Ultimate_Superman
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I am getting this I have it on hold at gamestop.Gamma Ray said:
This looks very cool, IMO. It even has more features than the iPods.
Microsoft Zune
- Thread starter Gamma Ray
- Start date
jaguarr
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http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=219
Getting Zuned
October 5th, 2006
Return to Archive
Every week at MP3tunes we hear from people who have lost all or a portion of their iTunes music (it's often motivation to get 'music insurance' and open a $40 locker with unlimited storage). While we're happy to have a new customer, it's sad when someone loses their personal possessions. Their loss is often tied to a DRM (digital restricted music) problem. Music wrapped with restrictions like songs from iTunes aren't really a purchase, but rather a rental. Like all rentals they come to an end and you're out on the street with nothing. It's just a matter of time before one of the following happens:
- Technology company changes rules, technology or strategy. See: Your Music Goes Flat
- A hard disk crashes.
- Computer is stolen, broken or upgraded.
- Exceed number of allowed devices (usually some are lost, stolen or broken).
I've been looking for a good verb to describe losing all of your music to DRM because it's increasingly common and I think I have one: zune.
Sample usage: He had an extensive classic rock collection that got zuned.
Now if you're thinking that zune sounds familiar it's because the press has been abuzz about an upcoming MP3 player from Microsoft called Zune. At first glance the features seem compelling but my prediction is it will be the biggest flop of 2007 with less than 50,000 units sold worldwide.
The wow feature of the device is wifi - a wireless way to connect to the Internet. Great - I can get music directly to the device without a PC! Wrong. In a baffling move Microsoft has crippled the wifi so it cannot load music from the Internet. You'll need to attach it to your PC and run their software just like every other MP3 player. The wireless connection is only used to connect to another Zune device to move songs which will then vaporize after 3 days or 3 plays even if you own the music and both devices. Astonishingly the one feature which could fundamentally improve upon the iPod is worthless. If this device sounds familiar it's been tried before with the MusicGremlin which I wrote about earlier this year when I called it the "most disappointing device" from this year’s CES (Consumer Electronic Show).
In spite of the larger display and capacity the Zune is inferior to the MusicGremlin because it zunes your entire purchased music library. Microsoft made a corporate decision to abandon their previous technology called "Plays for Sure" and turn it into "Screwed for Sure". Anyone who purchased music from Rhapsody, Napster, Buy.com, Wal-mart, BuyMusic, etc. will discover that music is unplayable. (Of course iTunes music won't play either because Apple doesn't play nicely with others.) You'll be required to re-purchase that music or go without.
The danger with DRM is that it gives corporations the power to change the rules of the game anytime they think it will benefit their bank account, even if that means zuning your music library. There's no better illustration of this than when the world's largest technology company curtails support of their OWN technology abandoning their hardware partners, music stores and most importantly customers they convinced to use Plays for Sure. Microsoft will surely claim that they'll continue to support Plays for Sure, but their actions speak louder than their words - it won't even play on their own music players! Plays for Sure is dead for sure and it's going to its grave with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of music fans’ digital music crammed into the coffin.
Microsoft will likely spend nearly $100 million in marketing the Zune. The press will give them tens of millions of dollars in free marketing. In spite of this publicity the Zune will be an expensive failure for Microsoft because consumers aren't stupid. As the saying goes: Zune me once, shame on you. Zune me twice, shame on me.
Another thing I've been reading about Zune's is that they won't be available in the European market until at least 2008.
jag
Getting Zuned
October 5th, 2006
Return to Archive
Every week at MP3tunes we hear from people who have lost all or a portion of their iTunes music (it's often motivation to get 'music insurance' and open a $40 locker with unlimited storage). While we're happy to have a new customer, it's sad when someone loses their personal possessions. Their loss is often tied to a DRM (digital restricted music) problem. Music wrapped with restrictions like songs from iTunes aren't really a purchase, but rather a rental. Like all rentals they come to an end and you're out on the street with nothing. It's just a matter of time before one of the following happens:
- Technology company changes rules, technology or strategy. See: Your Music Goes Flat
- A hard disk crashes.
- Computer is stolen, broken or upgraded.
- Exceed number of allowed devices (usually some are lost, stolen or broken).
I've been looking for a good verb to describe losing all of your music to DRM because it's increasingly common and I think I have one: zune.
Sample usage: He had an extensive classic rock collection that got zuned.
Now if you're thinking that zune sounds familiar it's because the press has been abuzz about an upcoming MP3 player from Microsoft called Zune. At first glance the features seem compelling but my prediction is it will be the biggest flop of 2007 with less than 50,000 units sold worldwide.
The wow feature of the device is wifi - a wireless way to connect to the Internet. Great - I can get music directly to the device without a PC! Wrong. In a baffling move Microsoft has crippled the wifi so it cannot load music from the Internet. You'll need to attach it to your PC and run their software just like every other MP3 player. The wireless connection is only used to connect to another Zune device to move songs which will then vaporize after 3 days or 3 plays even if you own the music and both devices. Astonishingly the one feature which could fundamentally improve upon the iPod is worthless. If this device sounds familiar it's been tried before with the MusicGremlin which I wrote about earlier this year when I called it the "most disappointing device" from this year’s CES (Consumer Electronic Show).
In spite of the larger display and capacity the Zune is inferior to the MusicGremlin because it zunes your entire purchased music library. Microsoft made a corporate decision to abandon their previous technology called "Plays for Sure" and turn it into "Screwed for Sure". Anyone who purchased music from Rhapsody, Napster, Buy.com, Wal-mart, BuyMusic, etc. will discover that music is unplayable. (Of course iTunes music won't play either because Apple doesn't play nicely with others.) You'll be required to re-purchase that music or go without.
The danger with DRM is that it gives corporations the power to change the rules of the game anytime they think it will benefit their bank account, even if that means zuning your music library. There's no better illustration of this than when the world's largest technology company curtails support of their OWN technology abandoning their hardware partners, music stores and most importantly customers they convinced to use Plays for Sure. Microsoft will surely claim that they'll continue to support Plays for Sure, but their actions speak louder than their words - it won't even play on their own music players! Plays for Sure is dead for sure and it's going to its grave with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of music fans’ digital music crammed into the coffin.
Microsoft will likely spend nearly $100 million in marketing the Zune. The press will give them tens of millions of dollars in free marketing. In spite of this publicity the Zune will be an expensive failure for Microsoft because consumers aren't stupid. As the saying goes: Zune me once, shame on you. Zune me twice, shame on me.
Another thing I've been reading about Zune's is that they won't be available in the European market until at least 2008.
jag
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microsoft is going to get owned
Gamma Ray
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Any time you have the opportunity to knock this device, you do so. You're just a Mac freak, and that's okay for you, but you'll find that the good reviews will outweigh the bad.
I know Mac supporters like knocking everything Microsoft, but do you really want to be counted amongst those morons?
I know Mac supporters like knocking everything Microsoft, but do you really want to be counted amongst those morons?
jaguarr
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I'm not knocking it because I'm a Mac supporter. Seriously. I'm knocking it because the device is a turd and anyone who falls for the contrived, crappy DRM scheme that Microsoft has cooked up for it deserves what they get. I've seen people who complain about the DRM on an iPod or Napster compatible devices tout this thing as the holy grail, which makes no damn sense whatsoever. The Zune is even more format restrictive than the other players on the market and has a truly draconian DRM scheme that DRM's ALL your music you put on it, no matter where you got it from.
And, no, I've seen far more mediocre to bad reviews of the Zune than I have glowing ones.
jag
And, no, I've seen far more mediocre to bad reviews of the Zune than I have glowing ones.
jag
AllThingsComic
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I still don't own an Ipod and I want to get one for my wife for Christmas, please guys help me make an informed decision.
Gamma Ray
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http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/zune-first-full-review-212255.php
Full review up at Gizmodo. The design alone looks amazing.
Full review up at Gizmodo. The design alone looks amazing.
Gamma Ray
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Opinion: Why Microsoft's Zune scares Apple to the core
Mike Elgan, Computerworld (US online)
Microsoft plans to launch a competitor to Apple's iPod, a wireless media player called the Zune, just in time for Christmas in the US.
Apple fans point and laugh at Microsoft's entry into a market totally dominated by the iPod and its transcendent design. Apple's media players are so good they have transformed consumer electronics, inspired a massive gadget 'ecosystem' and spawned a thousand imitators. Every pretender to the media player throne - and there have been hundreds - has been thoroughly smacked down by Apple and its untouchable iPod.
The secrets of iPod's success appear obvious: beauty, simplicity and 'extreme coolness' - three characteristics Microsoft has never achieved in any product.
So why is Apple so scared? (I'll tell you why in a minute.)
First, what is this Zune thing, anyway?
Zune is a music and video player that Microsoft will launch in the US on 14 Novemberfor $249.99. Other countries will have to wait until next year. It's made in China by Toshiba.
The initial version will sport a 30GB hard drive, peer-to-peer WiFi connectivity, a 3in screen (320 by 240-pixel QVGA viewable in either portrait or landscape mode), an FM tuner that will display song information from stations that broadcast a Radio Broadcast Data Standards (RBDS) signal and a built-in nonreplaceable lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will probably deliver about 12 hours of music or about 3.5 hours of video on a single charge. It won't last as long as the iPod, but it will charge faster.
Zune will connect to an iTunes-like music store called the Zune Marketplace, which will offer millions of songs, according to Microsoft. Music will be available for 99 cents per song or via an 'all-you-can-eat', $14.99-per-month subscription package called a 'Zune Pass'. Movies and TV shows will become available on the site sometime next year. Marketplace will work with the Microsoft Points program - Xbox users can spend Points on Zune media and vice versa. Each song on Marketplace costs 79 points. (For instance, 100 points equals $1.25).
