The Microsoft Zune
- Thread starter Kid_Eternity
- Start date
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
jæd said:
Christ you’re boring,
I already posted my opinion on this, at first I found it boring, yet another “iPod killer” now I don’t find it that amazing but looks like it could present a significant threat to Apple in the medium to long term because of the linking up to other MS features. Now, that may not be up to your high standards but quite frankly I couldn’t give a shit.
Lazy Llama
Suburban robots that monitor reality
The full press pack does list the online store:-
It would appear to be WinXP only, so even if any Mac users were interested they can't play, unless they're prepared to do the Windows thing to their Intel Mac.
I wonder what the battery life will be like with the WiFi active?
Being a US-based product like the iPod it won't have DAB support in the radio which is a pity.
Elsewhere it says that you can buy downloads or a subscription, also says that you can import unprotected files from iTunes.
It would appear to be WinXP only, so even if any Mac users were interested they can't play, unless they're prepared to do the Windows thing to their Intel Mac.
I wonder what the battery life will be like with the WiFi active?
Being a US-based product like the iPod it won't have DAB support in the radio which is a pity.
Its a complete joke that all the zealots are bitching just becasue the thing is 'slightly bigger' than an iPod. I guess none of them realised that throughout most of the iPods reign - it has been significantly bigger than competetive products, which just happens to have slightly improved recently.
What were you saying at the time cheap korean makers were bringing out smaller products with more functionality? Jack shit of course. You all thought the size was negligable, but now the opposite.
The original case laid down by the bigger/fatter/less-functional iPod was clear, that the product doesnt have to be smaller to be better - how many people bought otherwise because of this? Exactly, it was probably some kind of obscure anomoly. So please, the success of the iPod is not-at-all down to the size, thats a minor point. On all other points - such as functionality people might actually care about, product identity, marketing, and integration are all trumped by Microsoft here, they understand what made the iPod a success, and they are building a strong first generation product on those factors.
Infact if you read what the managers behind the thing say, they arent at all pitched against the iPod, they believe there are new markets to be had. They also say they would like a super slim minute 100gb player in the future, but they'll obviously cross that bridge when they come to it.
What were you saying at the time cheap korean makers were bringing out smaller products with more functionality? Jack shit of course. You all thought the size was negligable, but now the opposite.
The original case laid down by the bigger/fatter/less-functional iPod was clear, that the product doesnt have to be smaller to be better - how many people bought otherwise because of this? Exactly, it was probably some kind of obscure anomoly. So please, the success of the iPod is not-at-all down to the size, thats a minor point. On all other points - such as functionality people might actually care about, product identity, marketing, and integration are all trumped by Microsoft here, they understand what made the iPod a success, and they are building a strong first generation product on those factors.
Infact if you read what the managers behind the thing say, they arent at all pitched against the iPod, they believe there are new markets to be had. They also say they would like a super slim minute 100gb player in the future, but they'll obviously cross that bridge when they come to it.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
In a lot of ways the Zune's David Cameron to the Ipod's Tony Blair...er if you see what I mean...
DG55 said:
But isn't the Zune a very similar product to the iPod...? Both are vertically integrated music platforms... The only way I can see this "new" is as breaking into new markets is into the school-age market -- which is why they have the wifi sharing thing... That and breaking into the mature/adult market where Microsoft is perceived as a quality, IBM-like brand...
Kid_Eternity said:Christ you’re boring,
If you find a subject boring, why do you start a thread on it?
Crispy said:
I don't care about "cool". I care about funtionality and practicality.
Functionality makes me want to rush out and buy Zune. Practicality, dictacts that I fuck the Zune off and get an IPOD. Why? Because I have iTunes with a good 150 tracks which I have bought sitting here on my PC.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
TonkaToy said:
I didn't mean I found the subject boring just the attempt of being an iPod killer. That was over a month ago now it looks like they're not strictly trying to be an iPod killer and have given a clearer idea of what it's about.
Anyway, what's wrong with starting a subject to share info and hear other insights into it? Like living in a sealed self contained intellectual world do you Laya?
editor said:
It's never going to be cool in the scarce, early adopter way now, but it's become the iconic product that's helped to define the market, much like the Walkman and Hoover did in their respective marketplace.
