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.

[Akiba]

It has a chance.

First of all I can't stand the brown but I think its funny how people act like there aren't any people with bad taste who will buy it. There are two other colors though. You don't see me saying ipods suck because there is a pink version.

2nd there is a demand for a player with real style and brand recognition that works with the bundled windows media player, especially when vista comes out. I own an ipod but its because I don't like any of the wmp based players. This is the first one I would consider. I'm not saying its an ipod killer. I think the Zune has a look that is more apealing to young male gamers who run windows while it won't stand a chance at the crowd who buys an ipod because it looks good in their purse.

[ServedUp]

A brilliant observation.

I agree it does appeal more to male gamers judging by the posts
from most people here. I think its safe to say most gamers are
big Microsoft fans, and are the most likely crowd to buy ZUNE.
To hold there porn and heavy metal music....

I'm a fan of ITUNES and IPOD, but completely open to buying
another player, if its BETTER. But ZUNE just doesn't capture the
imagination, I mean look at what happend to Origami and plus
its a Microsoft product. What makes them think their cool all of
a sudden??

But... I was optimistic about the ZUNE player yesterday, thinking
that it probably can give IPOD a run for its money but looking
over other posts and articles. I just discovered that ZUNE is
actually a repackaged Gigabeat with Microsoft branding all over
it, looking over images of the GIGABEAT incomparison to ZUNE.
The only thing distinguishingly different is the wireless sharing
they'll have between players and the odd joystick interface which
looks like the Ipod's click wheel.

My guess is the general crowd here disliking the IPOD are going
to buy this thing..

[Mickey2512518]

hahaha

come on will windows ever have an original idea!

[BillyBrack]

Microsoft is Not Late to the Party

I wonder what the real story behind the brown Zune is. It seems to have stirred up discussion, and ?leak as announcement? sure stole any thunder from Apple?s recent non-event.

Had Apple pulled off the iPhone as many people had expected, nobody would care about Zune. As it is here we are discussing it.

As I see it, the important thing is there is real competition in this field. We are still early in this game.

Everybody seems to have missed Creative?s announcement of their new Zen Vision W. From a technical point of view it blows away anything from either Apple or Microsoft. It also comes with a lot of accessories and Creative has great distribution and manufacturing capabilities.

Perhaps if Creative had made it really ugly and brown, people would care. (It is ugly and black.)

Everybody seems to be missing the point that we are very early in this game. Today iPods are everywhere, but what will people be carrying around in two or three years. In a few years iPods may be ?sooo 2003!?

I work for a company building ultrawideband (WiMedia) chips. They aren?t on the market yet, but next year we will be shipping chips have a raw rate of 480 Mbps. Actually WiFi is fast enough for sharing audio, but the airwaves are getting crowded and WiMedia scales well to video and will work well in crowded situations where everybody is using wireless.

Microsoft deserves credit for pioneering wireless in portable players. We don?t know if Microsoft will put silly restrictions on wireless on not yet, but if they do others will step in with better, faster and freer wireless. We chip vendors are happy to sell armaments in this war.

Similarly companies like Texas Instruments, ATI, Nvidia and Broadcom are building powerful media processing chips that get cheaper and cheaper by the year. Intel is working hard in an attempt to reduce power necessary to run their new ?Duo? processors.

This isn?t a case where Microsoft can ?win by leveraging their operating system?. I don?t really buy into that myth, but even the most rabid Microsoft hater should understand that the rules are changing.

I suppose I should take it as a lesson that the most technologically advanced portable media player (Creative Zen Vision W) has been completely ignored, but technology is advancing, and change means opportunity for new leadership.

If somebody had told me ten years ago that Apple and Microsoft would be battling for leadership of portable media players, I wouldn?t have believed it. That field was owned by Sony and their Walkman brand name. Ten years from now both iPod and Zune could be relics of the past like 8-track and Walkman.

It is too early in the race to call a winner.

[gigwerks]

Turn off the music and finish those resumes

Apparently there are a number of folks that believe that trashing Microsoft is more important than getting a job/life. The I-pod and Zune are all just over-hyped little gadgets that play music that my cell phone can do just fine (1gb card). I don't want to pay for movies/videos to watch on a 3 inch screen and never will. The constant breaking news story that Apple is releasing yet another flavor or color or carrying case whatever of the I-pod is less than news but seems to get so many folks excited I wonder how many of these losers are really out there. Then I read these threads and I get a better idea.

Any MP3 player more than $125 is not worth it. It's flash memory and a little interface so get over it!

[ServedUp]

Agreed.

I do agree this is turning into a marketing circus and I can't
believe there are people out there willing to spend more money
for the same product every year that basically does only one
thing PLAY MUSIC. Granted yes some players have other features
but when you get down to the meat of it, its just a MUSIC
PLAYER.

I do have an IPOD though but its the 1st generation 5gb IPOD,
I've replaced the battery only once and its still going strong, I've
had this thing for more than 5 years already and its still runs
beautifully. I'm not caught up in the hype with the new players
but I do understand its a steady revenue stream for most
companies like Creative, SanDisk, Apple & Sony.

