Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Zune MP3 Player Interface Revealed
bain writes to tell us that iLounge has put up details on the Zune, Microsoft's MP3 player. According to the article, "Zune is a bit bigger than a standard 30GB iPod, and apparently made entirely of plastic." Interestingly, Microsoft forgoes a touch-sensitive scrollwheel in favor of wheel-shaped buttons. Included are WiFi capabilities, an FM tuner, and (in stark contrast to the iPod) a white-on-black color scheme. The 30GB model is expected to sell for $300.
This story selected and edited by LinuxWorld editor for the day Saied Pinto.
I did read TFA, but I didn't understand how the scrolling UI works. The photos weren't much help. If the Zune does have a wheel, though, that will be a very interesting development - that's really the feature that makes or breaks the iPod, and I was under the impression that Apple patented it. If Apple didn't, why haven't any of their competitors picked up on it yet?
Will someone PLEASE explain why a *software* company feels its necessary to enter markets in which it has a competitive disadvantage years after the competition? If I were a MS shareholder, I'd want the company to focus on improving its OS and other software products - ya know, the stuff that made all the money in the first place.
I think Apple should develop a random product, say an iToaster Oven, just to see if MS will follow suit...
There's no buzz about Zune. Microsoft will need a significant and unique advertising campaign to make this thing sell.
y =apple_ipod_vs_microsoft_zune
http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entr
Well, this has further cemented my opinion that while the Zune certainly would make me very, very afraid if I were the CEO of Creative, I'm not sure that it would have me shaking in my boots if I was in Steve Jobs' position.
I think it stands a chance of being clearly superior to all the other iPod wannabes, and basically wipe up their market-share and send them into some other line of work, particularly because of the WiFi feature, but there's just nothing compelling about it that would displace the iPod.
I have no doubt that Microsoft will capture close to 100% of the market: but the "market" for this device is "MP3 players other than iPods."
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
I am surprised that more devices don't use a (mouse-like) scroll wheel for navigation like the Blackberry or Rio Karma. It is much nicer than the up-down buttons that are universal for cellphone menu navigation. It has an advantage over the apple touch-wheel in that you have tactile feedback for moving up/or down a single menu item - on my iPod I am constantly moving two spaces when I meant to move one. Of course it has the disadvantage of having to pick up your finger. As far as reliability goes, I know the Rio Karma had problems with it breaking, but that device had QA issues galore, and AFAIK they seem to survive on the Blackberry just fine. Is the use of a scroll-wheel on a handheld device patented by RIM or someone else?
I'm an iPod guy cos I've got a mac, but if I just wanted to play some OGGs and FLACs, iRiver would be the way to go.
This made me wondering, if there is somewhere people wearing T-shirts with Microsoft (or Windows) logos and chanting the Microsoft name. Is there such fanboyism, which will guarantee the sale of this kind of device? Because, otherwise it could be quite difficult to penetrate the market with this new device. We already have Apple and Creative and they both provide well-known music players. And I have this feeling (so, no real knowledge) that the music player industry is like mobile phone industry. You have to be hip to be on the belt of a teenager. Right?
So, the question is, is there such a movement - like behind Linux or other subcultures we are familiar with here in Slashdot - for Microsoft products? And now I'm not talking about business software. I'm talking about the passionate young people with ideologies and ideals.
... you ugl-eh!
Seriously though, those photos are terrible quality.
Although I do like the idea of a relatively large screen, I feel it is a total knock-off of the iPod. Not that I like the iPod or anything, as I am a proud owner of the amazing iAUDIO X5 -- a little bulky, but plays everything[OGG, FLAC, etc.], and mounts as a USB Mass Storage Device on any OS, and not a DRM-infested steaming heap of s**t.
And the "user is an idiot" mentality wins out again.
My point is that most people have a music collection, they have stuff ripped and downloaded, and they have a way of managing it. If they go out and buy an MP3 player, do you think they want a new, completely different program to take over their collection, take over ripping, convert everything to its own format, and make the decisions as to what goes on the player? Or do you think they want to just take their existing collection and copy whatever they want onto the player?
Seriously, this thing looks so much like an iPod it's ridiculous.
If Microsoft can threaten people who put up Gravity Wars clones then I think Apple should threaten Microsoft for creating an iPod clone.
Summation 2
I'm sorry but that thing is ugly. It looks like a giant cassette case from the 80's.
Sure, but before Sony came out with the Walkman, they had positioned themselves as a hip, agile, youthful company. Their name was only starting to be common-place in the US, and everyone was willing to give them a shot. When they presented themselves in this light, noone had any reason not to believe them to be just that. By the time the discman came out, and the facade had fallen off to reveal a large corporation, their brand recognition was so huge that it propelled them forward.
This is VERY different. Microsoft's image is inexcapable. They've pulled a good race out of the console wars because: A) they signed good game contracts, B) the video game demographic is much closer to the computer elite demographic, where Microsoft already has substantial force. This is a totally new area, a completely different demographic, you're main target is going to be the centralized "in" crowd of teens, who even the "coolest" video games are lost to. A quick advertising campaign isn't going to turn this around, this kind of image takes years to build... and they haven't even started building it.
