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Yes, but which will fix the economy: Zune or iPod?

by Robert Palmer Dec 5th 2008 at 2:00PM

We generally try to stay away from politics here at TUAW, but this week, some controversy erupted when a Philadelphia news photographer saw Barack Obama at the gym with -- gasp! -- a Microsoft Zune music player. PC World even went so far as to call it "ZuneGate."

Well, rest assured that an Obama spokeswoman felt it necessary, for some reason, to say yesterday that the president-elect typically uses an iPod, and she didn't know where the Zune came from.

This is so many kinds of disturbing that I don't know where to start.

Let's start with the reaction. People came out on both sides of the issue: some were happy that the president-elect, who built a campaign for change from the ground up, used a Zune because it reflected his desire to set himself apart from the status quo. iPod users were sad, because, well, Obama didn't buy the same thing they did. Cry me a Rio.

Second, let's look at the coverage. Wired's Jose Fermoso satirized the hyperbole surrounding the story to make it sound as if there were riots in the streets, dozens of people dead, and mass depression setting in. In reality, he cited a few tweets and forum posts from people who were alternately vaguely interested or, at best, "Internet angry."

Third, let's look at ourselves. If you want to take any of the contrived, hackneyed political situations available ("the 3 a.m. phone call," "the ticking time bomb," or "the finger on the button"), at no time does anyone's selection of music player even remotely cross the transom of one's mind. The fact that we clamor for news on this issue suggests that we have our priorities entirely out of order. To the Engadget user who "wanted [their] vote back" over this issue? Take it. Just please don't ever vote again, if that's your sole criterion.

I don't care if Obama has a Zune or an iPod or a Zen, or whatever. If a red one helps get the economy back on track, or terrorism stopped, then great -- let's go with that one.

[Via MacDailyNews.]



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We generally try to stay away from politics here at TUAW, but this week, some controversy erupted when a Philadelphia news photographer saw...
 

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Martin

It's just a player , come on!

December 06 2008 at 3:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alansky

God's got a hole in his sock. Oh well...

December 06 2008 at 2:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sjkhuth

OMFG!! what a communist! I always knew it and now we have the proof! McCain would have been a so much better choice, he would have used his iPod consistently! It's all lies, a conspiracy, he's trying to take Apple down by leading everyone to buy iPods and MacBooks with his campaign and thereby declares Apple cool, and now he said Microsoft is better and everyone's like "no way" and he's like "Microsoft rules" and their like " no way" and he's like "Haha you suck0rs" and they're like "fuck this" and he's like "can you buy Microsoft" and they're like "Yes we can" and he's like "Hehe *evil smile*"

Anyways, I'd be interested what was on it and not what player he uses and how it will affect his way to world leadership.

(pls don't take this seriously)

December 05 2008 at 9:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Simon

As the great uniter, maybe he has both as a metaphor for healing the rifts that have torn apart the social fabric courtesy of the previous "president"...

December 05 2008 at 9:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
superpixel

Robert, I thought this was well-written and funny.

As for "Really, though, it's not constructive to respond to comments in such a way. Either defend your writing or take the criticism in stride."

Well, Robert is trying to respond with a positive (love -- you would prefer hate?).

We all get a little tired of the kneejerk trolling that happens WAY too often here on TUAW. A select group of know-it-alls ruins the blog for everyone else.

Bloggers have put up with everything from death threats to name-calling. It's about time this nonsense stopped. We could, of course, just quit allowing comments on the blog. Or, we could moderate comments to trash any criticism.

But you know what? We won't. I think plenty of people enjoy what we do and don't feel the need to show how ZOMG AWESOME SMART ME IS on a frackin' blog comment thread... We'll leave the comments open because we DO take criticism in stride (when it is constructive and valid and you've read the post entirely before clicking the "add comment" button in a huff) and we learn a lot from the conversation. Of course, it helps to keep the conversation civil.

If you feel the need to show off how smart you are, go start a blog and kick our butts with content. Then I will tip my hat to you. Until then, WE LOVE YOU! Don't ever change.

I'm sorry for everyone who has to slog through the stupid crap people feel the need to add to our posts. Our bloggers aren't idiots, so it would be appreciated if some commenters quit treating them as sub-human.

Thanks!

December 05 2008 at 5:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to superpixel's comment
Zoroaster

I hope you're not referring to me. Knee-jerk trolling? I read the entire article and all the links. Then I read it again to make sure I was correctly understanding the situation. Then I read it all again before I submitted my post. The irony is that the only people who wouldn't criticize the post would be people who didn't read it thoroughly.

And I think you're insulting your readers if you think we're being "know-it-alls" when we comment on how the post reflects the exact opposite of reality. I mean that's what really happened here. The post was expressing outrage at a phenomenon that isn't really happening. And in fact the true phenomenon is one of glorious unified satire, in which news outlets are collectively lampooning their own excessive focus on unimportant minutia. The author of this post was criticizing those who were expressing the opinion he was promoting! Its seriously kind of insulting that you'd think being disappointed with a mistake like that is "showing off".

I mean I had to say something. If I didn't then the readers would misunderstand reality because of the post, then they'd start ranting and raving about the decline of the "mainstream media", and then they'd all start switching to Fox News, and then, newly entranced by the rugged good looks and persuasive yelling of Sean Hannity, they'd elect Sarah Palin in 2012, and then she'd lead the midwest in a civil war against the coasts, and then we and all our families would be killed by heavily armed hillbillies. Is that what you want?! Excuse me for fighting to preserve the country I love!!!

December 05 2008 at 7:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
CZ

So? I'm a Mac user. I'm on my Aluminum MacBook right now. I've owned dozens of Macs, and dozens of iPods (literally) since they were released... And right now my primary PMP is a Sansa Fuze.

Why? Well, the long and the short of it is that it was $69 on Black Friday, and it does everything an iPod nano does, as long as I use it in the Boot Camp partition of my Mac. As all my music is non-DRM, I find it to be a great solution instead of paying $150 for a nano with fewer features and less memory. (BTW- Even in OS X, it works as a decent MP3 player)

Does that mean I'll never use another iPod? Well, that depends on what Mr. Jobs has for us next time around. I kind of like having an expansion slot for Micro SD cards on my PMP... And wonder why Apple hasn't done this yet.

But I love the iPod interface. I love the integration with iTunes. I'm just willing to give that up to save a significant amount of money.

So it's totally cool that Obama went with a Zune. I'd consider the Zune if MS didn't have their priorities all messed up.

I love my Mac, but since Apple decided to charge me $30 for the mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter, I'm going to have to cut corners on my other electronics. Apple needs to remember that making me pay for a lot of little extras when I buy a computer means I have less money for other Apple products in the future...


December 05 2008 at 3:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to CZ's comment
Scott

I think MOST, if not all, of the coverage/reaction/"outrage" over this was done in the spirit of humor. A bit of a collective ironic jab at the perceived importance of trivial matters (especially relating to brand wars). At least, I'd like to think so.

Which, if true, would make authors of posts like this one look like the ones taking the matter "too seriously".

December 05 2008 at 3:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
5 replies to Scott's comment
Chuck

Stupid. Just Stupid. Can I have those 30 seconds back? Seriously, I'm going to stop reading this blog.

December 05 2008 at 3:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Chuck's comment
Robert Palmer

Promise?

December 05 2008 at 3:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gg

Good reply. lol

December 05 2008 at 4:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

the thing is no body would care.if it was an average cheapo mp3 player. It's just because it's a zune that people go "oooooo microsoft not apple! Ummmm, I'm tellin' "

December 05 2008 at 3:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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