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A Hands-On Zune Review
jayintune writes "2old2play.com got the chance to sit down with Microsoft's new media player, the Zune, to give some comments and insight into the players User Interface, Video Playback, Music Sharing, as well as software and setup." From the article: "I had expected the player to be fairly heavy, but after holding the Zune in my hand it was clear that I was wrong. It is not as light as the latest video iPod, but compared to my fourth-generation iPod, the Zune was lighter. The top of the Zune had a clear glass layer while the exterior had a tactile feel to it, nothing like the hard metal and plastic of the iPod devices. The 'skin' of the Zune was a 'rubberized' material that had a smooth seductive feel to it. I found myself unable to stop stroking the device, so much that the demo assistant asked me to put it down."
Anyone who makes a statement like that in a review has obviously made their mind up about the device (they WILL love it) before they even saw it. Though I may be wrong, I cant read the article at work to see if he panned it or not.
I say this because I know that I will be stroking my Wii on Nov 19th. Dont try to hide your feelings from your readers if you are reviewing something, some people actually take reviews seriously.
Why does everyone talk about sharing music while you talk with some hot girl you met in a club/bar/wherever?
When I meet a girl in a bar, unless it was the starting subject, talk about music is usually scraping near the bottom of the conversation barrel.
Even if music is an important subject, what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
Maybe I'm just weird, but when I go somewhere to meet girls, I dont even bring my mp3 player.
Maybe I'm just weird, but when I go somewhere to meet girls, I dont even bring my mp3 player.
What is the most common vehicle for marketing? Even if it's far removed from reality... Come one, you know what it is.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Microsoft's traditional marketing isn't working well. Gee? What other ploys can Microsoft try?
Unfortunately, the mental bandwidth already belongs to iPod, it will be hard to dislodge them in favor of Zune.
They've got a big hurdle they'll have to clear, because anyone who already has an iPod and has purchased a considerable number of songs will not switch, because they'd have to buy the same songs again. No thanks. Zune will have to appeal to first time buyers and a lot of them will be asking the same question, "is it as good as an iPod?"
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
What is the matter with people? Can't they just learn the value of thinking or conversations with complete strangers on long journeys instead of having to be listening to music
What's the matter with people, can't we just go to work without some stranger harassing us in the bus?
iPod or no, walkman or not, I've never seen anyone in the bus or the subway start a conversation with a stranger who wasn't politely trying to end the conversation as fast as possible.
Besidses, some of us can listen to music AND think at the same time. Heck, I can even chew gum and walk on top of that!
You can't take the sky from me...
When I meet a girl in a bar, unless it was the starting subject, talk about music is usually scraping near the bottom of the conversation barrel.
I meet girls in coffeehouses, although I don't call them girls. I call them musicians. Music is almost always at the top of the barrel as a conversation subject.
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
See above. I'm not a music spectator. I'm a participant. Trading music is something musicians do, although this is often done through actual social interaction and not just "socially." It's sometimes called the aural tradition.
Even if music is an important subject, what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?
Not a chance in fucking hell. Guess I'll just have to get her email address, huh?
KFG
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
High school.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
You are absolutely right. The article is a crock.
The bullcrap about strocking the surface and melting reservations is so idiotic anybody with half a brain can see this jackass all he wants is brownie points with some effing provider for whatever his her bussiness is about.
All we care is weather the so called round button interface is simply enough to operate like you know what or is a stupid army-knife click-o-rama choke-full of features 4-way navigation pad where you have to memorize wich direction does what.
That's all.
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
I'll wait until my Zune automatically recieves audio and video ads from stores I enter. Nothing like walking into a Walmart to have my Zune download an add on it's own which then starts to play through my headphones. I can't wait.
because anyone who already has an iPod and has purchased a considerable number of songs will not switch, because they'd have to buy the same songs again.
Don't forget that the entertainment industry is BUILT on selling people the same crap over and over again... this might just work. "Oh but it sounds so much better on my Zune..."