I have a hunch that this thing will not even make a very big dent in the non-iPod market. The non-iPod market owes much of it's success to possitioning itself as "underdog to the iPod"... that these are the ELITE gadgets that Apple doesn't want you to know about. Microsoft can't begin to claim that.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
Actually, they're even better... they're nostolgic, which is probably a much stronger image to have, to be a spokesman. When you're new, cool, and hip, the kiddies want to listen to your music, but they don't neccessarily trust you so well as a person. Once you "last" for a while, you gain their trust as someone will talent and class.
It also doesn't hurt to be named Time's "Man of the Year" shortly after being used as the spokesman, either.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
What EXACTLY is MS going to do to improve my mp3 "experience"? Seriously, it's a codec, a screen and some controls. This isn't Star Trek you know. And there are lots of non iPods out there that do yeoman's service. I have a Chinese USB thumbdrive mp3 player that doubles as an optional encrypted data drive and a voice recorder. If they wanted to stoke my "experience" they'd make the screen a little bigger and double the flash. But for the $30 it cost me, I don't care. In fact I could buy another one and carry both of them.
$300? C'mon. I got one of those for one of my kids who HAD to have a video iPod. Guess what - after about a month of squinting he stopped watching videos. Now it's a just a big audio mp3 player. It's nice to have that storage but functionally it's LESS functional; e.g. heavier and more fragile, then my other kid's 4GB nano. So the 'function' tops out at about $129.
Next we come to what I call the Furious Factor. Let's face facts; it's an MS device. It will require gobs-o-hardware which translates to limited battery life. It will probably try to force me to adopt it as a PDA or ignore the duplicative PDA functions.
It will likely ladle on generous scoops of DRM making is useless for most people.
It will likely not interface well with any other MS code let alone the 'other' MS hardware, the Xbox360.
It will likely not interface at all with any high end phone.
It will be over promised and undermanufactured creating instant unavailability.
I don't think that neither MS nor Apple will ever have the final say in that. I think the RIAA want to ensure that you have to buy a copy for every device you own. And there is an unencumbered format that anyone can use. It's called MP3. Both of them play MP3s.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
At best, weve heard predictions that Zune will fight for the same fraction of tech geek market share (15%) that Apple hasnt yet taken.
That sounds reasonable, but there's no way it's going to happen. People who have have avoided iPod have done so because they are getting the same functionality from cheaper devices and don't want DRM crippled music. According to the article, M$ has DRM crippled Zune's wifi sharing with some kind of silly "one day" only listening for other people with a Zune. Prediction: big flop.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
You aren't paying more for fewer features. You are paying more for one feature done well. Whether this is actually the case with iPods is subjective, so I won't try to argue it here.
As to whether you are actually paying more, I just went to both the Apple and Creative stores. The top MP3 player on Creative's list was the Zen Vision:M (I'm not familiar with Creative's line up, so correct me if this is not a sensible one for comparison), and I tried comparing this to an iPod. It has a 30GB hard drive and the same sized screen as the full sized iPods, so this seems reasonable. The Zen is $299.99, while the iPod is $299. Apple includes shipping, I don't know if Creative does. For the sake of argument, I will assume they do. Some brief comparisons:
- The Zen supports WMA.
- The iPod supports AAC, AIFF, Audible, Apple Lossless.
- Both support WAV and MP3.
- The Zen supports WMV9.
- The iPod supports H.264.
- Both support MPEG-4.
- The Zen has a 14 hour battery life, assuming playback of 64Kb/s WMA (does anyone encode at this low a bitrate?)
- The iPod has a 14 hour battery life, assuming playback of 128Kb/s AAC.
- The Zen has a battery life of 4 hours playing video.
- The iPod has a batter life of 2 hours playing video.
- The Zen has an FM radio and a voice recorder.
- The iPod has the hardware to record audio, but for some reason Apple didn't enable it, and no FM radio.
- The Zen is 60% bigger than the iPod.
To me, the size is the most important feature. My 3G iPod is just on the upper bound of what I would want to carry around with me, and so being 60% bigger than the competition rules out the Zen. Both the iPod and the Zen have more features than I would use. Either way, the iPod is not more expensive for less; it's the same price (and I would pay the student price, which is even lower), for a machine that trades an FM radio and voice recording for a smaller form factor.True, but radio tuner? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think iPods still dont have that? That seems like a nobrainer and something all portable audio devies should have
Maybe. I don't own a radio. The only device I have that can receive FM is my mobile 'phone, and I only tried using this once to see if it worked. To me, putting a radio in something feels like a gimmick. The reason I own an iPod is so I can listen to my choice of music wherever I am, not someone else's. If I wanted a radio, I would get a $5 portable radio, not a digital music player, or use the one built into my mobile 'phone.
I don't know whether people like you are in the majority, or whether I am. Apple appears to believe the latter. Whether this is due to market research or Steve Jobs' opinion of radio, I can't tell you.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News