Zune Mania!

So,

is everyone running out to get a brown Zune tomorrow?

How do you think history will judge the Zune?

 

.
Can one possibly think this is anything more than a bad knockoff of an IPOD???

This product looks like IPOD with more complicated controls.

MS needs to fire the current team and hire competent designers and give them the freedom to make a good product. What do these guys at MS get paid for, managing each other???

 

I wish my iPod had the Zune's screen, but I'll sit tight for now. Since I don't do the iTunes store, I'm 100% flexible as to future platforms, migration is easy.

 

It's not even a Microsoft product, it's a rebranded Toshiba.

And it adds DRM to everything it touches, even music you own outright. Even stuff you have composed and performed yourself.

Not to mention Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" files won't play in the Zune.

It's DOA.

 

Won't affect my original copies. I view portable players as a 1-way street anyway, it's not like I copy stuff off of my ipod.

 

Someone bought a Zune yet?

 

I voted for "here to stay, but with a small share of the market." In this instance, I don't think that Microsoft is going to be able to replicate its initial copying and eventual overthrow of the Mac OS. Like Kleenex before it, the iPod has transcended its origin as a brand name and become the generic name for its entire category. I personally couldn't care less about the ability to beam three songs to a friend, which is the one supposed feature advantage that the Zune supposedly has over the iPod. And Microsoft is hopelessly overmatched by Apple in the ability to generate buzz or coolness in this category of product.

 

Quite the "me too" product from Microsoft. Never cared for the iPod either.
Have an older Creative Nomad Zen Extra that isn't as "cute" , but I can navigate
easily & put any dang mp3/wav file on it I want to (since the majority of what I hae are self-generated, i.e, no DRM)

 

...and portable music reproducers were supposed to be fun... Stick with your iPod. It simply works. And has a software written specificaly for it.
Zunemania? Why would someone be frustrated with an audio product? I thought they had enough frustration with an inferior operating system on cheap hardware and a clumsy interface. Do they need an "audio" product from a company that don't even publish its name on it? What a shame.

 

No doubt that Microsoft badly stumbled on the starting line with the Zune and its first shot at the iPod. I am stunned that the Zune does not work with Microsoft's own recently introduced DRM format called PlayForSure, nor does it synch with the latest version of Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center. What were they thinking? I bet the Zune gets better with the next version. I don't think Microsoft is about bow out of this fight.

 

Of course, the same thing was said about the original Windows system vs the Mac. We all know how thats gone.

 

Of course...the Mac didn't own 90% of the market at the time, as they do with the iPod.

 

Windows was developed independently and more or less parallel with the Mac--although it did come out a year later. Apparently, both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates came up with the great idea to rip off Xerox PARC at the same time!

 

2 words. TOO BIG .

 

how many % of the market did PlayStation have before the XBox came out?

 

This product will do well.

MS will support it too.

Early on, discussions I read from MS management said about the Zune and future Zune branded product will have all the stuff people are criticize about already – funny how they don’t mention that all this was disused along time ago. WiFi internet access, email and so on is all on its way in other Zune products.

So far, besides the "I hate anything M$, writers and I decided I didn’t like it even before I reviewed it" reviewers say it works well, has a great interface and a rugged body that I’m personally interested in. I’m shying away from the iPod because all the newer ones I see that people own look like they went through a few tours of duty in Bagdad, especially the Nano. The DRM is only added to music you WiFi over to people. There are some drawbacks to it but it absolutely, positively encourages you to buy the song if you like it. If you don’t’ then who cares if it expired. If you have a subscription to the service you can add the song for free. Great idea!

Most of the criticism I see looks like its software related and that can change with a simple update. Having a Radio is a BIG bonus for many, especially kids. The earbuds are MUCH better then Apples. All the cool accessories are available right out of the gate. And MS WILL discount the price in short order. Your see the Zun undercutting the Apple $50 to $100 after the holiday season, another big incentive.


iTunes still has all sorts of issues with Windows, the newest iTunes7 eats an enormous amount of resources (three to four times any other application, its absurd – bad programming) and runs poorly. People in my office all started installing it and everyone’s complaining. If the MS software interface and store work well on Windows then that is another big incentive.

Quite frankly I see lots of incentives and no really disadvantages to an iPod.