But to me their all crooks.

But I give props to Apple for creating the first gen IPOD, when
they create a product its built to last a long-time (that is, only if
you can get around the battery issue).

[spacydog]

Very cool product! It sucks!

How can you all comment on a product without even using it? Wait for the reviews or go out and get one yourself before you start dogging it or praising it. The comments so far seem to be from MS bashers/Apple fanboys or MS advocates.

[lesfilip]

Sucks, Yes... Cool, No

Word from those that have had access to the product say it is
clunky. I am wondering if you have used one, since you are calling
it very cool?

Have a nice day!

[K.P.C.]

Just curious . . .

You state:
"The comments so far seem to be from MS bashers/Apple fanboys
or MS advocates".

MS only has "Advocates"?
These "Advocates" never fall into the "[Apple/Linux] Basher"or "MS
fanboy" catagory?

Kind of shows which side of the fence you fall on ;-)

[Chevaliermusic]

I don't understand...

...why everyone is so excited. As an African-American (don't really know what that means as I am an american - but not from africa - lol) I like the idea of a piece of tech that matches my tan (just kidding) Seriously though people, the iPod is cool - and the Zune will probably be cool. And as one Apple user to a bunch of others - look out. Even if the Zune does suck - you know Microsoft won't just pack up and go home. Sony's might lose the video game war because of arrogance, hopefully Apple won't. And just in case u forgot - Netscape.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Running scared?

You can tell that the Apple Zealots are worried when they spend so much time and effort complaining about a color instead of what the device can do.

Are we worried? Hmm?

Give it time. We'll see what happens once it becomes available. I wouldn't want to be so cocky and predict failure before it even goes to market.

[lesfilip]

Running Scared? You must be joking...

Apple zealots are not worried, they are just being zealots. It is
funny how you say you "wouldn't want to be so cocky and predict
failure before it even goes to market" when the Microsoft zealots
said exactly that when the iPod first came out.

Hace a nice day!

[william1779]

GOD!! It stinks the rotten apple here!!

Simple and true: the so hard to hide yellow smiles on these pretentious little worms are as usual getting out of the putrid fruit because of jealousy, and hence corroded by the well known fear of a out of breath fanatism deception, always acting like poisonnous nonprofessionals and ignorant individuals discriminating a product just because it's MS.

Simple and true: it remembers me the blondes heads groupies running after the only music band they know and systematically oozing **** on the other bands they didn't even yet hear. Just because they have an Ipod in their purse and GOD it's so cool to be one of these sheeps.

Simple and true: one way or another I will laugh when I'll see who's still running behind stiil eating dirt... It's destiny, it's inexorable.

PS: Don't be afraid, as long as you are a fanatic you will be protected from loosing your identity. And by the way, yeah, brown isn't an available color in Ipod, and just look at how people talk about it... That's only the breach!

[lesfilip]

You are quite a poet...

Most people don't buy an iPod because it is cool. They buy it
because their friends who already have one love it because it works
so well and is so simple to use, and they want the same experience.

Now go back to your poetry lessons whilst having a nice day!

[ethernet76]

Don't know

How was creative able to patent the drill-down menu?

I think it's because it's similar to a traditional volume knob, but the
center button makes it different enough.

You could probably get away with just having the original scroll
wheel that moves without the center button, but that would be a
waste of space.

[toosday]

J Allard Has Beaten Steve Jobs (in Usablility)

Let's nt talk design for a minute (since it's so subjective) and
let's talk business:

An artist wants you to listen to their album to convince you to
buy it. (Like they do on AOL's FULL CD Listening Party and
countless mp3 blogs). They allow you to listen to their album or
song on your Zune for 3 days and share it. You know, I see
record companies LOVING this idea because it is a very new way
to makert artists.

Also, the idea of always being one-click away from ANY menu is
great when you are driving and switching between playlists.
Magnetic earphones? Very nice.

It seems where MS did a mediocre job at product design, they
outperfomed the iPod on usability design by a long shot. Why?
Because, ALL of those features would be incredible on an iPod....
but they aren't.

What the iPod has is style - and I must say that Apple is good at
stylized products. They're great, in fact! However, the last great
usability design that the iPod infused was the click-wheel... back
with the iPod Mini, no doubt.

Also, note that I am not saying the iPod's usabililty is BAD. But,
it'd be extremely better if it had some of the usability features
that Zune has.

Apple will undoubtedly release their fullscreen iPod and that'll be
wonderful. But how will it innovate when it comes to stepping
outside of just product design? I suggest they take notes from J
Allard this time around.

[ServedUp]

J Allard?

This guy is a nobody compared to Jobs.

Who is he anyway? lol

[mgreere]

You're confusing features with usability

Usability equals speed and intuitiveness of interaction with the
product. Unless you're certain what you've mentioned acheives
either of thse in real-world use, those are just features.

The clickwheel --now that affords superior usability. It's intuitive
and allows for incredibly rapid and accurate pin-pointing of items
in a list. The wheel, next to iTunes, is the coup de grace of the
iPod.

