Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends
Mossberg and Pogue on the Zune
There are two titans of technology writing: Walt Mossberg and David Pogue. These men can make or break a product and today they both share their thoughts on Microsoft's would be iPod, the Zune. Now, it should be noted that both Pogue and Mossberg are known Apple fans, and more specifically they have given the iPod (in its many forms) positive reviews (though pretty much the entire tech press has as well).Pogue and Mossberg both agree that the screen on the Zune is great, and that the UI is comparable, or better than, the iPod in most cases. It also sounds just as good as the iPod, but that is where the praise ends. Pogue wonders why you can't use Windows Media Player to sync with your Zune (you must use a new software program called, oddly enough, Zune). Mossberg was disappointed in the battery life, and he thought the entire product felt more like a prototype than a final effort.
They both pan the wireless sharing, which is supposed to be one of the Zune's major selling points. You can share, via WiFi, songs from your Zune to another person's Zune. They can only play them 3 times in the next 3 days before they go poof (leaving behind a note of what the track was in case you want to buy it at the Zune Store). Though here's the rub, even if you only listen to 10 seconds of the song that counts as one 'play.'
Overall it seems like the Zune is a typical Microsoft effort, acceptable with some odd omissions and oversights. I'd expect the Zune to give the iPod a run for its money when it is on its third version (but we may very well have a direct neural interface with our iPods by then).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kyle said 2:24PM on 11-09-2006
Typical Microsoft product? You think Xbox 360 is in the same boat, and that it's a sub par machine against it's competitors?
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Sherman Homan said 2:39PM on 11-09-2006
Microsoft's biggest hurdle isn't the technology, it will be in marketing.
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primetime said 2:41PM on 11-09-2006
"...the entire product felt more like a prototype than a final effort."
Sounds about right. And what are we supposed to be comparing the 360 to? The competition is not even out yet. What a silly question. But does my 360 seem to work like a prototype... yes.
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Drewjames said 2:54PM on 11-09-2006
now, the review I'm really waiting for is Smash My Zune.
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Scott McNulty said 2:56PM on 11-09-2006
The XBox 360 is basically the second rev of the XBox, so I think that is inline with my premise. Microsoft does good work, but their first efforts tend to be... less than stellar. They learn, they change, and then they under the competition so that they can control a market which they then abandon. :)
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Nick said 3:42PM on 11-09-2006
Neither Mossberg or Pogue is an unbiased objective source, as you say. Nevertheless, the overall verdict here matches what I'm hearing from several sources: the screen and the UI are very good, perhaps better than anything else on the market, but the product is *crippled* with DRM.
Even if you record your own content - David Chartier sings Puccini in the bath or whatever - and put it on there, the Zune DRMs it. That would be a pain in the neck if you wanted to share content you'd made via the WiFi, as an up-and-coming band might well want to.
Microsoft might lose badly on this one because of the DRM. Michael Robertson certainly thinks so: he says:
"... 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."
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=219
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Matthew said 4:17PM on 11-09-2006
> Pogue wonders why you can't use Windows Media Player to sync with your Zune
Love that.
I guess you could look at it two ways: 1) antitrust concerns and/or 2) M$ just doesn't get it.
The part I don't get is that Microsoft has had five years to build the perfect MP3 player. that's a long, long, long time. What now, Zune?
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Jon said 3:44PM on 11-09-2006
The iPod's success is largely due to its good looks and excellent software integration, neither of which the Zune has.
There is also only one Zune, set to compete with the Video iPod, so Nano and Shuffle owners will stick with Apple. Am I right in thinking that the Nano outsells the Video iPod?
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Kyle said 5:07PM on 11-09-2006
Well yes, it is true that the Xbox 360 is a second rev of the Xbox. But the view taken here is taken soley on Microsoft itself, where in it's own case, should be compared to it's industry. Take a a look at the main competition it came into, the Playstation 2. It included a hard drive, which Ps2 didn't have, and now has becomes almost neccessary in this next generation, much better graphics, and had everything else Ps2 could do, except for the size of it's game library, which comes with time, and Microsoft even did what it can to build it up with killer apps, i.e. Halo. (And i have to admit, the first controller was just, insanely huge)It was the PS2, but more. So Microsoft in reality took the right move, there which they continued by busting out a competing next gen system a year ahead of the rest, that is still pretty on par with whats coming out. And, to be honest, do we really think Microsoft is going to abandon the Xbox platform? They are constantly coming out with new additions to it, and are now showing how much it is going to commit with the new Media download service. I mean, they are already planning the next xbox system for 2010, going as far as to create a new lab soley to work on the next system's processor.
