 2.8 percent of it.
The only thing missing for me from the Zune is using it as a hard drive. I will not update to the Zune 120 (or whatever) until that happens. I just live with my continually updated Zune 30.
Enjoy being ripped off by Apple.....
- by smilin:) September 9, 2008 1:31 PM PDT
- Pretty biased article there dude. Let me mention just a FEW...
- Reply to this comment
-
-
- by LaptuaZ September 9, 2008 2:22 PM PDT
- w00t, whats funny is that I only have 1 friend that still owns an iPod due to the fact that he got it for xmas, he wishes he had a zune, esp when we are in the car and we are all swapping our songs around and he can do nothing but spin his wheel and wish he got updates for his iPod that were half as cool as the Zune.
-
-
- by wzone September 9, 2008 3:26 PM PDT
- Im completely with you on this. IPods used to be cool, but for atleast the last 2 years there have been better players on the market. I have a creative and everyone I have shown it to has been amazed at how good it looks and performs..... Just marketing hype and fanbois like Ina
-
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (54 Comments)You are basically saying
look they are all the same price....but ipod touch as all these nifty features (yet it's not the same price!). Make up your mind. You're welcome to compare apples to oranges but don't try to pass it off as apples to apples.
You're also almost completely ignoring the wifi capabilities of the zune. The $149 zune has it and the $149 ipod doesn't. Period.
What about song tagging? Oh yeah you have to go by a high def radio for your car to get it then go back home to get your tagged songs. The Zune does it right there on the spot with the built in FM tuner....which leads to:
The ipod still doesn't have a FM tuner.
What about wireless sync? You still have to plug your ipod in to sync. I can leave my Zune downstairs in a cradle plugged into my home stereo and it gets updates from the PC upstairs. Or leave it in my car plugged into a cigarette lighter and it's still updated.
What about wireless song transmission? Anytime I take a flight somewhere (I always take the zune travelling) I find at least a handful of other zunes out there and I'll occassionally bum an album. Most of my friends all went the Zune route too (once the 8 came out). I can snag a whole album in like 2 minutes from them.
Apple adding HD TV to a Nano? Are you serious? HD on that tiny screen? Besides you can rip just about any video you want to the Zune. There are even apps for moving Tivo recordings over. The Zune marketplace does offer video you know.
Lets also not overstate things. Voice recording? Really? You want voice recording in your iPod? What for?
How about the case? Did they replace that crappy case or is it still all plastic? The zune is metal with a solid scratch resistant glass screen. The scroll wheel was also clever in it's time but "flicking" the squircle on the Zune is much faster for navigating around. It's especially easy for long lists (with that nice long screen in portrait mode....that I see apple is now copying).
*********************
Finally lets do a REAL comparison of prices. If you want the new nano features it will cost you $149-$249. If I want the new Zune features it will cost me 5 minutes to download the update. Why don't you go stick that in your article smart guy!
*********************
Its also pretty funny that when someone compares an iPod to a Zune, some how the touch always seems to come in the mix, the touch is its own failed device, I dont think I have ever seen anyone with a touch now that I think about it. Anyone that wants a real mp3 player will actually do research and find the Zune to be a better choice anyways, those that dont, just want to fit in with their friends...which are now all starting to get the Zune.
The Zune channles are going to be awesome, I hope more local places make channles to listen to while I am at the mall waiting around for my wife to shop, thats a good time to listen to music and find some new stuff while im doing it!