Zune will come preloaded with yet-undisclosed songs from DTS, EMI Music's Astralwerks Records and Virgin Records, Ninja Tune, Playlouderecordings, Quango Music Group, Sub Pop Records and V2/Artemis Records.
Zunes will also be able to connect to one another wirelessly, letting people share songs (as well as playlists and JPEG photos) with up to four other simultaneous Zune users within WiFi range. Recipients of these shared songs will be able to play them three times for up to three days free, after which they'll have to pay to listen. Songs received wirelessly can't be shared.
At least in the initial release, Zune's WiFi won't connect to a network. It's peer-to-peer only.
The Zune PC connection software requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista, so Macintosh owners can't use it. The Zune will also connect to TVs, home stereos and Microsoft Xbox game consoles and play music or videos through them.
Zune software will import audio files in unprotected WMA, MP3, AAC formats; JPEG photos; and videos in WMV, MPEG-4, H.264 formats. Microsoft has hinted that it will support other media formats, but hasn't specified which ones. Zune will import songs from Apple's iTunes "as permitted by the online service from which it was purchased," according to Microsoft.
Users will be able to choose a "ZuneTag," which is a unique user name that others will see on a kind of "buddy list" when they connect via WiFi. The device will have a "Community" menu from which users can select an item called "Nearby" to display all Zunes within range.
Microsoft will sell three Zune bundles: a $79.99 Zune Car Pack will ship with a car charger, a $99.99 Zune Home A/V Pack will come with cabling and wireless accessories for connecting to televisions and stereo systems, and a $99.99 Zune Travel Pack will feature high-quality earphones, a remote, a carrying case, and a cable for PC synchronization. The company will also sell separate output cables, chargers, docks, upgrade headphones and other accessories.
Compared with Apple's latest iPod, the Zune is a slightly larger, slightly heavier, slightly less elegant device.
So why is Apple so scared? Five reasons:
1. Microsoft is hatching a consumer media 'perfect storm'.
Apple fans assume iPod will face Zune in the market, mano a mano, like other media players. But that's not the case. Zune will be supported and promoted and will leverage the collective power of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Soapbox (Microsoft's new "YouTube killer") and the Xbox 360.
Microsoft will make the movement of media between Windows, Soapbox and the Zune natural and seamless. The Zune interface is just like a miniature version of the Windows Media Center user interface and is very similar to some elements of Vista.
Apple fans are overconfident in the iPod because Apple once commanded 92 per cent of music player market share, a number that has since fallen to around 70 per cent. About 30 million people own iPods.
But Microsoft owns more than 90 per cent of the worldwide operating systems market (compared with Apple's roughly 5 per cent), representing some 300 million people. The company expects to have 200 million Vista users within two years.
The Zune will plug directly into the Xbox via a standard USB cable - a fact Microsoft will drill into the heads of Xbox users on the Xbox Live online gaming service. The Zune Marketplace will be integrated with, and promoted by, the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Apple faces the prospect of competing not with the Zune alone, but with a mighty Windows-Soapbox-Xbox-Zune industrial complex.
2. The Zune is social and viral
Since the iPod first came out, times have changed. The rise of social networks like MySpace.com and viral Web 2.0 sites like that of YouTube have transformed the expectations of young people about sharing and using media. In the context of these trends, Apple is old school. But the Zune, with its peer-to-peer wireless file sharing, is both social and viral.
Tweens, teens and twentysomethings have acquired the habit of feverishly sharing videos and songs. Today, they mostly have to wait until they get home and use their PCs to do so. With the Zune, students will be free to share music, videos and photos right there in class. They'll be able to pass notes to one another. The Zune isn't just a solitary music player. Think of it as a portable, wireless, hardware version of MySpace.
3. Zune may have more programming
Apple pioneered workable, for-pay music and TV show downloading, and is starting to do the same thing with movies. It deserves a lot of credit for that. Ultimately, however, the value of iTunes, Marketplace and other music stores will be judged by the quantity, quality and price of available media - not who got there first.
While Apple launched its movie business with movies from Disney (where Apple CEO Steve Jobs sits on the board), Microsoft has already lined up Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictuers, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM.
For TV shows, Microsoft will offer programs from A&E, Animal Planet, the BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E Entertainment Television, Fine Living TV Network, Fox, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel, TV Land, VH1 and others.
4. Zune's screen is better for movies
Apple's tiny screen is so high-quality that people are willing to watch full-length movies on it. But the Zune's screen is just as good - and larger than the iPod's. More importantly, it can be turned sideways for a wide-screen movie experience, which is vastly superior to watching movies on an iPod.
5. Zune is actually pretty cool
The Zune is unlike any product Microsoft has ever shipped. It's actually very nicely designed, surprisingly minimalist and (dare I say it?) 'cool'. (Zune marketing looks cool, too. The user interface is fluid and appealing - and, again, like MySpace - customisable. Users will be able to personalise the Zune interface with photos, 'themes', 'skins' and custom colours.
So while Apple fans are brimming with confidence that their beloved iPod will continue to vanquish all foes - including Microsoft's laughable folly - Apple sees the big picture and is rightly nervous about it.
Even if Apple is able to retain its lead, it could still be hurt - badly - by the Zune, which will capture mind share, grab market share and squeeze Apple on pricing.
Apple is scared. And for good reason.
The iPod is the soul of Apple's entire business. Apple has been relatively successful at winning converts from Windows to Mac OS X, for example, in part because its whole product line basks in the glow of iPod's success, hipness and ubiquity.
Apple has recently and preemptively lowered the price of iPods, announced an iTV set-top box - which will ship later than Vista - and is probably working feverishly on a bigger-screen, wirelessly enabled iPod.
All these efforts may not be enough to save the iPod from the Microsoft consumer media juggernaut. Microsoft has the money, the clout, the partnerships, the mind share and the market share to drive Vista, Soapbox, Xbox and Zune into lives of hundreds of millions of consumers.
The iPod rules - for now. But Microsoft can't be dismissed as just another wannabe. And nobody knows that better than Apple.
Mike Elgan, Computerworld (US online)
Microsoft plans to launch a competitor to Apple's iPod, a wireless media player called the Zune, just in time for Christmas in the US.
Apple fans point and laugh at Microsoft's entry into a market totally dominated by the iPod and its transcendent design. Apple's media players are so good they have transformed consumer electronics, inspired a massive gadget 'ecosystem' and spawned a thousand imitators. Every pretender to the media player throne - and there have been hundreds - has been thoroughly smacked down by Apple and its untouchable iPod.
The secrets of iPod's success appear obvious: beauty, simplicity and 'extreme coolness' - three characteristics Microsoft has never achieved in any product.
So why is Apple so scared? (I'll tell you why in a minute.)
First, what is this Zune thing, anyway?
Zune is a music and video player that Microsoft will launch in the US on 14 Novemberfor $249.99. Other countries will have to wait until next year. It's made in China by Toshiba.
The initial version will sport a 30GB hard drive, peer-to-peer WiFi connectivity, a 3in screen (320 by 240-pixel QVGA viewable in either portrait or landscape mode), an FM tuner that will display song information from stations that broadcast a Radio Broadcast Data Standards (RBDS) signal and a built-in nonreplaceable lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will probably deliver about 12 hours of music or about 3.5 hours of video on a single charge. It won't last as long as the iPod, but it will charge faster.
Zune will connect to an iTunes-like music store called the Zune Marketplace, which will offer millions of songs, according to Microsoft. Music will be available for 99 cents per song or via an 'all-you-can-eat', $14.99-per-month subscription package called a 'Zune Pass'. Movies and TV shows will become available on the site sometime next year. Marketplace will work with the Microsoft Points program - Xbox users can spend Points on Zune media and vice versa. Each song on Marketplace costs 79 points. (For instance, 100 points equals $1.25).
Zune will come preloaded with yet-undisclosed songs from DTS, EMI Music's Astralwerks Records and Virgin Records, Ninja Tune, Playlouderecordings, Quango Music Group, Sub Pop Records and V2/Artemis Records.
Zunes will also be able to connect to one another wirelessly, letting people share songs (as well as playlists and JPEG photos) with up to four other simultaneous Zune users within WiFi range. Recipients of these shared songs will be able to play them three times for up to three days free, after which they'll have to pay to listen. Songs received wirelessly can't be shared.
At least in the initial release, Zune's WiFi won't connect to a network. It's peer-to-peer only.
The Zune PC connection software requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista, so Macintosh owners can't use it. The Zune will also connect to TVs, home stereos and Microsoft Xbox game consoles and play music or videos through them.
Zune software will import audio files in unprotected WMA, MP3, AAC formats; JPEG photos; and videos in WMV, MPEG-4, H.264 formats. Microsoft has hinted that it will support other media formats, but hasn't specified which ones. Zune will import songs from Apple's iTunes "as permitted by the online service from which it was purchased," according to Microsoft.
Users will be able to choose a "ZuneTag," which is a unique user name that others will see on a kind of "buddy list" when they connect via WiFi. The device will have a "Community" menu from which users can select an item called "Nearby" to display all Zunes within range.
Microsoft will sell three Zune bundles: a $79.99 Zune Car Pack will ship with a car charger, a $99.99 Zune Home A/V Pack will come with cabling and wireless accessories for connecting to televisions and stereo systems, and a $99.99 Zune Travel Pack will feature high-quality earphones, a remote, a carrying case, and a cable for PC synchronization. The company will also sell separate output cables, chargers, docks, upgrade headphones and other accessories.
Compared with Apple's latest iPod, the Zune is a slightly larger, slightly heavier, slightly less elegant device.
So why is Apple so scared? Five reasons:
1. Microsoft is hatching a consumer media 'perfect storm'.
Apple fans assume iPod will face Zune in the market, mano a mano, like other media players. But that's not the case. Zune will be supported and promoted and will leverage the collective power of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Soapbox (Microsoft's new "YouTube killer") and the Xbox 360.