Subscription service
Same download prices per song
Native Windows software
Bigger, Higher resolution screen
Better earbuds
More durable construction
FM Radio
WiFi and future expandability
Price completive

Looks? I sort of like it better then the iPod.


I’m definitely seeing way more positive reviews then negative ones.

I think the music sharing thing is very cool but I think it has to be refined and made more functional but we’ll see.

Jobs said the WiFi ‘thing’ was horrible and slow. All the reviews I’ve read said it was very easy and lightning fast to do. One review said even his grandmother could do it.
Maybe the chick won’t go away before your done - maybe they will actually be all grossed out from you trying to put YOUR wax encrusted earbud into their ear! LOL! So while your getting slapped, the Zune chick is texting you her number.

 

Did they mention that any music you happen to be playing stops cold as soon as you send or receive anything? Sure sounds like a mood killer to me.

 

Time will tell, but the idea of file sharing is a double-edged sword, I can see viruses being sent all the time.

As for the Zune undercutting iPod by $50 to $100, how? 30 gig models are the same price.

The biggest concern I have is Microsoft's notorious record for buggy 1st generation products. Windows 98, XP were train wrecks until the second edition updates showed up.

I use my iPod 60 gig as a music server, all songs are at their original AIFF file size. I refuse to go back 30 years in sound quality.

 

Humm, my iPod sounds like crap really, I mean. Have you ever actually compared the audio of an iPod playback between a max quality MP3 and a WAV (or AIFF whatever)? There is no discernible difference. Why? Because the hardware is highly limited. You assume the AIFF would sound better and it should but it doesn't. Using your iPod as a music server is really not such a good idea but to each his own. If you think it sounds better then I guess if does, to you and thats all that matters.

I tried using my iPod with my audio system and at first I though it sounded good till I compared it to even a cheap Denon CD Player which BLEW IT AWAY! My M-Audio audio cards all sound better and I can actually hear a difference between even a maximum quality MP3 and a WAV. Not so over the iPod (or a Creative Zen or any other portable DAP). BTW: I had a DAP with a 6GB hard drive years before Apple had the iPod.

DAP's have their place. Great for the car and shopping but quality is very limited.

 

Don't quote me out of context. I said “You’ll see the Zune undercutting the Apple $50 to $100 after the holiday season, another big incentive.” And I bet it does happen. MS products ALWAYS come down in price. Mice, keyboards, software, XBox all drop in price or at least MS is willing too while Apple price holds in a big way. NO discounts on iPod for the most part.

Maybe MS will start a price war – I’d buy another iPod but I’d buy a Zune just as fast.

All the other players are sort of ugly, the Zune is cool looking just like the iPod and I believe they sounds as good. Not surprised, the iPod is nothing special in terms of audio quality. It's as good as it can be.


OK you can all beat me up now.


Its funny how there isn’t any Vista support for the Zune yet – LOL!


There are lots of things I‘ve read that I don’t like about the Zune but there are also lots of things I don’t like about the iPod – so no one does it right.


I wonder if the Zune does gapless playback?

 

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2006/11/15/zune-software-questions-some-answers.aspx

there's lots more but the pertinent sections are

the gapless playback - I imagine - means that the software will import a gapless album and have an asociated cue file or soething that defines the start/end of songs but that cure file isn't recognized on the player .. yet.

 

IMHO it's pretty silly people are complaining about this when Vista isn't even shipping yet.

IMHO the Zune is clunky and ugly, and the wireless features just aren't compelling--so you can share a song for 3 days with people you are 3-4 feet away from? YAWN. It seems to me that Microsoft originally had some othert sort of wireless capability planned but had to scale it back to the point where it is essentially a "non-feature."

I am expoecting it will be sold for a year or two and then whither away--sorta like the tablet PC's which were supposed to "take over" a few years back . . .

 

Since I've an iBook running iTunes, I'm afraid I'm a (i)Pod person, haha.

I hate MP3's anyway; sound grainy to me.

 

1: Buy $5 worth of MicroSoft "points"
2: Figure out how to buy each song at 79-points each
3: Give the Zune-Rune to the child of someone you do not like
4: Buy back your iPod from the pawnshop - if still available

 

I think the Zune will be great competition. It's a 1st gen model - I bet the iPod wasn't as great as it is back then. MS will support it for a long time, and this will foster competition. A good thing, since Apple doesn't have much incentive to innovate without someone like Microsoft trying to eat its market share.

Bottom line- the consumer wins.