Manage updates with the Download AppSeptember 14, 2006 2:08 PM PDT
Microsoft hopes to sell Zune using brown, not green
- Related Stories
-
Microsoft unwraps Zune for holiday season
September 14, 2006 -
Microsoft sees Zune effort as a long haul
July 27, 2006
Rumors that the company would pay to replace a user's iTunes store purchases with Zune-compatible tracks are not true, Microsoft said Thursday.
The Zune will be able to transfer music ripped to iTunes from CDs, along with information such as user-assigned ratings and playlists, said Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product management for Zune.
"The vast majority of what people have on their PCs is ripped from CDs," Erickson said in an interview on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Microsoft showed off the Zune for the first time, but declined to say just when it will go on sale or how much it will cost.
Although the Zune will play videos, Microsoft won't be selling TV shows or movies this holiday season. Nor, Erickson confirmed, will the device be able to play programs recorded on a Media Center PC, a type of Windows computer that has TiVo-like recording abilities.
"We're focusing on the question of what people are doing with these devices," he said. "By and large the main answer there is music."
Solving another mystery, Erickson explained the thinking behind the choice of brown as one of the Zune's color choices. It's part of the image Microsoft is trying to build.
"Who would create a brown device? Well, artists would and musicians would," he said. "I think it is going to be the sleeper hit."
Erickson said that the colors of the Zune are actually a "double shot," with a second more subtle tone added to give the device a richer color. The brown device, he said, has some green, while the black has a slight blue.
Microsoft has an uphill battle in chasing Apple Computer, which has sold 60 million iPods and dominated the market for legal music downloads and MP3 players. Apple stepped up the pressure on Tuesday, introducing an updated iPod that--while lacking wireless abilities or a larger screen--does offer a brighter screen, longer battery life and a lower price than prior models.
Microsoft is hoping the Zune's ability to share music will help it stand out.
"There's good technology out there, but we haven't really tapped into the human angle," Erickson said.
One of the questions though, is whether Zune owners will have enough fellow Zune owners to share music with. "We are going to be doing some activities in the next few months...that target that question specifically."
Among the events on tap, Erickson said, are Zune-backed concerts, as well as programs to make sure college students are among the early Zune owners. "The reality is the people on the streets and the groups of friends, and the community will be the best promoters of the device," he said.
Microsoft has said it expects Zune to take years to reach its full potential and it expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the effort.
See more CNET content tagged:
Microsoft Zune, Apple Computer, Apple iTunes, owner, color
29 comments
Join the conversation! Add your comment
this dismal outing and ignore the upcoming newest release of
Windows, the whole company will be headed for the dumpster, The
sooner the better!!!
yep-that reminds me of somthing that microsoft has been peddling
for years - & heres some more!!
Stick to White and Black or lime and pink if you're into that color, just not me.
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".
They are just being honest for once, and letting you know up front it is crap.
"Microsoft has said it expects Zune to take years to reach its full potential and it expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the effort."
After wasting all that money they will still be an also ran, or they could have done it right the first time and maybe make a dent.
there are bigger fish to fry. why don't they make it tie-dyed. or rainbow!
So what exactly are we supposed to watch on this? Stuff downloaded illegally from the net? Illegally ripped DVDs?
A swing, and a miss. Listen, why even offer video? MS has a huge opportunity here: integrate the livingroom media center and their player. Timeshift video on your PC, watch it anywhere. No, instead they've chose to keep their obviously complementary products locked into separate worlds. Too bad the great wall of DRM probably also separates their products from the customers. D'oh!
down the drain.
What kind of strategy is that? How does that sound to investors?
And what does that say about the quality and appeal of their
products?
They got lucky with lock-in distribution deals for DOS. If it
weren't for that, they would have died the quick death of every
other company that continually offers subpar products in a
competitive market.
And what's with the chunky, plastic 80's styling?
They NEED fantasties and hundreds of millions in cash to even
have a shot at pulling this off.
It would be the same thing if Apple wanted to really push to knock MS off the OS pedestal, which it dominates even tho many consider its OS to be subpar to Mac, Linux , etc. Apple would have to toss millions of dollars at the effort. Who knows how much is being spent right now by Apple on just the new commercial series "humanizing" the Mac and PC in their TV ads.
Do I think Zune is a better piece of hardware than Apple's counterparts? I have no idea, I do not have one in my hand. Like most everyone else I will need to wait to compare them side-by-side.
shot," with a second more subtle tone added to give the device a
richer color. The brown device, he said, has some green."
What nonsense. Brown _always_ contains some green. The
chances that _anything_ you've looked at... outside of an original
oil painting... contains a single, pure pigment is virtually nil.
They are "double shots," triple shots, hextuple shots... and in
the case of a "brown," a green would almost always be part of
the mix.
This is just an infuriatingly way of pretending that a perfectly
ordinary, arbitrary color choice sound is something wise and
special.
completely dictate what we can and can't do. Sony has tried this
with the Atrac coding but it miserably failed, MS is maybe bigger
than Apple and Sony-elec but they sure miss the boat by a wide
margin here.
I predict it will sell in the 5 digits per month with enough media
attention and advertising, if there lucky. So this is 10.000 to
99.000 but my bet is 20.000 per month worldwide the first half
year.
Say what you will about the iPod, but the thing provides the best and easiest experience for music on the go and managing a library at home. The new models look amazing, and when the iTV finally comes out its all over. Why on earth would I or anyone else want to switch to an inferior product?
I dont think so.
You should try a Sansa model.
i'll be selling my ipod touch here in a while, i just got my zune, and it's so much better for music.. MUCH easier to navigate. there are pinned favorites of your music. it shows the newest music. playlists are easy to create on the device. and the software is very good. and works well. unlike itunes for windows.
i wont say the ipod is inferior. or anything biased like that. because the ipod is a great device. itunes for windows is terrible though. and if you cant support your devices with software that works well then your going to loose customers. people are getting fed up with itunes. it's bloated, it forces you to install like 10 other applications, it's ugly, and not very easy.