Microsoft will make the movement of media between Windows, Soapbox and the Zune natural and seamless. The Zune interface is just like a miniature version of the Windows Media Center user interface and is very similar to some elements of Vista.
Apple fans are overconfident in the iPod because Apple once commanded 92 per cent of music player market share, a number that has since fallen to around 70 per cent. About 30 million people own iPods.
But Microsoft owns more than 90 per cent of the worldwide operating systems market (compared with Apple's roughly 5 per cent), representing some 300 million people. The company expects to have 200 million Vista users within two years.
The Zune will plug directly into the Xbox via a standard USB cable - a fact Microsoft will drill into the heads of Xbox users on the Xbox Live online gaming service. The Zune Marketplace will be integrated with, and promoted by, the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Apple faces the prospect of competing not with the Zune alone, but with a mighty Windows-Soapbox-Xbox-Zune industrial complex.
2. The Zune is social and viral
Since the iPod first came out, times have changed. The rise of social networks like MySpace.com and viral Web 2.0 sites like that of YouTube have transformed the expectations of young people about sharing and using media. In the context of these trends, Apple is old school. But the Zune, with its peer-to-peer wireless file sharing, is both social and viral.
Tweens, teens and twentysomethings have acquired the habit of feverishly sharing videos and songs. Today, they mostly have to wait until they get home and use their PCs to do so. With the Zune, students will be free to share music, videos and photos right there in class. They'll be able to pass notes to one another. The Zune isn't just a solitary music player. Think of it as a portable, wireless, hardware version of MySpace.
3. Zune may have more programming
Apple pioneered workable, for-pay music and TV show downloading, and is starting to do the same thing with movies. It deserves a lot of credit for that. Ultimately, however, the value of iTunes, Marketplace and other music stores will be judged by the quantity, quality and price of available media - not who got there first.
While Apple launched its movie business with movies from Disney (where Apple CEO Steve Jobs sits on the board), Microsoft has already lined up Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictuers, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM.
For TV shows, Microsoft will offer programs from A&E, Animal Planet, the BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E Entertainment Television, Fine Living TV Network, Fox, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel, TV Land, VH1 and others.
4. Zune's screen is better for movies
Apple's tiny screen is so high-quality that people are willing to watch full-length movies on it. But the Zune's screen is just as good - and larger than the iPod's. More importantly, it can be turned sideways for a wide-screen movie experience, which is vastly superior to watching movies on an iPod.
5. Zune is actually pretty cool
The Zune is unlike any product Microsoft has ever shipped. It's actually very nicely designed, surprisingly minimalist and (dare I say it?) 'cool'. (Zune marketing looks cool, too. The user interface is fluid and appealing - and, again, like MySpace - customisable. Users will be able to personalise the Zune interface with photos, 'themes', 'skins' and custom colours.
So while Apple fans are brimming with confidence that their beloved iPod will continue to vanquish all foes - including Microsoft's laughable folly - Apple sees the big picture and is rightly nervous about it.
Even if Apple is able to retain its lead, it could still be hurt - badly - by the Zune, which will capture mind share, grab market share and squeeze Apple on pricing.
Apple is scared. And for good reason.
The iPod is the soul of Apple's entire business. Apple has been relatively successful at winning converts from Windows to Mac OS X, for example, in part because its whole product line basks in the glow of iPod's success, hipness and ubiquity.
Apple has recently and preemptively lowered the price of iPods, announced an iTV set-top box - which will ship later than Vista - and is probably working feverishly on a bigger-screen, wirelessly enabled iPod.
All these efforts may not be enough to save the iPod from the Microsoft consumer media juggernaut. Microsoft has the money, the clout, the partnerships, the mind share and the market share to drive Vista, Soapbox, Xbox and Zune into lives of hundreds of millions of consumers.
The iPod rules - for now. But Microsoft can't be dismissed as just another wannabe. And nobody knows that better than Apple.
Revolver_Ocelot
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I broke my ipod and vaio all in the same month
I'm reduced to a 5 year old compaq running windows me.
I can't even buy a new ipod because itunes only runs on xp
I'm reduced to a 5 year old compaq running windows me.
I can't even buy a new ipod because itunes only runs on xp
jaguarr
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Interesting article, Gamma, but I haven't seen ANY indication that Apple is at all afraid of Zune so it reads like a bunch of Microsoft sponsored FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) propaganda to me. Let's look at it step by step:
1. Microsoft is hatching a consumer media 'perfect storm'.
Well, first, Apple's got a TON of content already established and always more on the way, so MS has quite a ways to go to catch up. And besides, the iPod integrates perfectly with Windows AND Mac platforms not just one or the other, has an international reach (MS has already stated that Zune will be sold in the U.S. only), and doesn't have a draconian DRM scheme that encodes ALL of a users music. Also, Apple and Google have established a partnership and there's a strong likelihood that you'll see even greater integration with Google's video service as well as YouTube with the iPod. And, there has been talk that Sony's PS3 will feature iPod integration at some point as well. And, a lot of people laud the "all you can eat model" of subscription based music services, but every attempt at it thus far has failed abysmally. And, if for some reason it became more of a consumer demand, don't think that Apple doesn't just have to flip a switch to offer it.
2. The Zune is social and viral
LOL! Okay, well, when I start hearing stories about people meeting at clubs where they can guest DJ using their Zunes and have listening parties with other people and their Zunes, particularly in a singles club setting, like iPods have been used, maybe. I find it interesting that they're trying to ride Myspace's coattails, though.
3. Zune may have more programming
Every indication I've seen is that they won't, though.
4. Zune's screen is better for movies
Maybe. Personally, I don't really want to watch movies on a little dinky screen, but I know some folks do. The full-screen iPod has been rumored forever, so it's just a matter of time. I'm hearing rumors of January at MacWorld. We'll see.
5. Zune is actually pretty cool
Pretty subjective. Brown isn't cool, though. The proof will be in the pudding. iPod's the very definition of cool when it comes to portable music, so Zune has some serious uphill battles to fight when it comes to garnering mindshare.
All in all, I hope it isn't as bad as I think it's going to be, to be honest. It encourages stronger competition and more innovation when there's more than just one strong player on the market. I'm really just not seeing it with Zune, though.
jag
1. Microsoft is hatching a consumer media 'perfect storm'.
Well, first, Apple's got a TON of content already established and always more on the way, so MS has quite a ways to go to catch up. And besides, the iPod integrates perfectly with Windows AND Mac platforms not just one or the other, has an international reach (MS has already stated that Zune will be sold in the U.S. only), and doesn't have a draconian DRM scheme that encodes ALL of a users music. Also, Apple and Google have established a partnership and there's a strong likelihood that you'll see even greater integration with Google's video service as well as YouTube with the iPod. And, there has been talk that Sony's PS3 will feature iPod integration at some point as well. And, a lot of people laud the "all you can eat model" of subscription based music services, but every attempt at it thus far has failed abysmally. And, if for some reason it became more of a consumer demand, don't think that Apple doesn't just have to flip a switch to offer it.
2. The Zune is social and viral
LOL! Okay, well, when I start hearing stories about people meeting at clubs where they can guest DJ using their Zunes and have listening parties with other people and their Zunes, particularly in a singles club setting, like iPods have been used, maybe. I find it interesting that they're trying to ride Myspace's coattails, though.
3. Zune may have more programming
Every indication I've seen is that they won't, though.
4. Zune's screen is better for movies
Maybe. Personally, I don't really want to watch movies on a little dinky screen, but I know some folks do. The full-screen iPod has been rumored forever, so it's just a matter of time. I'm hearing rumors of January at MacWorld. We'll see.
5. Zune is actually pretty cool
Pretty subjective. Brown isn't cool, though. The proof will be in the pudding. iPod's the very definition of cool when it comes to portable music, so Zune has some serious uphill battles to fight when it comes to garnering mindshare.
All in all, I hope it isn't as bad as I think it's going to be, to be honest. It encourages stronger competition and more innovation when there's more than just one strong player on the market. I'm really just not seeing it with Zune, though.
jag
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iPod owners many want to switch to Zune:
http://www.tmcnet.com/ce/articles/3343-abi-research-reveals-58-percent-ipod-users-may.htm
http://www.tmcnet.com/ce/articles/3343-abi-research-reveals-58-percent-ipod-users-may.htm
GoldenAgeHero
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^^oh oh
J. J. Jameson
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I really doubt Zune will ever conquer iPod. iPod's just to popular.
jaguarr
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Mmmmhmmmm....
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/11/08/are-58-of-ipod-owners-really-thinking-of-a-zune-switch/
Are 58% of iPod owners really thinking of a Zune switch?
Posted Nov 8th 2006 8:34AM by Tobias Buckell
Filed under: Products and services, Industry, Consumer experience, Blogs, Competitive strategy, Apple Computer (AAPL)
Recently ABI Research conducted a survey where it touted that some 58% of iPod users would consider a switch to a Zune within the next 12 months. The tagline has been passed around online.
At face value it raises an interesting question. Are iPod users as loyal as the Apple faithful? The younger, hipper adoptees of the iPod are fickle. They could ditch the device just as quickly as they took it up and made it the 'it' digital device of the last several years.
However, looking carefully at the study's methodology, worries about the iPod's marketshare diminishing drastically are set aside in favor of questions about the study itself. Dig this: the number was reached by showing participants a picture of the Zune media player and then "other competitive media players" and being asked if they would pick the Zune.
The specific mention of an iPod is not in the language. Tell you what, show me a picture of a Zune next to a turd and I'll be 100% likely to indicate a Zune preference, but it doesn't mean I'm going to buy one. We'd like to see a little more detail about the survey in question before panicking just yet.