This is obviously getting off topic from the curent post, and I apologize for that. I'm just trying to show how with Microsoft, they don't put out it's own hardware often, but when they do, it seems as though they do what they can to make a quality product from the beginning. Saying things on it's software is fair game, but I think it's hardware should be treated a little differently.
And to be fair, let us not forget about hardware when it comes to Apple. Take it's new portable product line for example. Macbooks and Macbook Pros are great,there is no denying. But we all know of the numerous problems they have been having with its initial output. And we all know the numerous hardware products of Apple's past which have failed, died off, or have been abandoned. If we are going to criticize, we should stay in comparison.
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Fraser said 5:13PM on 11-09-2006
Microsoft said tat 'Zune' wasn't just the player, this was the start, does this mean new xbox=ZuneBox or something?? Microzune??
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junkie said 8:06PM on 11-09-2006
As a Mac fan I look at Zune with a bit of skepticism and dread.
But I just wanted to make a few points:
1) IMHO, Apple quality is great. I think if anything goes wrong with their machines a big deal is made of it - but this is related to the general press that Apple gets is just out of proportion for their marketshare, this is a plus for Apple and a negative at times. I don't think this is the same as actual poor quality. My friends complain of a lot of problems with Dell, HP and Gateway - its just not newsworthy.
2) MSFT does tend to enter markets that are developed. Create a generally poor product and keep stabbing away at it until they get traction. Take CE devices as an example. So many generations of products that went no where.
3) Apple is no angel and Apple's worst enemy is itself it seems in many cases. Why is iTunes a closed system? I really think iPod would be a stronger product today if FairPlay was licensed to other parties. Yes, Apple would compete in the hardware business but Apple products have consistently been the best devices, so why not compete? I mean, all these cell phones are now shipping with other DRM systems. That is not good. I mean I will wait for iPhone but a lot of other people are spending money on secondary music devices. I would like to see those devices on the Fairplay/iTunes platform.
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Shalin Jain said 11:48PM on 11-09-2006
I am apple fan but I'd like to support the underdog most of the times. Zune should not be compared feature by feature to iPod. Remember, iPod is 5 year old. A fair competition is good for consumers. When iPod was out it wasn't even available to the HUGE PC market. why are the reviewers so worried about the Zune software and it's integration! Microsoft has a bigger marketing muscle than Apple. Apple has a great design and better products. If people only bought the best things in this world iPod would have had 100% market share and some Auto company had 90%+ market share.
Zune vs iPod is not equal to Google vs MSN Search. Rather, PS3 vs XBOX 360.
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Jon said 1:44AM on 11-10-2006
Re: #12
Zune is competing with what is out NOW, not what was out 5 years ago. Think about how long MS has had to work on this. It's a really disappointing product for a company with MS's resources.
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Reg said 6:28AM on 11-10-2006
TUAW must be the only blog that hasn't come in for some of the "viral marketing" cash that Microsoft is throwing around.
Just about every Zune writeup in the blogosphere - both articles and especially comments - seem to have suspiciously positive commentary, followed by a link to a site that is in on the Zune love.
Surely all the Weblogs Inc sites have been approached with some cash? Engadget certainly has!
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Peter Kirn said 9:47PM on 11-12-2006
Reg, whatever. I think people are pro-Zune because people WANT there to be something new and exciting in the music player space -- even if the Zune doesn't quite deliver.
The real irony to me is that minus the dubious advantages of (somewhat crippled) Wi-Fi sharing, the Zune is almost identical to the Toshiba Gigabeat S. This player is now cheaper (street price at least), also 30 GB, and also runs the Windows Portable Media Center (WinCE) OS that is the basis of the Zune. *Unlike* the Zune, the Gigabeat S can play TV and movies and sync to Windows Media Player, all thanks to -- you guessed it -- Microsoft.
What seems really unclear is not why Microsoft chose to compete with the other hardware makers, but why they're competing with themselves -- and not doing a great job of it, at that.
Some of the ideas *are* good here, though, so hopefully future players from other manufacturers (yes, perhaps including Apple) will expand on the current idea of music players. I sure hope so.
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