NY Times plugs Zune: Shining in the shadow of iPod

I agree with part of what Dave (#6) that the WiFi sharing aspect is pretty much useless if there are no other Zunes (or more preferably, WiFi enabled iPods) floating around. But I disagree with him on the three play rule. Look, musicians don't make this stuff for free people, and you can pretty much forget the labels dropping their insistence on DRM, so I think this works well within the system--you can discover some new music, and if you like it go BUY it--God for bid you spend 99 cents.

That said, the WiFi on the Zune fails miserably in that you can't use it to buy music directly with the Zune or sync it to your computer wirelessly. So, yeah, it misses the mark. (Plus, it still looks ugly to me.)

Maybe I am a bit old school, but I'd still consider myself part of the MySpace generation:-) The sharing of playlists in iTunes serves somewhat of the same purpose as the roving Zune features.

At my school, we're pretty much connected 24/7, and well, any other iTunes users who share and let others listen can do the same things. I've been sampling others' music for a couple years.

Maybe a good first step would be to ease up on the DRM restrictions? And then of course, enable it on their iPods.

MSFT has made their move.. Come on AAPL. It's your move.

"Just what I'm looking for a music player that wirelessly exchanges viruses!"

Yeah, I mean, why bother with all that when iPods* come with viruses out of the box!


* - Yeah, yeah. Small fraction. But the cheapshot couldn't be ignored.

haha is #3 a plant?

just kidding =) anyways the sharing thing sounds a bit like a gimmick to me since the files only last for 3 plays.

on the other hand i saw it in person yesterday and it doesn't seem as clunky as i have been hearing.

i think the key will be the software. apples real strength is that people use itunes even without an ipod, and it gets them sucked in. will the zune software be as good?

"[T]he Zune can do something that no other player, including the iPod from Apple, can claim: it can locate other Zune players and wirelessly exchange content - music and pictures, for starters - with a few touches of a big shiny button."

Why would you want your iPod to locate other Zunes? But seriously, the only way the wifi sharing feature will be worth while is if 1. you can actually share. Sharing 30 seconds of a song or a song for 3 plays or whatever is just pointless. 2. if there you can find anyone else with a Zune. Not worth much if you can't find anyone else to share with. 3. if you can actually use it to connect to a music store online, or for that matter at Walmart, and download music to the device.

Oh and why doesn't the Zune support podcasts? They've lost half their market there.

Just what I'm looking for a music player that wirelessly exchanges viruses!

David Pogue pretty much slammed this thing the other day, so the Times is not institutionally drinking Kool Aid here. The Zune team gave it their best shot, and probably got overruled by the bosses and the record industry on a lot of stuff, and so now they have a half-assed product. That's life.

Somehow I have trouble believing that Microsoft is the struggling underdog in this scenario.

You can Microsoft bash all you want, but the ability to locate other Zunes and wirelessly exchange content is huge, and if Apple doesn't copy it I'll buy a player that does--even if the Zune does look like a clunky, boxy version of the iPod.

haha i guess they picked A/C over lights - that thing is ugly!