Although Apple-faithful can always get riled up by negative information, more ripping apart of the horrible methodology of this survey can be found in the comments at Mac Daily News, the iPod Observer, and Ars Technica's forum which provides a run down of the dodginess of the survey. This is not a reason to worry about iPod sales just yet.
Tobias Buckell is an author, freelancer, and professional blogger who owns stock in Apple.
And the commentary over at Ars Technica is very telling as well. I dislike it when surveys are manipulated in order to get the results the company driving it are looking for like this. It happens a lot, too. Both in favor or things I support and in disagreeance with them. Either way, it's dishonest and I don't like it.
jag
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/11/08/are-58-of-ipod-owners-really-thinking-of-a-zune-switch/
Are 58% of iPod owners really thinking of a Zune switch?
Posted Nov 8th 2006 8:34AM by Tobias Buckell
Filed under: Products and services, Industry, Consumer experience, Blogs, Competitive strategy, Apple Computer (AAPL)
Recently ABI Research conducted a survey where it touted that some 58% of iPod users would consider a switch to a Zune within the next 12 months. The tagline has been passed around online.
At face value it raises an interesting question. Are iPod users as loyal as the Apple faithful? The younger, hipper adoptees of the iPod are fickle. They could ditch the device just as quickly as they took it up and made it the 'it' digital device of the last several years.
However, looking carefully at the study's methodology, worries about the iPod's marketshare diminishing drastically are set aside in favor of questions about the study itself. Dig this: the number was reached by showing participants a picture of the Zune media player and then "other competitive media players" and being asked if they would pick the Zune.
The specific mention of an iPod is not in the language. Tell you what, show me a picture of a Zune next to a turd and I'll be 100% likely to indicate a Zune preference, but it doesn't mean I'm going to buy one. We'd like to see a little more detail about the survey in question before panicking just yet.
Although Apple-faithful can always get riled up by negative information, more ripping apart of the horrible methodology of this survey can be found in the comments at Mac Daily News, the iPod Observer, and Ars Technica's forum which provides a run down of the dodginess of the survey. This is not a reason to worry about iPod sales just yet.
Tobias Buckell is an author, freelancer, and professional blogger who owns stock in Apple.
And the commentary over at Ars Technica is very telling as well. I dislike it when surveys are manipulated in order to get the results the company driving it are looking for like this. It happens a lot, too. Both in favor or things I support and in disagreeance with them. Either way, it's dishonest and I don't like it.
jag
Gamma Ray
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PC World, a huge iPod supporter (despite their name), reviews the Zune:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2054204,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2054204,00.asp
jaguarr
Be Your Own Hero
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http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20061109.html
November 09, 2006
Microsoft's Zune
Challenges iPod
By Walter S. Mossberg
Next week, Microsoft Corp. will launch the most serious challenge ever mounted to Apple Computer's iPod and iTunes juggernaut in digital music. The software giant is introducing a portable player called the Zune, an online music store called Zune Marketplace and a new music software program called Zune that links the two. It plans to put plenty of marketing muscle behind Zune, and promises to expand and refine this new product line in coming years.
This isn't Microsoft's first effort to stop the iPod, but it's the first for which the software giant is adopting Apple's own business and design model -- where one company makes and controls the hardware, software and online component, and tightly integrates them. The Zune is produced by Microsoft's Xbox group, which builds game consoles on that same end-to-end principle.
Zune
Microsoft's Zune comes in black, white or brown.
In its first incarnation, the Zune comes in only one version, a big, chunky $249 model that can hold 30 gigabytes of music, videos and photos. I've been testing the Zune for the past couple of weeks and comparing it with the most similar of Apple's six iPod models -- the smaller of the two full-size iPods, which also holds 30 gigabytes and also costs $249.
Zune has several nice features the iPod lacks: a larger screen, the ability to exchange songs with other Zunes wirelessly and a built-in FM radio. It solves the worst problem that plagued earlier Microsoft-based music players -- frequent failures to synchronize properly music and videos between the players and personal computers. Synchronization on the Zune is smooth and sure.
Also, the Zune player and software have a very good user interface, different from, but in some cases easier to use than, the iPod's. While it lacks the famous iPod scroll wheel, instead using a common four-way navigation pad, I found song lists easy to navigate on the Zune. It has only a few buttons and is quite intuitive to use. To my ears, it sounded as good as the iPod.
But, this first Zune has too many compromises and missing features to be as good a choice as the iPod for most users. The hardware feels rushed and incomplete. It is 60% larger and 17% heavier than the comparable iPod. It has much worse battery life for music than the iPod or than Microsoft claims -- at least two hours less than the iPod's, in my tests. Despite the larger screen, many album covers look worse than they do on the iPod. And you can't share music libraries between computers like you can with iTunes.
Zune's online store offers far fewer songs, just over two million, compared with 3.5 million for the iTunes store. In fact, as of this writing, songs from one of the big labels, Universal, were missing from Zune Marketplace, though Microsoft says it is confident it will have all the major labels when it launches Zune on Tuesday. Also, despite the player's capability, Zune Marketplace offers none of the TV shows, movies or music videos that iTunes does, and has no audiobooks or podcasts.
Even worse, to buy even a single 99-cent song from the Zune store, you have to purchase blocks of "points" from Microsoft, in increments of at least $5. You can't just click and have the 99 cents deducted from a credit card, as you can with iTunes. You must first add points to your account, then buy songs with these points. So, even if you are buying only one song, you have to allow Microsoft, one of the world's richest companies, to hold on to at least $4.01 of your money until you buy another. And the point system is deceptive. Songs are priced at 79 points, which some people might think means 79 cents. But 79 points actually cost 99 cents.
Unlike iTunes, Zune offers subscription plans, where you can get an unlimited numbers of songs for $15 a month. However, Microsoft is de-emphasizing this option and mostly positioning Zune Marketplace as a source of individually purchased songs and albums.
Some consumers may well choose Zune for its big screen, which looks great with photos and videos, for its wireless song swapping, or for its FM-radio capability, which requires a $50 accessory on the iPod. Others may favor Zune because they are as tired of Apple's dominance in music as some folks are of Microsoft's dominance in computers.
But Zune has only around 100 accessories at launch, versus 3,000 or more for the iPod. If you have any iPod-specific accessories, they won't work on the Zune. Also, none of the songs you may have purchased from Apple will play on the Zune, unless you undertake a laborious conversion process. Apple is rumored to be working on an all-new iPod with a screen as large or larger than the Zune's.
Zune marks an unusual turn for Microsoft. The company is abandoning its favored business model, where it builds software platforms and then lets other companies make a wide variety of products that use that platform. Instead, Microsoft is building and totally controlling the whole chain associated with the product: the hardware, the software and the online music store. Songs sold on Zune Marketplace are intended to play only on the Zune, and Zune players won't be able to play copy-protected songs bought elsewhere, even at other online stores that use Microsoft music formats.
Microsoft was driven to this approach because its platform model, so successful with personal computers, has failed miserably in the music category. Apple has simply rolled over all the hardware companies and online stores that were built around Microsoft's previous music system, called "PlaysForSure."
Zune comes in three colors: black and white, like the comparable iPod, and brown, a daring color for a consumer-electronics device, but one that has become popular in the fashion world. Each model also has a second color on a translucent band around its edge; the brown one is trimmed in green.
Placing the Zune next to the 30-gigabyte iPod provides a strong contrast. The iPod is thin, sleek and elegant looking. The Zune looks big and blocky, sort of like a prototype for a gadget, rather than a finished product. It is longer, thicker and heavier than even the 80-gigabyte iPod, which has more than twice its capacity.
Zune was adapted from a much-praised but slight-selling music player, the Toshiba Gigabeat, in order to get it to market more quickly.
The word "Microsoft" never appears anywhere on the Zune, only the new Zune logo and a cheeky, "Hello from Seattle" in tiny type at the bottom of the back of the device. The Zune's tag line, evident immediately when you open the box, is "Welcome to the Social," a phrase meant to stress the device's wireless song-sharing feature, and to reach out to the Zune's target market, young music lovers who build social relationships around favorite songs and artists.
But the wireless music-sharing feature on the Zune is heavily compromised, in a way that is bound to annoy the very audience it is targeting. Each song sent to your Zune from another Zune can be played only three times and is available for playing for only three days. After that, it dies and can't be played again unless you buy it. Even if you play the song only halfway through, or for one minute, that counts as one of your three allowed plays. In fact, in my tests, a song I sent to my assistant's Zune expired after only two plays, one of which lasted just a few seconds. Microsoft attributed that to a bug that it said would be fixed.
The Zune's other big plus, the big screen, is similarly compromised. While it is three inches versus 2.5 inches for the iPod's screen, it uses the same resolution. That combination can make images coarser and grainier. In my tests, on photos and videos, this didn't matter much, and the Zune did a good job, even automatically switching into horizontal screen mode. But images of album covers often looked fuzzy, grainy and even distorted on the Zune when compared with how they looked on the iPod.
And for a product that's all about "the Social," Zune is curiously lacking a very popular iTunes feature -- the ability to view and to listen to another user's music library over a local network. This iTunes feature works in homes, office, college dorms, hotels, and other places, and it functions in mixed groups of Windows and Macintosh computers. But with the new Zune software, you can share your library only with Xbox game consoles, not other computers.
On the plus side, I really liked the interface on the Zune. In some modes, it allows you to do things with fewer clicks than the iPod does. For instance, if you are browsing through music, you don't have to go back a step to switch from, say, a list of artists to a list of albums. Those choices are arrayed at the top of the screen and can be selected with a sideways push of the navigation pad.
Also, the entire interface is more colorful and visually satisfying than the iPod's. Lists of albums are accompanied by thumbnails of their covers. Menus zoom in and out, and some are translucent. You can also select your own photo as the wallpaper or background for the device. But, unlike on the iPod, you can't customize the main menu or go to "Now Playing," or shuffle all songs with one click.
