8 replies to this topic

[Georgia]

Just curious if there are any other Zune users afoot. The 3.0 software is quite remarkable, particularly the Mixview feature. I also enjoy the concept of integrating hardware and social networking (which leaves a few things to be desired, but is gradually improving with each update). I've even made a few friends taking the bus to/from university through The Social.

[KendallJ]

Georgia,

I don't have one, but I was watching them pretty intently for a while when I was considering buying one. I fear that regardless of how good Microsoft makes the product, that it will not be able to compete with the established iPod franchise. By attempting to compete on the same sort of product characteristics, targeting the same sorts of markets, making what are really only incremental differences, and by starting out so late relative to the iPod, MS almost guarantees that it will not catch up no matter how much money it throws into the business model. The key here is not the product but rather control of the distribution channel, which Apple has already dominated.

I know that's off topic from your original question. I think the players look great and probably perform on par with the iPod. I don't think that will be enough.

[Steve D'Ippolito]

Beware! I was unable to use USB drives (be it a flash card, external drive....) on the machine I had the Zune software running (files would vanish when I started the software, and come back after I quite the software and disconecced/reconnected the drive). Since my music was *on* that drive (not enough room on the hard drive in this box), it made the Zune worthless to me. (This was after a major rodeo getting the software to work at all, thanks to my being in one of the binighted areas of the country where broadband is unavailable... but I was willing to forgive that. I really like the size of the display on the 120 GB model, I have to squint at anything else with my middle-aged eyes. But I could *not* forgive having it thrash USB drives!)

[fountainhead777]

i frequently use usb drives and have never had that problem. I would say you need an update to the program or usb port drivers most likely.

I enjoy my Zune greatly and like its features better than the ipod. Everything seems neater and works much better to me. And it interfaces with my other Microsoft products easily. Despite it having a smaller market share I think it is still worth purchasing. It is not going away anytime soon it seems so it should continue competing. I think a large portion of iPod's claim on the market comes from popularity and marketing not functionality.

Additionally there is a Zune marketplace where songs and albums may be purchased with Microsoft points

[Georgia]

I've never experienced/heard of this USB glitch before, either. Lately, I've been syncing wirelessly -- although in an unrelated issue, I have experienced USB issues before, so I can relate to this frustration.

I don't believe that Zune's secondary popularity is due to attempts to capitalize on similar fundamentals (aside from the core portable media player). In addition to a few other features, Microsoft developed the Zune's wireless capabilities for a good year prior to the iPod Touch's release (that being said, I wish they would have waited a bit longer).

Like fountainhead777 mentioned, the overall success of these products is largely due to advertisement. Count how many iPod Shuffle/Touch/Classic/Potato Peeler commercials you have seen in the past. Count how many you've seen marketing Zunes. Not to criticize Apple, as I am a Mac and iPod owner, but the media has been infected with a meme when it comes to their products. iPods (and other Apple products) are trendy, indie, and cool -- whereas anything else is unreliable and aesthetically lacking.

[KendallJ]

I've never experienced/heard of this USB glitch before, either. Lately, I've been syncing wirelessly -- although in an unrelated issue, I have experienced USB issues before, so I can relate to this frustration.

I don't believe that Zune's secondary popularity is due to attempts to capitalize on similar fundamentals (aside from the core portable media player). In addition to a few other features, Microsoft developed the Zune's wireless capabilities for a good year prior to the iPod Touch's release (that being said, I wish they would have waited a bit longer).

Like fountainhead777 mentioned, the overall success of these products is largely due to advertisement. Count how many iPod Shuffle/Touch/Classic/Potato Peeler commercials you have seen in the past. Count how many you've seen marketing Zunes. Not to criticize Apple, as I am a Mac and iPod owner, but the media has been infected with a meme when it comes to their products. iPods (and other Apple products) are trendy, indie, and cool -- whereas anything else is unreliable and aesthetically lacking.

Be careful Georgia. Think about what you're saying here. Yes, it's true that brand image and advertising can be factors, but the idea that sustained success comes from unexplainable sustained irrational behavior is very very suspect. When Greenspan suggested irrational exuberance was the cause of the dot com bubble, or irrational non-self interested behavior the cause of the financial crisis it was a complete cop-out. To blame something which is uncharacterized and uncausal does two things. first it causes one to stop looking for the actual cause, and second it causes one to attempt to imitate the exact thing that others are doing in the hopes that some of that magic will rub off on it. Both are recipes for disaster.

If a business student were to make such a case in developing a new business strategy I would be suspect of everything he said after he blamed such an a-causal reason for others successes. His business proposal is almost certainly assured of failure.

The Zune is Microsofts attempt to be trendy, indie, cool, and user interface cutting edge. One can debate the particulars of any feature, but this is the basic model. It is attempting to emulate Apple's model. Unfortunately, the brand image of the iPod is only a feature that was really really valuable in the beginning. Apply now has a significant installed base, and a dominant content portal in iTunes. These are its true strengths. The iTunes library is the most complete content portal on the internet bar none, and being able to buy only some of the artists you like from other portals is a huge disincentive to other players. The installed base is so dominant that Apple (two years ago) advocated for non-DRM protected content delivery.

http://crucibleandco...s-on-music.html

[aarenlainey]

Just want to give my opinion on Zune. Zune has a large screen. and you can easily send and receive songs from other people with Zunes. Audio quality on Zune HD is Superb. The interface is much nicer and the screen gives it better Video Quality, and because the screen is OLED, it doesn't need a backlight, so it has a longer battery life by about 3 hrs. The Zune HD has much better sound quality as Zunes have had that throughout the years they have been there. In fact it is the best sounding hardware to date.

[Steve D'Ippolito]

If you are talking about the 160GB model, I agree... I had other issues with it though so I took it back. My middle aged eyes can't read the small fonts on those other screens, even the smaller Zune units--wish they'd use more space for text and less for absolutely useless "album art".

[fountainhead777]

I have had a Zune 80gb and a Zune HD and while they work well the support for the latter frustrates me. It had a phenomenal graphics chip but there are so few good apps for it and they wont let third party developers make them.