Comments on: Microsoft unwraps Zune for holiday season

The media player will come in white, brown and black and lets you share a song up to three times over three days.

[Peter Bonte]

No flash = stupid

Nano sales are much bigger than the iPod, MS chose the smallest
market of the 3. They clearly aim at the high end users but these
are all stuck with an iPod, MS better prepare themselves for ultra
low sales figures.

[Peter Bonte]

And stuck with wifi

Like Steve told us, they can't remove a feature, only add them.
Dumping wifi (witch they will eventually do) will have a bad effect
on the users, all 3 of them.

[jasonm0817]

Microsofts NEW Ghostbusters "ZULE" :)

I bet they wanted to use "ruler" but then they would give the companies motives away. How about the "monopoly player".

[mgreere]

It's ugly and already outdated...

... save for the wi-fi sharing... but a similar ability has more or less
been available in iTunes on computers with zeroconf for years now.

As much as I hope this presses Apple even further via competition,
I don't see this thing catching on.

Wi-Fi is the one advantage in the face of several disadvantages.
And for now, at least, it will be useless without other Zune owners
nearby.

[jasonm0817]

Yes & Flash players are more reliable w/ longer battery times

Microsoft is dreaming if they think this is gonna be a new take over. I mean the X-box is an example of this. They lost money on them.

[DrtyDogg]

Planned

They planned to lose money on the XBOX as they do for this. According to figures they will start making money on the XBOX next year. They have plenty of money from there Windows monopoly, so they can afford a couple of years worth of losing many millions of dollars, on a few new ventures.

[Tomcat Adam]

Except one thing

They just wanted to get a foothold in a relatively new (to the public), vastly expanding market. And they did just that. Quite well, I might add.

[jasonm0817]

Any word on money they will loose on "ZULE" like the x-box?

Microsoft takes on Apple with over 70% market share. They took on sony playstation and Nintendo with x-box and 360. Give me a break. how much market share do they have in the gaming industry. Microsoft better wory more about OS than this device.

[startiger]

Gaming share, not that much

befor you assume that MS rules the world, remember, there are more PS2's in the US then XBOX, XBOX360, and Game cube COMBINED. (35 Million vs. 14, 2.5, and 10 in that order.)

Are Apple fanboys so worried about having competition that they have to dismiss a product befor it even it availiable to buy?

[DrtyDogg]

Not sure now. . .

But at one point, "May 2004," in the US at least the XBOX had a 51% market share, PS2 with a 32% share and Gamecube with a 17% share. XBOX was a success for Microsoft. XBOX 360 & Zune, we'll see. . .

[tbarkhou]

Virus?

Hey, I wonder since this thing is going around broadcasting it's
presence on Wi-fi networks looking for other Zunes to play with
.... just ripe and eager to download whatever it can squeeze into
its plastic brown case ... does that mean some nerd with too
much time can make some sort of virus to screw up the thing?

OK, maybe that's not likely, but hey it's Microsoft, they seem to
be good at that sort of thing.

[DrtyDogg]

not an unreasonable thought.

If I where to own one, My wifi would be off unless I intended to share a song with someone. I'm not sure if the programming would accept anything it didn't ask for or not. You never know with Microsoft.

[cary1]

Windows Mobile 5

I have a Windows Mobile 5 based smartphone and a different version of the same OS is used in few media players, like Toshiba Gigabeat.

I have never heard of any virus for this OS, though I can't rule out the possibility. I have been using the phone for web browsing and email for almost a year now (without any antivirus software) and never had any problem.

One thing I like about it is that I can do a 'Phone Reset' The phone has a image of the OS and other software, so when I reset it, it goes back to it's original state. I just need to sync it with Outlook on my PC to add contacts again and I am up and running in 5 minutes.... though I never had to do this.

[rmiecznik]

SHARING SONGS Legal ?

Wait a minute. The story says, that ZUME will have WiFi and that people who are close by with other ZUNE players, will be able to share music.

So If I buy a copyrighted CD in a store for $14 say as an example, and I loaded into my ZUNE, I will be able to share that music with 10 people if they are close by ?

Is this legal ? Sounds like Napster.

[DrtyDogg]

Napster

Napster is legal.





NOW.

[DrtyDogg]

Good question

Got me thinking after my earlier comment, If I put an MP3 on it without any DRM what would happen when I shared it. . . or could I share it?

[groink_hi]

It depends on who sold you the music...

The company who sells you the music can set their own terms on what you can do with your purchased tunes.

For example, iTunes allow you to share your iTunes Store purchased songs with others, as long as these other people's computers are on your account's list, which I believe is limited to five computers.

[dm66]

Listen not share ?

Early reports of this wireless sharing I thought was limited to being able to listen to another zune songs/playlist, not transfer the music...
The RIAA would have (another) fit if you could share songs like that.
If true, probably makes the wireless sharing just that little more useless than most will assume what they can do...

[Scenario1]

Stupid Name, Ugly Design

First impressions are lasting ones...

[bylen95]

They will win

All the snide comments are similar to the ones you heard when Microsoft introduced Windows to the PC and now they have 95% of the market (or has that dropped to 94% since Apple switched to Intel?). The comparisons with Xbox are very accurate: if they stick with it, they will win. We use iPods, but our kids will probably use Zunes (just not brown ones!).

[open-mind]

Not a viable analogy....