The Zune software also has a handsome look and feel. And it allows you to "guest synchronize" a Zune on another computer, something iTunes doesn't allow. You can load songs from someone else's library onto your Zune without wiping out your own library, though you can't then transfer those songs back to your own PC.
But battery life on the Zune was very disappointing. Microsoft claims 14 hours of music playback on a single charge with the wireless feature turned off -- the same as the comparable iPod -- and 13 hours with wireless turned on. But Microsoft bases these claims on strict and unnatural usage conditions, such as never increasing the default volume, playing only one album over and over, and keeping the backlight on for just one second.
I tested the Zune in more normal conditions, shuffling through hundreds of songs, adjusting the volume where needed, skipping or repeating songs occasionally and using a 30-second backlight. In my test, I got just 12 hours and 18 minutes of music playback, versus 14 hours and 44 minutes from an iPod under the same usage pattern. With the wireless turned on, battery life on the Zune was worse -- just 10 hours and 12 minutes, even though I didn't send or receive any songs.
Overall, the iPod and iTunes are still the champs. Still, I expect the Zune to attract some converts and to get better with time. And this kind of competition from a big company with deep pockets and lots of talent is good for consumers in the long run.
jag
November 09, 2006
Microsoft's Zune
Challenges iPod
By Walter S. Mossberg
Next week, Microsoft Corp. will launch the most serious challenge ever mounted to Apple Computer's iPod and iTunes juggernaut in digital music. The software giant is introducing a portable player called the Zune, an online music store called Zune Marketplace and a new music software program called Zune that links the two. It plans to put plenty of marketing muscle behind Zune, and promises to expand and refine this new product line in coming years.
This isn't Microsoft's first effort to stop the iPod, but it's the first for which the software giant is adopting Apple's own business and design model -- where one company makes and controls the hardware, software and online component, and tightly integrates them. The Zune is produced by Microsoft's Xbox group, which builds game consoles on that same end-to-end principle.
Zune
Microsoft's Zune comes in black, white or brown.
In its first incarnation, the Zune comes in only one version, a big, chunky $249 model that can hold 30 gigabytes of music, videos and photos. I've been testing the Zune for the past couple of weeks and comparing it with the most similar of Apple's six iPod models -- the smaller of the two full-size iPods, which also holds 30 gigabytes and also costs $249.
Zune has several nice features the iPod lacks: a larger screen, the ability to exchange songs with other Zunes wirelessly and a built-in FM radio. It solves the worst problem that plagued earlier Microsoft-based music players -- frequent failures to synchronize properly music and videos between the players and personal computers. Synchronization on the Zune is smooth and sure.
Also, the Zune player and software have a very good user interface, different from, but in some cases easier to use than, the iPod's. While it lacks the famous iPod scroll wheel, instead using a common four-way navigation pad, I found song lists easy to navigate on the Zune. It has only a few buttons and is quite intuitive to use. To my ears, it sounded as good as the iPod.
But, this first Zune has too many compromises and missing features to be as good a choice as the iPod for most users. The hardware feels rushed and incomplete. It is 60% larger and 17% heavier than the comparable iPod. It has much worse battery life for music than the iPod or than Microsoft claims -- at least two hours less than the iPod's, in my tests. Despite the larger screen, many album covers look worse than they do on the iPod. And you can't share music libraries between computers like you can with iTunes.
Zune's online store offers far fewer songs, just over two million, compared with 3.5 million for the iTunes store. In fact, as of this writing, songs from one of the big labels, Universal, were missing from Zune Marketplace, though Microsoft says it is confident it will have all the major labels when it launches Zune on Tuesday. Also, despite the player's capability, Zune Marketplace offers none of the TV shows, movies or music videos that iTunes does, and has no audiobooks or podcasts.
Even worse, to buy even a single 99-cent song from the Zune store, you have to purchase blocks of "points" from Microsoft, in increments of at least $5. You can't just click and have the 99 cents deducted from a credit card, as you can with iTunes. You must first add points to your account, then buy songs with these points. So, even if you are buying only one song, you have to allow Microsoft, one of the world's richest companies, to hold on to at least $4.01 of your money until you buy another. And the point system is deceptive. Songs are priced at 79 points, which some people might think means 79 cents. But 79 points actually cost 99 cents.
Unlike iTunes, Zune offers subscription plans, where you can get an unlimited numbers of songs for $15 a month. However, Microsoft is de-emphasizing this option and mostly positioning Zune Marketplace as a source of individually purchased songs and albums.
Some consumers may well choose Zune for its big screen, which looks great with photos and videos, for its wireless song swapping, or for its FM-radio capability, which requires a $50 accessory on the iPod. Others may favor Zune because they are as tired of Apple's dominance in music as some folks are of Microsoft's dominance in computers.
But Zune has only around 100 accessories at launch, versus 3,000 or more for the iPod. If you have any iPod-specific accessories, they won't work on the Zune. Also, none of the songs you may have purchased from Apple will play on the Zune, unless you undertake a laborious conversion process. Apple is rumored to be working on an all-new iPod with a screen as large or larger than the Zune's.
Zune marks an unusual turn for Microsoft. The company is abandoning its favored business model, where it builds software platforms and then lets other companies make a wide variety of products that use that platform. Instead, Microsoft is building and totally controlling the whole chain associated with the product: the hardware, the software and the online music store. Songs sold on Zune Marketplace are intended to play only on the Zune, and Zune players won't be able to play copy-protected songs bought elsewhere, even at other online stores that use Microsoft music formats.
Microsoft was driven to this approach because its platform model, so successful with personal computers, has failed miserably in the music category. Apple has simply rolled over all the hardware companies and online stores that were built around Microsoft's previous music system, called "PlaysForSure."
Zune comes in three colors: black and white, like the comparable iPod, and brown, a daring color for a consumer-electronics device, but one that has become popular in the fashion world. Each model also has a second color on a translucent band around its edge; the brown one is trimmed in green.
Placing the Zune next to the 30-gigabyte iPod provides a strong contrast. The iPod is thin, sleek and elegant looking. The Zune looks big and blocky, sort of like a prototype for a gadget, rather than a finished product. It is longer, thicker and heavier than even the 80-gigabyte iPod, which has more than twice its capacity.
Zune was adapted from a much-praised but slight-selling music player, the Toshiba Gigabeat, in order to get it to market more quickly.
The word "Microsoft" never appears anywhere on the Zune, only the new Zune logo and a cheeky, "Hello from Seattle" in tiny type at the bottom of the back of the device. The Zune's tag line, evident immediately when you open the box, is "Welcome to the Social," a phrase meant to stress the device's wireless song-sharing feature, and to reach out to the Zune's target market, young music lovers who build social relationships around favorite songs and artists.
But the wireless music-sharing feature on the Zune is heavily compromised, in a way that is bound to annoy the very audience it is targeting. Each song sent to your Zune from another Zune can be played only three times and is available for playing for only three days. After that, it dies and can't be played again unless you buy it. Even if you play the song only halfway through, or for one minute, that counts as one of your three allowed plays. In fact, in my tests, a song I sent to my assistant's Zune expired after only two plays, one of which lasted just a few seconds. Microsoft attributed that to a bug that it said would be fixed.
The Zune's other big plus, the big screen, is similarly compromised. While it is three inches versus 2.5 inches for the iPod's screen, it uses the same resolution. That combination can make images coarser and grainier. In my tests, on photos and videos, this didn't matter much, and the Zune did a good job, even automatically switching into horizontal screen mode. But images of album covers often looked fuzzy, grainy and even distorted on the Zune when compared with how they looked on the iPod.
And for a product that's all about "the Social," Zune is curiously lacking a very popular iTunes feature -- the ability to view and to listen to another user's music library over a local network. This iTunes feature works in homes, office, college dorms, hotels, and other places, and it functions in mixed groups of Windows and Macintosh computers. But with the new Zune software, you can share your library only with Xbox game consoles, not other computers.
On the plus side, I really liked the interface on the Zune. In some modes, it allows you to do things with fewer clicks than the iPod does. For instance, if you are browsing through music, you don't have to go back a step to switch from, say, a list of artists to a list of albums. Those choices are arrayed at the top of the screen and can be selected with a sideways push of the navigation pad.
Also, the entire interface is more colorful and visually satisfying than the iPod's. Lists of albums are accompanied by thumbnails of their covers. Menus zoom in and out, and some are translucent. You can also select your own photo as the wallpaper or background for the device. But, unlike on the iPod, you can't customize the main menu or go to "Now Playing," or shuffle all songs with one click.
The Zune software also has a handsome look and feel. And it allows you to "guest synchronize" a Zune on another computer, something iTunes doesn't allow. You can load songs from someone else's library onto your Zune without wiping out your own library, though you can't then transfer those songs back to your own PC.
But battery life on the Zune was very disappointing. Microsoft claims 14 hours of music playback on a single charge with the wireless feature turned off -- the same as the comparable iPod -- and 13 hours with wireless turned on. But Microsoft bases these claims on strict and unnatural usage conditions, such as never increasing the default volume, playing only one album over and over, and keeping the backlight on for just one second.
I tested the Zune in more normal conditions, shuffling through hundreds of songs, adjusting the volume where needed, skipping or repeating songs occasionally and using a 30-second backlight. In my test, I got just 12 hours and 18 minutes of music playback, versus 14 hours and 44 minutes from an iPod under the same usage pattern. With the wireless turned on, battery life on the Zune was worse -- just 10 hours and 12 minutes, even though I didn't send or receive any songs.
