[icruise]

The Zune isn't really directly related to the iPod, but since it is supposed to be an "iPod killer" device, it's natural that there be some discussion of it in the iPod forum. However, to keep things organized, I ask you to make all of your comments here in this thread. New threads created in the iPod forum about the Zune will be locked.

Here are a few things to get you started:

A quick introduction of the Zune on CNN (which goes hilariously off track)

A New York Times article on the Zune

The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg reviews the Zune

The New York Times' David Pogue reviews the Zune

[wilsonng]

http://forums.macnn.com/103/ipod/317425/zune-vs-ipod/

That's an interesting post that super_lee/MY TECH LISTS put on but I have to bite at some of the points made.:


WiFi was touted as a big feature.... But you can't sync to your Zune and your computer with WiFi. It's connected via wired connection, not WiFi.... That is a big misleading thing for me. You can use WiFi only for sharing music. The WiFi only works between two Zunes.

Microsoft said the Zune's WiFi capabilities would create a big social network with sharing songs. Sure, you can send an audio file to someone else and it'll self-destruct in 3 days like a Mission Impossible letter. And you can't forward a shared song to someone else. So much for sharing.... I'm personally not in the habit of turning on WiFi in a coffee shop just to share my music since I'm more concerned about battery life than sharing the wealth.

So the social aspects of the Zune are pretty much an overhyped feature. It's a shot in the dark that just happened to not hit the target.

WiFi Winner: None. the Zune can't sync to my computer via 802.11g and the restrictions on sharing shared songs are quite limited. The Zune's first shot at WiFi stumbles and falls right out of the starting block.

Content: The Zune's store isn't up to par yet to the iTunes store.... Given time, the Zune shop can match it. But as of launch time, the iTunes store still has way more artists signed up and more songs available for download... And the Zune videos clearly aren't up to the amount that is available on the iTunes store.

Content Winner: iPod (for now but the Zunes store should be able to match it one of these years).

FM Radio is a much hyped feature that adds very little to my listening experience.... If I have a 30 GB hard drive full of songs, why should I even bother with the radio? My playlists features ****MY MUSIC***. Not music that the radio stations are trying to push on you with their payola scams where music studios try to bribe radio stations to play their songs more often. My playlists are also commercial free! A big plus for me! I can always select a song on demand rather than call up Mr. DJ and ask "can you play that song you just played 20 minutes ago?"

I also have the iPod remote control with FM capabilities but I have never used the FM radio. I'm too busy enjoying my podcasts and my own personal music library.

FM radio Winner: Zune (for those who remotely care about FM radio. Otherwise I'm gonna enjoy my 30GBs of music and podcasts that already resides on my iPod).

The Zune's screen is a little bigger than the iPod but both feature the same number of pixels (320 x 240). The 3" screen just makes the pixels bigger and thus makes it more pixellated when you blow up the resolution.... Take a look at the old iBook 14" and the PowerBook 12". Both featured 1024 x 768 resolution but things looked better on the PowerBook 12" rather than the iBook 14".

Screen Winner: iPod (bigger doesn't always mean better)



Alot of the reviews give the Zune a mixed reaction....a nice first salvo at the iPod/iTunes juggernaught but not even close....

Here' one from Peter King of CNN/Fortune magazine...

Zune vs. iPod: the battle begins | 1 | FORTUNE


And another article about the iPod vs. Zune myths:

10 iPod vs. Zune Myths


So Microsoft's first attempt to attack the iPod/iTunes empire failed with their PlayForSure technology. I'm betting there are a lot of pissed-off companies who bought into the PlayForSure platform and saw Microsoft drop it completely...

The Zune is Microsoft's second attack... The first generation Zune will attract people who can't stand to see the classic iPod white colors or that silver Apple logo on their facorite mp3 player. But it certainly isn't enough to persuade people to switch.

Nice try,Microsoft, but maybe next time...

[icruise]

I'm not sure I buy the argument that a bigger screen is worse. I've yet to see a Zune in person, but I doubt the extra .5" is going to make the screen look like crap.

I haven't heard anything about outdoor visibility with the Zune. Does anyone know how it compares to the iPod? What about color depth and brightness?

[©öñFü$íóÑ]

I think what Microsoft is trying to say is that sometimes it's not all about the music.

FM radio is good when you're traveling and want to keep up with the latest weather/traffic/news. I mean, if you don't wanna carry around a bulky laptop in the woods, a portable mp3 player with a built-in FM tuner may just be for you.

Personally, I'm one of those people who would use an iPod to not pay attention to the weather/traffic/news.

[Simon]

In this interview their anxiously trying to say something good about Zune, but it all collapses when one of them pulls out her new shuffle.

CNN.com Video

[Edit: shucks, just noticed it was already posted.]

[michaelb]

Originally Posted by ©Ã¶Ã±Fü$íóÑ 

FM radio is good when you're traveling and want to keep up with the latest weather/traffic/news. I mean, if you don't wanna carry around a bulky laptop in the woods, a portable mp3 player with a built-in FM tuner may just be for you.

I think a 30GB iPod + iPod Radio Remote would still be less bulky than a Zune.