...because Microsoft leveraged DOS and muscled their partners
to force Windows to be successful. This was perfectly legal,
since DOS was never considered a monopoly.

However in this case, Microsoft has nothing to leverage. And if
they use their Windows monopoly to force people to buy Zune
players, that's illegal. So the Zune must compete on its own
merit, and there aren't any really good reasons to buy their non-
standard (aka non-iPod) niche player.

It will only be successful if they sell it at a huge loss (like XBox),
but what's the point in that? XBox is funded by game softare.

[Norseman]

Brown is good!

Look at it this way. You don't have to sweat getting mugged, 'cause nobody would want it.

[technewsjunkie]

Looks like an iPod, how innovative.

Can't Microsoft ever have an original idea?

[DrtyDogg]

I know

The nerve of M$ to make a rectangular box that plays digital music, and videos. they so copied that from Apple. Did Apple make that first? or did they make it popular?

[DrtyDogg]

I know

The nerve of M$ to put out a rectangular box with a the ability to play digital music. Didn't Apple do that first? Oh, they just made it popular.

[ivanbou]

Sharing Music Legal?

A device that allows you to share music free, no restrictions. If the
record labels didn't like Napster, they sure as hell are not going to
stand for this. I know the record labels are looking for an
alternative to Apple, but I don't think THIS is what they had in
mind. Oh and in the car business they call it "No sale brown".

[sanenazok]

Sampling?

While old-Napster pretended its service was about sampling music, this actually amounts to as such. It's hardly sharing of music with no restrictions. The other player has only 3 days to listen to it 3 times. The only reason MSFT would promote such an idea is if the record labels had already agreed to it.

[DrtyDogg]

Good question

Got me thinking, if I "rip" a song to my computer in MP3 format, no DRM, an put it on my zune, could I share it, or would it have to be transfered to another zune compatible format before the sync.

[DrtyDogg]

Funny

The worst comment I've read from the Ipod crowd is about the Zune being available in Brown.

[bobby_brady]

Can I burn onto CD's? How much DRM?

These questions are more important then the stupid colors!

[DrtyDogg]

If it's like Urge

Then the subscription service won't let you burn to a CD. Just listen on a computer, I think up to 5 computers, and they allow you to sync it to a device.
If you pay per track then yes you can burn it to a cd.

[dirk goedseels]

which holiday season

taking into account MS track record, I presume 2007.
Today they just had to announce something: after all, the Enemy
had again a range of new products AVAILABLE, so, all they could
do was: take some pictures, paste in some images on the Zune's
screen and send out a press release. No Billy Boy jumping
around on stage showing us his new sexy toy, no feature list or
specs, no price, no nothing...
Only a cry out in the dark: hey guys, we're still alive, don't rush
all to the iPod store, because we will be The Alternative for the
x-mas shopping.
The Origami was presented beginning of March. Still lining up
in the shop to buy the first one, are you?

[jbelkin]

iTunes Sharing Better Than Beaming

The legal version of iTunes sharing works with local networks (dorms, college campuses) and the illegal version of sharing does the exact same thing ... and iTunes is FREE ... A Zune with that feature is EXACTLY all the companies selling videophones - if you can convince eveyone you know to buy one ... right now, it's completely MS dorky because who will have that to beam with you? Other people willing to buy a player that looks like a Toshiba case?

And of course, like every MS product filled with crap you have to delete before you can start using it.

[Nubasaurus]

It'll sell

I think it'll sell. These days I see an increasingly large amount of people refusing to get an iPod simply because of it's popularity. Easily distinguishable brand names can be a double edged sword. Of course everyone knows about Apple's iPod and that was much of the reason why they sold so well is beacuse everyone wanted to be a part of the new fad. Recent studies show a decline in their sales though. People might flock to the Zune because it is an alternative with an even bigger name brand.

Who knows, the color brown might even catch on. To this day I still have no idea why pink polo and dress shirts are popular among young men and teenagers.

[J.G.]

Actually, iPod sells are steady

You said:

"Recent studies show a decline in their sales though."

Nonsense. I would ask you to link to those 'recent studies,' but since they are ficitonal, there is no point in doing so. iPods sells are holding steady at around 75 percent. They will increase during the Christmas selling season.

[daveworld]

Test Monkeys - Microsoft Needs You

On rant/

I am truly amazed that a company of such grander continues to release lackluster products to consumers. A fundamental difference in the way companies like Apple think, where the customer comes first. MS philosophy I guess is getting their ware quickly out the door for 'Test Monkeys' to give them feedback.

Problems:
12-hour battery with wifi off (confirmed by Billboard.com). So with wifi on, battery will be far less than 12 hour.

The major feature promoted (wifi) is very limited and a big turn off because of that.

Price though not yet confirmed looks to be higher or the same as iPod. Unless it is lower than iPod, which is already low, this will not get any traction.

All this is coming from the richest company in the industry.

So go ahead 'Test Monkeys', continue to support a company that needs your money really bad in order to release version 3, which probably will finally be good enough. The Microsoft way of doing business!

Off rant/

[extinctone]

Is this another MS virus transport vector?

Why wouldn't it be? Everything else MS touches turns in to a vulnerability, once MS does its embrace and extend thing. MS has instroduced viruses in every file format except text files, but I hear they are working hard on that one.

Can I get a Zune in Cow Pie Brown, please?

Let's set the record straight, NO ONE looks chic
http://www.teckmagazine.com/content/view/661/42/
with something resembling content found in a toilet.