Overall, the iPod and iTunes are still the champs. Still, I expect the Zune to attract some converts and to get better with time. And this kind of competition from a big company with deep pockets and lots of talent is good for consumers in the long run.
jag
jaguarr
Be Your Own Hero
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/t...d=1&adxnnlx=1163179697-XsmUj1sRLhHtgJtPiJdo9Q
November 9, 2006
State of the Art
Trying Out the Zune: IPod It’s Not
By DAVID POGUE
Microsoft is probably the greenest company in all of high tech. Not green in the environmental sense — green with envy.
Microsoft is so jealous of the iPod’s success that Tuesday it will unveil a new music system — pocket player, jukebox software and online music store — that’s an unabashed copy of Apple’s. It’s called Zune.
The amazing part is that it’s Microsoft’s second attempt to kill the iPod. The first was PlaysForSure — a gigantic multiyear operation involving dozens of manufacturers and online music stores. Microsoft went with its trusted Windows strategy: If you code it, the hardware makers will come (and pay licensing fees).
And sure enough, companies like Dell, Samsung and Creative made the players; companies like Yahoo, Rhapsody, Napster and MTV built the music stores.
But PlaysForSure bombed. All of them put together stole only market-share crumbs from Apple. The interaction among player, software and store was balky and complex — something of a drawback when the system is called PlaysForSure.
“Yahoo might change the address of its D.R.M. server, and we can’t control that,” said Scott Erickson, a Zune product manager. (Never mind what a D.R.M. server is; the point is that Microsoft blames its partners for the technical glitches.)
Is Microsoft admitting, then, that PlaysForSure was a dud? All Mr. Erickson will say is, “PlaysForSure works for some people, but it’s not as easy as the Zune.”
So now Microsoft is starting over. Never mind all the poor slobs who bought big PlaysForSure music collections. Never mind the PlaysForSure companies who now find themselves competing with their former leader. Their reward for buying into Microsoft’s original vision? A great big “So long, suckas!”
It was bad enough when there were two incompatible copy-protection standards: iTunes and PlaysForSure. Now there will be three.
(Although Microsoft is shutting its own PlaysForSure music store next week, it insists that the PlaysForSure program itself will live on.)
Microsoft’s proprietary closed system abandons one potential audience: those who would have chosen an iPod competitor just to show their resentment for Apple’s proprietary closed system.
To make matters worse, you can’t use Windows Media Player to load the Zune with music; you have to install a similar but less powerful Windows program just for the Zune. It’s a ridiculous duplication of effort by Microsoft, and a double learning curve for you.
So how is the Zune? It had better be pretty incredible to justify all of this hassle.
As it turns out, the player is excellent. It can’t touch the iPod’s looks or coolness, but it’s certainly more practical. It’s coated in slightly rubberized plastic, available in white, black or brown — yes, brown. It won’t turn heads, but it won’t get fingerprinty and scratched, either. It sounds just as good as the iPod.
The Zune matches the price ($250) and capacity of the 30-gigabyte iPod. But it’s noticeably thicker (0.6 inch vs. 0.4), taller (4.4 inches vs. 4.1) and heavier (5.6 ounces vs. 4.8). Battery life is the same for music playback (14 hours), slightly better for video (4 hours vs. 3.5). The three-inch screen has the same 320-by-240-pixel resolution, but it’s larger (3 inches vs. 2.5), so movies and slide shows feel more expansive.
What looks like an iPod scroll wheel, though, is a fakeout. It doesn’t turn, and it’s not touch-sensitive. Instead, it’s just four buttons hidden under the compass points of a plastic ring.
Scrolling accelerates as you press the top or bottom button, but the iPod’s wheel is much more efficient. On the other hand, the Zune’s left and right buttons jump between menus (for example, Album, Artist, Genre) with less backtracking. The software design is beautiful, simple and graced by brief, classy animations.
The Zune’s screen is taller than it is wide — unlike the iPod’s — so you can see more of your lists without scrolling. But it’s all wrong for photos and videos. So when videos or photos play, the screen image rotates, meaning you have to turn the player 90 degrees. And just as on the iPod, portrait-oriented photos are now shrunken, crammed the wrong way on the horizontal screen.
The Zune has a built-in FM radio receiver, and even shows the name of the current song, if the station broadcasts it. Reception is fairly weak, the headphones must be plugged in to serve as an antenna, and you can’t make recordings.
The big, whomping Zune news, though, is wireless sharing. The Zune has a built-in Wi-Fi antenna. (Turning it on costs you one hour of battery life.)
During the playback of any photo or song, you can view a list of Zunes within 30 feet. Sending a song takes about 15 seconds, a photo 2 seconds; you can’t send videos at all.
Your lucky recipient can accept or decline your offering — and, if you have really terrible taste, can block your Zune permanently.
It all works well enough, but it’s just so weird that Zunes can connect only to each other. Who’d build a Wi-Fi device that can’t connect to a wireless network — to sync with your PC, for example? Nor to an Internet hot spot, to download music directly?
Microsoft also faces what’s known as the Dilemma of the First Guy With a Telephone: Who you gonna call? The Zune will have to rack up some truly amazing sales before it’s easy to find sharing partners.
Microsoft is leaving nothing to chance here. The Zune will be available in 30,000 stores nationwide — versus 10,000 for the iPod, Microsoft says. Zune commercials will run several times during each episode of popular TV shows, bearing the slogan “Welcome to the social.” (Either there’s a noun missing there, or they’re using “social” as a noun, as in “ice cream social.”
The bigger problem, though, is the draconian copy protection on beamed music (though not photos). You can play a transmitted song only three times, all within three days. After that, it expires. You’re left with only a text tag that shows up on your PC so that — how convenient! — you can buy the song from Microsoft’s store.
This copy protection is as strict as a 19th-century schoolmarm. Just playing half the song (or one minute, whichever comes first) counts as one “play.” You can never resend a song to the same friend. A beamed song can’t be passed along to a third person, either.
What’s really nuts is that the restrictions even stomp on your own musical creations. Microsoft’s literature suggests that if you have a struggling rock band, you could “put your demo recordings on your Zune” and “when you’re out in public, you can send the songs to your friends.” What it doesn’t say: “And then three days later, just when buzz about your band is beginning to build, your songs disappear from everyone’s Zunes, making you look like an idiot.”
Microsoft says that the wireless sharing is a new way to discover music. But you can’t shake the feeling that it’s all just a big plug for Microsoft’s music store. If it’s truly about the joy of music discovery, why doesn’t Microsoft let you buy your discoveries from any of the PlaysForSure stores?
The Zune offers some niceties you can’t get on the iPod. For example, any photo can be the menu background. Album artwork automatically fills the entire screen during playback. You can “flag” any song or photo for future reference on your PC. You can plug the Zune into an Xbox 360 and use its controller to play what’s on your Zune through your entertainment system.
But the opposite list — features the iPod has that the Zune doesn’t — could stretch to Steve Ballmer’s house and back 10 times.
At the very attractive but dog-slow Zune store, for example, you can either buy songs ($1 each) or rent them (unlimited songs for $15 a month). But Microsoft’s store doesn’t sell TV shows, movies or audio books. The music catalog is much smaller — 2 million vs. 3.5 million on iTunes — a fact that Microsoft ham-handedly tries to conceal by listing stuff that it doesn’t actually sell, like Beatles albums.
The Zune store is also missing gift certificates, allowances, user-submitted playlists and so on. And believe it or not, the Zune store doesn’t let you subscribe or download podcasts. (Maybe Microsoft just couldn’t bring itself to type the word “pod.”
The Zune 1.0 player is pretty barren, too. It doesn’t have a single standard iPod amenity: no games, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, password-protected volume limiter, equalizer, calendar, address book or notes module.
Incredibly, you can’t even use the Zune as an external hard drive, as you can with just about every other player on earth — an extremely handy option for carting around big computer files.
Naturally, you also miss out on the 3,000 iPod accessories: speaker systems, microphones, cases, home and auto adapters, remote controls and so on. Over 80 percent of 2007 cars will have an iPod connector option — zero for Zune. And there’s only one Zune model; there’s no equivalent of the iPod Nano or Shuffle.
Competition is good and all. But what, exactly, is the point of the Zune? It seems like an awful lot of duplication — in a bigger, heavier form with fewer features — just to indulge Microsoft’s “we want some o’ that” envy. Wireless sharing is the one big new idea — and if the public seems to respond, Apple could always add that to the iPod.
Then again, this is all standard Microsoft procedure. Version 1.0 of Microsoft Anything is stripped-down and derivative, but it’s followed by several years of slow but relentless refinement and marketing. Already, Microsoft says that new Zune features, models and accessories are in the pipeline.
For now, though, this game is for watching, not playing. It may be quite a while before brown is the new white.
jag
November 9, 2006
State of the Art
Trying Out the Zune: IPod It’s Not
By DAVID POGUE
Microsoft is probably the greenest company in all of high tech. Not green in the environmental sense — green with envy.
Microsoft is so jealous of the iPod’s success that Tuesday it will unveil a new music system — pocket player, jukebox software and online music store — that’s an unabashed copy of Apple’s. It’s called Zune.
The amazing part is that it’s Microsoft’s second attempt to kill the iPod. The first was PlaysForSure — a gigantic multiyear operation involving dozens of manufacturers and online music stores. Microsoft went with its trusted Windows strategy: If you code it, the hardware makers will come (and pay licensing fees).
And sure enough, companies like Dell, Samsung and Creative made the players; companies like Yahoo, Rhapsody, Napster and MTV built the music stores.
But PlaysForSure bombed. All of them put together stole only market-share crumbs from Apple. The interaction among player, software and store was balky and complex — something of a drawback when the system is called PlaysForSure.
“Yahoo might change the address of its D.R.M. server, and we can’t control that,” said Scott Erickson, a Zune product manager. (Never mind what a D.R.M. server is; the point is that Microsoft blames its partners for the technical glitches.)