Just as with any of those products, folks can define themselves against the dominant product in the marketplace. I always tended to prefer Panasonic personals to Sony's walkmans for example, or anything than a Nokia after my first phone, contrary bastard that I am.
But is Apple and the ipod ever going to compare badly in the 'coolness' stakes compared to Microsoft and The Zune. I can't see it in the forseeable future...
Bob_the_lost
Elsewhere
They aren't going to release it if they don't think they will make money (and take market share from apple). Itunes is a massive money maker for apple, the player is a way of breaking into that market.
TonkaToy said:
They are giving iTunes users the ability to get the songs they bought there for free on the Zune store.
jæd said:
Hehe well, where did you get that perception from? The Apple adverts?
Anyway I dont really see the point, are you saying that they wont sell because of this? The fact that they are very similar products - in implementation and feature wise (and whatever else) - means that its probably going to be an exciting battle here. Theres no denying that the Zune actually has some sort of chance in hell of competing with the iPod, its the only product with the similar business model and implementation. People never cared about how many this and that Creative's player had. But the iPod and the Zune are going to be the benchmark products, and its good to see some real competition here - it only means good things for us - cheaper prices, better features, smaller form factors with larger spaces, and more innovative form factors at that.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
No we fucking don't.TonkaToy said:
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
TonkaToy said:
Why would they release it if they didn't want to beat Apple?
Bob_the_lost said:
I'm far from sure that's the case. MS is far from above entering a market with little expectation of profit. There have been numerous examples of anti-competitive behaviour from MS where they've been trying to give their competitors a bloody nose and trying to close off the market to new entrants. Similarly they can afford to lose huge amounts with their cash reserves - you only have to look at the whopping long term losses from the X-Box division to see that. Last year and that division lost $348 million in three months leading up to the end of December alone. It's difficult to see them ever turning a profit.
Itunes, as far as I understand it, isn't a particular moneyspinner for Apple. They make the bulk of their profit on the hardware, ie the ipods, rather than on the comparatively small fees per song.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
chriswill
Misbehaving!
Sorry to bump.
Whens the official release date (UK) for the zune?
A mate of mine has one he has brought back from the States that he is trying to sell me (My ipod HD died about a month ago).
I'd rather get one from a shop over here for piece of mind if it dies fairly early on.
Whens it out?
Whens the official release date (UK) for the zune?
A mate of mine has one he has brought back from the States that he is trying to sell me (My ipod HD died about a month ago).
I'd rather get one from a shop over here for piece of mind if it dies fairly early on.
Whens it out?
dogmatique
merde alors
I read that there is no scheduled launch date for Europe as yet, though it's been pencilled in for 2008! 
They're aiming this squarely at US college kids where the wi-fi / mobile social networking thing is a lot more "matured".
Crock of shite if you ask me though.
What's the point of a sharing gizmo when you can only listen to a tune 3 times before it self destructs?
They're aiming this squarely at US college kids where the wi-fi / mobile social networking thing is a lot more "matured".
Crock of shite if you ask me though.
What's the point of a sharing gizmo when you can only listen to a tune 3 times before it self destructs?
And there's this...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/16/zune_vista_incompatible/
Where are the M$ "zealots" to explain away this one??
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/16/zune_vista_incompatible/
Where are the M$ "zealots" to explain away this one??
dogmatique
merde alors
Just read that. Unbelievable, eh? And music bought from their own MSN music store is incompatable too!
And music bought from their own MSN music store is incompatable too!
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
All the reviews I've read have ranged from "meh" to "bollocks", which isn't very encouraging.
TonkaToy said:
with the greatest of respect this is complete and utter bollocks.
DRM is symptomatic of all that is wrong with the content industry.
It is predicated on a relationship of distrust between business and customer.
It only works if there is something I don't and can't control installed on my computer.
It's not like speed limits, it's like having an automatic speed regulator in your car to force you to keep to the speed limit. Which may even be justified in the case of cars (not that the motoring lobby would ever accept it) because they are lethal lumps of metal.
But the risks from someone playing borrowed music are not quite in the same league.
I am quite sure btw that we need to pay for music; the alternative is a world where everything between the amateur and the nike-sponsored disappears. But I like, I suspect, most genuine music lovers, am happy to do so; I'm just not going to pay for some crappy digital download that's been compressed to fuck and crippled so I have to jump through hoops backward to play it on anything other than the thing I bought it for.
Similar threads