Even the positive comments about the Zune say that while the casing has a nice rubberized finish, it is too square and a bit on the thick side.

Still, I wouldn't count Microsoft out just yet. Windows 1.0 and Windows 2.0 were crap, but Windows 3.0 blasted the Macintosh into oblivion. The company stays the course, and it's not all about the better product winning.

[Simon]

On a side note, this is nowhere near "the one and only" Zune thread. There was a thread on it in here already long ago.

[michaelb]

Originally Posted by Simon 

In this interview their anxiously trying to say something good about Zune, but it all collapses when one of them pulls out her new shuffle.

What I found more interesting is the discussion on the the TWiT #76 podcast... About 15:10 mins in, Leo starts reading the contract that Microsoft made everyone who wanted to have a Zune review kit sign.

Combined with the large amount of cash and promises of cross-promtion Microsoft poured into the blogosphere (and which Andrew Baron of Rocketboom nobly rejected), it's a bit alarming the underhand tactics Microsoft are going to try in gaining marketshare.

Bill and Ballmer play dirty.





Wireless sharing is Zune's killer app: Microsoft CEO

[icruise]

Originally Posted by Simon 

On a side note, this is nowhere near "the one and only" Zune thread. There was a thread on it in here already long ago.

Uh, yeah, I know that, but the point is that from this point onward, all Zune discussion goes here. I don't want the forum filled with multiple Zune threads.

[LSK6453]

My favorite is that the Zune is not Vista compatable

[wilsonng]

Originally Posted by icruise 

I'm not sure I buy the argument that a bigger screen is worse. I've yet to see a Zune in person, but I doubt the extra .5" is going to make the screen look like crap.

I haven't heard anything about outdoor visibility with the Zune. Does anyone know how it compares to the iPod? What about color depth and brightness?

Well, having a 3.5" screen with 320 x 240 resolution doesn't look as sharp as having a 2.5" screen with 320 x 240 resolution.

The 3.5" screen just magnifies the picture, giving it a less crisp look. If the Zune's 3.5" screen had more pixels then it would help to improve picture clarity....

At least, that's my take on it....



-----------------------------

I remembered reading an article on the internet where Steve Ballmer got his panties twisted in a bunch when he was asked if he would allow his children to buy an iPod.

The answer was pretty much an emphatic "hell no!" There were alot of devices that are better than the iPod and that they all use the Microsoft PlayForSure platform....

A few months later, PlayForSure was trumped by the Zune and a whole lotta dissed partners are steamed about getting dumped by Microsoft.

[Jackonicko]

Exactly. More pixels and a bigger screen, and you'd be laughing. But this way, pictures just look less sharp.

[icruise]

Frankly, it sounds like you're trying to turn a defeat (and one of the few areas where the Zune beats the iPod, if only slightly) into a victory. I've used a lot of mobile devices (PDAs, phones, etc) and while it's true that a smaller screen of the same resolution will look a bit sharper, it's also... smaller. In any case, 3" screen will look just fine at 320 x 240 resolution. If it was a 5" screen then maybe you'd have a point. Or are you saying that a player with a 2" screen would be better than the iPod because it's sharper?

Let's not be so partisan as to deny when the competition actually has a good feature. Of course, in order to get that slightly bigger screen, they had to turn it on its side, which means you have to hold the player on its side while viewing video and landscape-format pictures. It also means that there isn't enough room on the player for a large input device like the iPod has. So it's certainly a matter of give-and-take.

[ink]

Can you say anything nice about Zune? | Technology | Guardian Unlimited Technology

Then there's the wireless sharing. Steve Jobs dismissed this: "It takes forever ... You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in [a would-be girlfriend's] ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable." Steve Ballmer defended it: "I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That's a software experience." Which prompted the observation: "Steve Jobs can make sharing earwax sound sexy. Ballmer can make a digital file transfer sound like something you'd need to clean up after."

Squirting? Is Ballmer attempting to create a new internet meme, or is that what it's actually called?

[mac1896]

Now I know why the Zoon is brown !!!

It matches Gate's Jacket and Ballmers a**-kissing tongue !

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Good God, Ballmer is fugly.

Am I the only one wondering why this isn't a sticky?....

[icruise]

I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to make it a sticky for the moment.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by ink 

Can you say anything nice about Zune? | Technology | Guardian Unlimited Technology

Then there's the wireless sharing. Steve Jobs dismissed this: "It takes forever ... You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in [a would-be girlfriend's] ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable." Steve Ballmer defended it: "I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That's a software experience." Which prompted the observation: "Steve Jobs can make sharing earwax sound sexy. Ballmer can make a digital file transfer sound like something you'd need to clean up after."

Squirting? Is Ballmer attempting to create a new internet meme, or is that what it's actually called?

Originally Posted by NYTimes article

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.

Good one Ballmer.

icruise: I definitely agree with you. All of the OMG SAME RESOLUTION is annoying. My 14" iBook had the same resolution as the 12" iBook. So...everything was bigger and easier to see. Watching DVDs was a lot better. Not as sharp? Like you can really tell the difference.