Is Microsoft admitting, then, that PlaysForSure was a dud? All Mr. Erickson will say is, “PlaysForSure works for some people, but it’s not as easy as the Zune.”
So now Microsoft is starting over. Never mind all the poor slobs who bought big PlaysForSure music collections. Never mind the PlaysForSure companies who now find themselves competing with their former leader. Their reward for buying into Microsoft’s original vision? A great big “So long, suckas!”
It was bad enough when there were two incompatible copy-protection standards: iTunes and PlaysForSure. Now there will be three.
(Although Microsoft is shutting its own PlaysForSure music store next week, it insists that the PlaysForSure program itself will live on.)
Microsoft’s proprietary closed system abandons one potential audience: those who would have chosen an iPod competitor just to show their resentment for Apple’s proprietary closed system.
To make matters worse, you can’t use Windows Media Player to load the Zune with music; you have to install a similar but less powerful Windows program just for the Zune. It’s a ridiculous duplication of effort by Microsoft, and a double learning curve for you.
So how is the Zune? It had better be pretty incredible to justify all of this hassle.
As it turns out, the player is excellent. It can’t touch the iPod’s looks or coolness, but it’s certainly more practical. It’s coated in slightly rubberized plastic, available in white, black or brown — yes, brown. It won’t turn heads, but it won’t get fingerprinty and scratched, either. It sounds just as good as the iPod.
The Zune matches the price ($250) and capacity of the 30-gigabyte iPod. But it’s noticeably thicker (0.6 inch vs. 0.4), taller (4.4 inches vs. 4.1) and heavier (5.6 ounces vs. 4.8). Battery life is the same for music playback (14 hours), slightly better for video (4 hours vs. 3.5). The three-inch screen has the same 320-by-240-pixel resolution, but it’s larger (3 inches vs. 2.5), so movies and slide shows feel more expansive.
What looks like an iPod scroll wheel, though, is a fakeout. It doesn’t turn, and it’s not touch-sensitive. Instead, it’s just four buttons hidden under the compass points of a plastic ring.
Scrolling accelerates as you press the top or bottom button, but the iPod’s wheel is much more efficient. On the other hand, the Zune’s left and right buttons jump between menus (for example, Album, Artist, Genre) with less backtracking. The software design is beautiful, simple and graced by brief, classy animations.
The Zune’s screen is taller than it is wide — unlike the iPod’s — so you can see more of your lists without scrolling. But it’s all wrong for photos and videos. So when videos or photos play, the screen image rotates, meaning you have to turn the player 90 degrees. And just as on the iPod, portrait-oriented photos are now shrunken, crammed the wrong way on the horizontal screen.
The Zune has a built-in FM radio receiver, and even shows the name of the current song, if the station broadcasts it. Reception is fairly weak, the headphones must be plugged in to serve as an antenna, and you can’t make recordings.
The big, whomping Zune news, though, is wireless sharing. The Zune has a built-in Wi-Fi antenna. (Turning it on costs you one hour of battery life.)
During the playback of any photo or song, you can view a list of Zunes within 30 feet. Sending a song takes about 15 seconds, a photo 2 seconds; you can’t send videos at all.
Your lucky recipient can accept or decline your offering — and, if you have really terrible taste, can block your Zune permanently.
It all works well enough, but it’s just so weird that Zunes can connect only to each other. Who’d build a Wi-Fi device that can’t connect to a wireless network — to sync with your PC, for example? Nor to an Internet hot spot, to download music directly?
Microsoft also faces what’s known as the Dilemma of the First Guy With a Telephone: Who you gonna call? The Zune will have to rack up some truly amazing sales before it’s easy to find sharing partners.
Microsoft is leaving nothing to chance here. The Zune will be available in 30,000 stores nationwide — versus 10,000 for the iPod, Microsoft says. Zune commercials will run several times during each episode of popular TV shows, bearing the slogan “Welcome to the social.” (Either there’s a noun missing there, or they’re using “social” as a noun, as in “ice cream social.”
The bigger problem, though, is the draconian copy protection on beamed music (though not photos). You can play a transmitted song only three times, all within three days. After that, it expires. You’re left with only a text tag that shows up on your PC so that — how convenient! — you can buy the song from Microsoft’s store.
This copy protection is as strict as a 19th-century schoolmarm. Just playing half the song (or one minute, whichever comes first) counts as one “play.” You can never resend a song to the same friend. A beamed song can’t be passed along to a third person, either.
What’s really nuts is that the restrictions even stomp on your own musical creations. Microsoft’s literature suggests that if you have a struggling rock band, you could “put your demo recordings on your Zune” and “when you’re out in public, you can send the songs to your friends.” What it doesn’t say: “And then three days later, just when buzz about your band is beginning to build, your songs disappear from everyone’s Zunes, making you look like an idiot.”
Microsoft says that the wireless sharing is a new way to discover music. But you can’t shake the feeling that it’s all just a big plug for Microsoft’s music store. If it’s truly about the joy of music discovery, why doesn’t Microsoft let you buy your discoveries from any of the PlaysForSure stores?
The Zune offers some niceties you can’t get on the iPod. For example, any photo can be the menu background. Album artwork automatically fills the entire screen during playback. You can “flag” any song or photo for future reference on your PC. You can plug the Zune into an Xbox 360 and use its controller to play what’s on your Zune through your entertainment system.
But the opposite list — features the iPod has that the Zune doesn’t — could stretch to Steve Ballmer’s house and back 10 times.
At the very attractive but dog-slow Zune store, for example, you can either buy songs ($1 each) or rent them (unlimited songs for $15 a month). But Microsoft’s store doesn’t sell TV shows, movies or audio books. The music catalog is much smaller — 2 million vs. 3.5 million on iTunes — a fact that Microsoft ham-handedly tries to conceal by listing stuff that it doesn’t actually sell, like Beatles albums.
The Zune store is also missing gift certificates, allowances, user-submitted playlists and so on. And believe it or not, the Zune store doesn’t let you subscribe or download podcasts. (Maybe Microsoft just couldn’t bring itself to type the word “pod.”
The Zune 1.0 player is pretty barren, too. It doesn’t have a single standard iPod amenity: no games, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, password-protected volume limiter, equalizer, calendar, address book or notes module.
Incredibly, you can’t even use the Zune as an external hard drive, as you can with just about every other player on earth — an extremely handy option for carting around big computer files.
Naturally, you also miss out on the 3,000 iPod accessories: speaker systems, microphones, cases, home and auto adapters, remote controls and so on. Over 80 percent of 2007 cars will have an iPod connector option — zero for Zune. And there’s only one Zune model; there’s no equivalent of the iPod Nano or Shuffle.
Competition is good and all. But what, exactly, is the point of the Zune? It seems like an awful lot of duplication — in a bigger, heavier form with fewer features — just to indulge Microsoft’s “we want some o’ that” envy. Wireless sharing is the one big new idea — and if the public seems to respond, Apple could always add that to the iPod.
Then again, this is all standard Microsoft procedure. Version 1.0 of Microsoft Anything is stripped-down and derivative, but it’s followed by several years of slow but relentless refinement and marketing. Already, Microsoft says that new Zune features, models and accessories are in the pipeline.
For now, though, this game is for watching, not playing. It may be quite a while before brown is the new white.
jag
jaguarr
Be Your Own Hero
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http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061110_107049.htm
Zune: Falling Down on Cool
Sure, Microsoft's music player will build a base, even among some iPod users—but it can't hold a candle to the iPod in the way that matters most
by Arik Hesseldahl
As much as I like my iPod—I've owned three or four over the years—I've had to come to terms with the unpleasant fact that not everyone does.
My best friend is one of those people. His music player is a little Creative (CREAF) Muvo and there's nothing that I or Apple Computer (AAPL) can do or say to change his mind. I went so far as to give him an iPod nano. He gave it to his girlfriend. So much for proselytizing.
After five years of pummeling us with the iPod and its associated iTunes music service and some 3,000 accessories, Apple is poised to face what some might say is its first real challenger. And that challenger is Microsoft's digital music player, Zune, which is poised to hit the market on Nov. 14 with the express intent of encroaching on Apple's turf.
You Can't Discount Microsoft
I can't fault Microsoft (MSFT) for envying Apple's success. (And it's not exactly the first time that Microsoft has looked on enviously at something that Apple does.) Even for Microsoft, which took in $44.6 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year, a product that brings in $7.6 billion in sales a year is nothing to sneeze at. Over five years, Apple has sold nearly 70 million iPods worth nearly $14 billion—all that at gross margin estimated to be at or near 50%.
So does the Zune have a chance? I've learned over time it's not wise to discount Microsoft. I thought little of the Xbox game console only to watch it grow in popularity and spawn the Xbox 360, which is also doing well. With the consoles, Microsoft proved its willingness to take a financial loss over time to establish a market beachhead (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/22/05, "Microsoft's Red Ink Game"), which is something Apple doesn't traditionally do—and certainly couldn't afford to do when the iPod launched.
The financial dynamics for the Zune are inherently different. Microsoft can't realistically sell a $249 Zune at a loss and expect to recoup losses on music sales. As successful as iTunes is in helping Apple sell iPods, it's not that impressive when you compare the music service to sales of the hardware. Yes, Apple has sold 1.5 billion songs since the launch of the iTunes store in spring 2003—but that averages only 22 songs per iPod sold during the same period.
Wi-Fi Sets Zune Apart
I haven't played with a Zune yet (though I intend to). But so far, the device doesn't have much to offer compared with the iPod. It will come in only one storage capacity, and that isn't all that high, especially when you consider that it's intended to play a mix of music and video. The Zune won't have all that many accessories, won't integrate with any cars, and doesn't support any language other than English.