[larrymadill]

Eh

In reality can you really do too much more with/for an Mp3 player past video? I mean, how much more "functionality" can any product tolerate before it becomes some screwball Korean Army Knife.

An Mp3 player has to play Mp3s/audio (and, I guess nowadays video) but past that can anyone offer some great innovation to attract new buyers? Think at the moment its more about name/brand recognition. At the moment IPOD/ITUNES owns that. Just a matter of whether Microsoft can glean off enough buyers to make people recognize the ZUNE as a legitimate competitor.

The M$ Zune Cow Pie

Oops! I meant that brown colored media playing
http://www.teckmagazine.com/content/view/667/43/
device. Geez, they look the same.

[john55440]

PC Mag: iTunes 7 Cons

"Cons: Still no music-subscription option; movies priced on the high side; not many current releases to choose from (yet); Cover Flow feature is impractical for large libraries." -PC Magazine

Yup, "still no music-subscription option" from the backwards, uncreative, Apple.:-)

[K.P.C.]

Here's a thought . . .

If you want to pay a monthly fee to rent your music instead of
buying it, go someplace other than iTunes.

I personally prefer to keep what I pay for and not have my playlists
dissapear when the subscription runs out.
;-)

[K.P.C.]

It's not just the player people.

The "Apple Bashing MS Fanboys" (had to slip that in) always
seem to argue that the only reason the iPod has beaten all the
other competitors (Creative, iRiver, Sony, Toshiba, Archos,
Olympus, Samsung, RCA, Rio, SanDisk, etc.) is that mindless
"Apple Fanboy/girl" lemmings somehow convinced most people
that they were "Cool".

The only reason the "iTunes Music Store" has sold more music
than all the others combined (Yahoo! Music, Amazon.com, Music
Download.com, MP3.com, Napster, Rhapsody, etc.) is these
same "people/lemmings/fanboyzombies" were compelled by this
"Coolness Craze" to do their legal on-line shopping at iTunes.

The truth of the matter is that the iPod is a success for one
reason only. The seamless interaction between "iTunes", the
"iTunes Music Store" and the "iPod". Most iPod owners are
actually MS users. They don't even own a Mac (yet). But they do
have iTunes on their PC.

It's the total package - iPod, iTunes, iTunes Music. Ease of use,
not having to worry about compatability issues that creep up
using a thousand different players with different software and
hardware mucking up the whole process

The same seamless interactivity will be true with the upcoming
"iTV", ?iTunes?, "iTunes Movies" combination.

Most of the Apple Bashing MS fanboys I've seem on the blogs
this week portrayed Steve Jobs announcement of "iTunes Movies"
as a non-story cuz who wants to watch a movie on a 2.5 inch
iPod screen. They then "Poo poo'd" (brown Zune reference
intended) the introduction of "iTV" cuz it isn't even on the
market yet (ummm - Zune anyone?).

They, as usual, completely missed the point. There was no larger
screened iPod introduced because in the very near future you
can download your movies from "iTunes Movies" and watch
them, wirelessly, directly from your computer HD, on your
livingrooms 60" flatsceen home theater using "iTV".

Again, seamless integration. A couple clicks of the mouse.
(btw - if you really wanted to watch the movie or TV show on
your train ride to work - or play one of the new downloadable
games - yeah you can do that on the iPod also).

Bottomline, unless MS and Zune can inter-relate the entire user
experience and make it as easy as the iPod, iTV, iTunes, iTunes
Music/Movie Store combo - in the long run - it doesn't stand a
chance.

Just my 2 cents worth ;-)

[Peter Bonte]

Its the touchpad scroll wheel

It rocks, everything els is rubbish. Thats why Apple took a patent
on any form of touchpad use on a music player.

That and all the things you mention, i agree but don't
underestimate the wheel. With the Zune you need to click for every
song or album so it sucks to use on large 30 GB library's. :-)

[cary1]

May I have your attention please?t

Read this story on BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5350258.stm

Someone posted this link on this discussion board...

and before you start your "iTMS and iPod seamless integration is so good" routine again, just know the fact that this article on BBC was pulished only two days ago

[john55440]

BBC: "iPod fans 'shunning iTunes store" (Link)

"Despite the success of Apple iTunes, few people stock their iPod with tracks from the online store, reports a study."

"On average, the study reports, only 5% of the music on an iPod will be bought from online music stores."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5350258.stm

[ujaasb]

MS HAS TO ADD MORE FEARURES ipod suck i hate ipod

i am sure every1 will be willing to spend $400 with chat compatibility touch screen web browsing bluetooh skype voip and qwerty keyboard

[lucifinil]

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[kyle172]

A little too late

Microsoft is a little late on this one

[Stan Johnson]

Needs more features than ipod

If Zune is released without video I think it will fall very short of MS expectations. I really think MS best hope to compete with ipod is to be more than ipod. What is coming out looks like it will fall short.

Personally I would prefer Zune over ipod but I will not buy until more features, especially video are available.

[johnhaggard]

I think this is my old Coleco game

Are they sreiously expecting this design to sell? I have a very old Coleco pocket football with LED that looks exactly like Zune. But, does anyone care?