So what does Zune offer the potential iPod-hater beyond the fact that it's not an iPod? For one, there's wireless connectivity. Zune users will be able to share songs directly from one device to the other, and maybe down the road, there are some other scenarios that might make Wi-Fi access worthwhile, like streaming audio from the Internet (which can already be done with some wireless phones).
But how many times a day do you really feel like sharing a song that's playing on your personal player with someone else? It's almost more efficient, and more permanent given the "3-play 3-day" limitations on playing shared songs I've been hearing about, to burn a CD and give that to your friend.
Apple Customers' Loyalty in Doubt
In many ways it will be the same. The Zune will be tied to a single music store, the Zune Marketplace, and will be cutting RealNetworks' (RNWK) Rhapsody, Napster (NAPS), and others out of its little ecosystem, just at a time when it's increasingly clear to me that for the digital music market to grow, closed ecosystems like this will have to move toward interoperability (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/25/06, "Apple, Tear Down This Wall").
While Mac owners tend to be iPod owners too, and there's a good deal of evidence that owning an iPod tends to encourage switching away from Windows and to the Mac (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/15/06, "Apple's Growing Bite of the Market "), there's at least some evidence that consumers who own iPods don't necessarily bear terribly strong loyalties toward the product over the long term.
ABI Research recently found that of 1,725 adults surveyed, 58% of those who already own an iPod said they'd consider buying a Zune in the next 12 months, after hearing about its features. Mind you, people don't always behave in real life the way they say they will in surveys.
For the Curious and the Haters
Additionally, I have problems with the methodology of the survey. I asked ABI analyst Steve Wilson if the results accounted for Mac users vs. Windows users. He said respondents were asked what kind of computer they used, but that the results were more or less equally distributed among them. But it's hard for me to imagine a self-aware Mac user who would consider a Zune as more or less equal to an iPod, mainly because the Zune won't work with a Mac. Still, I think the research suggests there's a market opening for Microsoft to exploit, but I'd argue that it's nowhere near as high as Wilson suggests.
There are some iPod owners—some frustrated, some simply curious, but all ready to try something different—who will try the Zune. And then there are the iPod-haters, like my friend mentioned above. For them, the best thing the Zune has to offer a potential consumer is that it doesn't bear the iPod name or the Apple logo.
And yet the iPod remains the hugely successful product, outshining its nearest competitors, such as Sandisk (SNDK), Creative, Samsung, Cowon, and others. And here is the reason I think the Zune will remain at a huge disadvantage: the cool factor.
Violating the Rules of Cool
Remember the three rules of cool, as documented by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker almost a decade ago. First: The act of discovering cool causes cool to move on. If you accept that the iPod is still cool, as many still do, then the Zune can't help but seem an arriviste, an interloper, poseur product encroaching on well-defined "cool" territory. When the uncool discover a cool place, the cool take their business elsewhere. Microsoft's a little light on the cool bona fides, despite the Xbox 360.
The Zune will seem a not-pod, proving the second rule of cool: It cannot be manufactured, only observed, and then by those who are themselves cool. An iPod is a requisite accoutrement of cool. This is the result of a carefully constructed marketing effort on Apple's part. Any attempt that Microsoft makes to market the Zune will fall short of the high bar set by Apple, which has an almost natural sense for turning its ads into entertainment. Describe for me three Apple TV ads you remember from the last two years. Now, try to describe for me three Microsoft ads. Bet you can't. That's the Apple marketing machine at work.
Finally, there's the third rule of cool: You have to be cool to know cool. And since when is Microsoft cool? The iPod was cool from birth. The Zune will be seen for what it is: a me-too product that is expressing Microsoft's envy at not being cool. It will carve out its own niche of the market, but by this time next year, it will be considered a dismal failure.
jag
Zune: Falling Down on Cool
Sure, Microsoft's music player will build a base, even among some iPod users—but it can't hold a candle to the iPod in the way that matters most
by Arik Hesseldahl
As much as I like my iPod—I've owned three or four over the years—I've had to come to terms with the unpleasant fact that not everyone does.
My best friend is one of those people. His music player is a little Creative (CREAF) Muvo and there's nothing that I or Apple Computer (AAPL) can do or say to change his mind. I went so far as to give him an iPod nano. He gave it to his girlfriend. So much for proselytizing.
After five years of pummeling us with the iPod and its associated iTunes music service and some 3,000 accessories, Apple is poised to face what some might say is its first real challenger. And that challenger is Microsoft's digital music player, Zune, which is poised to hit the market on Nov. 14 with the express intent of encroaching on Apple's turf.
You Can't Discount Microsoft
I can't fault Microsoft (MSFT) for envying Apple's success. (And it's not exactly the first time that Microsoft has looked on enviously at something that Apple does.) Even for Microsoft, which took in $44.6 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year, a product that brings in $7.6 billion in sales a year is nothing to sneeze at. Over five years, Apple has sold nearly 70 million iPods worth nearly $14 billion—all that at gross margin estimated to be at or near 50%.
So does the Zune have a chance? I've learned over time it's not wise to discount Microsoft. I thought little of the Xbox game console only to watch it grow in popularity and spawn the Xbox 360, which is also doing well. With the consoles, Microsoft proved its willingness to take a financial loss over time to establish a market beachhead (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/22/05, "Microsoft's Red Ink Game"), which is something Apple doesn't traditionally do—and certainly couldn't afford to do when the iPod launched.
The financial dynamics for the Zune are inherently different. Microsoft can't realistically sell a $249 Zune at a loss and expect to recoup losses on music sales. As successful as iTunes is in helping Apple sell iPods, it's not that impressive when you compare the music service to sales of the hardware. Yes, Apple has sold 1.5 billion songs since the launch of the iTunes store in spring 2003—but that averages only 22 songs per iPod sold during the same period.
Wi-Fi Sets Zune Apart
I haven't played with a Zune yet (though I intend to). But so far, the device doesn't have much to offer compared with the iPod. It will come in only one storage capacity, and that isn't all that high, especially when you consider that it's intended to play a mix of music and video. The Zune won't have all that many accessories, won't integrate with any cars, and doesn't support any language other than English.
So what does Zune offer the potential iPod-hater beyond the fact that it's not an iPod? For one, there's wireless connectivity. Zune users will be able to share songs directly from one device to the other, and maybe down the road, there are some other scenarios that might make Wi-Fi access worthwhile, like streaming audio from the Internet (which can already be done with some wireless phones).
But how many times a day do you really feel like sharing a song that's playing on your personal player with someone else? It's almost more efficient, and more permanent given the "3-play 3-day" limitations on playing shared songs I've been hearing about, to burn a CD and give that to your friend.
Apple Customers' Loyalty in Doubt
In many ways it will be the same. The Zune will be tied to a single music store, the Zune Marketplace, and will be cutting RealNetworks' (RNWK) Rhapsody, Napster (NAPS), and others out of its little ecosystem, just at a time when it's increasingly clear to me that for the digital music market to grow, closed ecosystems like this will have to move toward interoperability (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/25/06, "Apple, Tear Down This Wall").
While Mac owners tend to be iPod owners too, and there's a good deal of evidence that owning an iPod tends to encourage switching away from Windows and to the Mac (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/15/06, "Apple's Growing Bite of the Market "), there's at least some evidence that consumers who own iPods don't necessarily bear terribly strong loyalties toward the product over the long term.
ABI Research recently found that of 1,725 adults surveyed, 58% of those who already own an iPod said they'd consider buying a Zune in the next 12 months, after hearing about its features. Mind you, people don't always behave in real life the way they say they will in surveys.
For the Curious and the Haters
Additionally, I have problems with the methodology of the survey. I asked ABI analyst Steve Wilson if the results accounted for Mac users vs. Windows users. He said respondents were asked what kind of computer they used, but that the results were more or less equally distributed among them. But it's hard for me to imagine a self-aware Mac user who would consider a Zune as more or less equal to an iPod, mainly because the Zune won't work with a Mac. Still, I think the research suggests there's a market opening for Microsoft to exploit, but I'd argue that it's nowhere near as high as Wilson suggests.
There are some iPod owners—some frustrated, some simply curious, but all ready to try something different—who will try the Zune. And then there are the iPod-haters, like my friend mentioned above. For them, the best thing the Zune has to offer a potential consumer is that it doesn't bear the iPod name or the Apple logo.
And yet the iPod remains the hugely successful product, outshining its nearest competitors, such as Sandisk (SNDK), Creative, Samsung, Cowon, and others. And here is the reason I think the Zune will remain at a huge disadvantage: the cool factor.
Violating the Rules of Cool
Remember the three rules of cool, as documented by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker almost a decade ago. First: The act of discovering cool causes cool to move on. If you accept that the iPod is still cool, as many still do, then the Zune can't help but seem an arriviste, an interloper, poseur product encroaching on well-defined "cool" territory. When the uncool discover a cool place, the cool take their business elsewhere. Microsoft's a little light on the cool bona fides, despite the Xbox 360.
The Zune will seem a not-pod, proving the second rule of cool: It cannot be manufactured, only observed, and then by those who are themselves cool. An iPod is a requisite accoutrement of cool. This is the result of a carefully constructed marketing effort on Apple's part. Any attempt that Microsoft makes to market the Zune will fall short of the high bar set by Apple, which has an almost natural sense for turning its ads into entertainment. Describe for me three Apple TV ads you remember from the last two years. Now, try to describe for me three Microsoft ads. Bet you can't. That's the Apple marketing machine at work.
Finally, there's the third rule of cool: You have to be cool to know cool. And since when is Microsoft cool? The iPod was cool from birth. The Zune will be seen for what it is: a me-too product that is expressing Microsoft's envy at not being cool. It will carve out its own niche of the market, but by this time next year, it will be considered a dismal failure.
jag
GoldenAgeHero
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i admit microsoft is a very envious company and just joins other markets just to fill that void.
gaming market,now music market.
gaming market,now music market.
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