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
And the iPod is pretty guldurn brainless, aint it? I mean there are some weird things about the interface and how it works with Window, but all in all ok. If Zune is even the slightest bit harder to use or the slightest bit less seamless then I'm afraid most people will abandon it. Even with the iPod all those PDA like functions - I know anyone who uses them, it's too hard to use. But the real iPod media functions are very simple. If I had to relearn a new UI one that was even a little bit clunkier then I would quickly go back to my iPod.
Not only that, but anyone who has purchased songs in Microsoft's PlaysForSure scheme have been FUCKED by Microsoft. It's incredible to me that there isn't a larger outcry in the press over this. Microsoft spent a couple of years badmouthing Apple's vertical model and praising their third-party licensing format, then suddenly turned around and abandoned it in favor of Apple's. If Apple released a new iPod with FairPlay 2.0 that didn't play any FairPlay 1.0 files, the torches and pitchforks would be out.
"Sufferin' succotash."
What's the big deal with cover art and screen savers on music players and phones? Do people honestly watch a screen saver for more than 5 seconds before sticking the gizmo in their pocket? Do people actually look at (or care about) cover art? I've always just picked a playlist, hit "play" and put the device back in my pocket. Cover art I view on my PC, but not the music player.
Same goes for all the hype around the interface? I found the best interface is to create a few playlists on the PC -- which has a real screen and a keyboard -- and move them over. Then, all I really do is pick a playlist which maybe takes 5 seconds in almost any interface. The only other controls I use are volume and stop.
Do people actually spend that much time fucking around with a music player? Isn't is supposed to like, play music? Or is it a form of entertainment unto itself?
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
MP3 is the only real "Plays For Sure" audio format.
cpeterso
2old2play is what happens to the shared song on the fourth day. Kind of an apt name.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
there's a small list of stores NOT using Fairplay... emusic, rapsody, iTMS, and audible.. pretty much every body else is windows "plays for sure". They've paid a lot of money to MS for licensing, and servers... and MS borked them all!
That sounds an awful lot like a monopoly. Refer yet again to the fact for some reason you see no problem with that when Apple does it, but if MS does they're the devil and should be sued to oblivion by the EU...
Like most Microsoft products they look really cool and fancy when you first get them and see what it can do. Then after a while it becomes more hassle. Apple tends to make a product with really a less of a Wow Factor alone (unless Steve Jobs is demoing it) But after you use it it gets more and more useful and you find there are so many more little things that are there just to make you life easier.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
slashdot will be cool again when you old haters die.
> reripping means you get big files that sound at least as good as the original iTMS store files
Uh... no. It would be correct to say that you'll get big files that sound *no worse* than the original iTunes files.
MP3 and all variants (except Apple lossless) are *lossy* formats. You reduce the file size by discarding information. Once discarded, that information is gone forever.
If you take a CD track (5 minute track = 50 MB) and rip it as an MP3 (5 minute track = ~5 MB), you have thrown away a lot of information and your MP3 file will not sound as good as the original. The differences are subtle but real.
Now, if you take that MP3 file and re-rip to AIFF, all you're doing is making a bigger file containing exactly the same compressed and truncated data that was contained in the MP3. You are not magically regaining all the fidelity and information that was lost in the initial conversion to MP3.
Conversion to a lossy format is a one-way street -- once you've gone there, you can't go back.
From http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/Advoca cy
So, what happens if you try to share an MP3 file? Does that get DRMed also? That would suck.
It might also be illegal. Many podcasts are under a Creative Commons license that specifically prohibits adding DRM to the file. This could get ugly.
Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
Except it doesn't play on most things..
This sig all sigs devours
Don't forget that the entertainment industry is BUILT on selling people the same crap over and over again...
True, but this is because of the habbits of the baby boomers were used to... There was no way for them to copy their vinyl to 8 track and then to CD.
Secondly, there style of music kind of died a while back and since they have no new artists to be on the lookout for so they have incentive to buy that "super enhanced remaster" version of the Beatles for the 32nd time.
Wheras the younger 80s/90s generation was used to buying CDs and then making mix tapes so they could play in their cars and then this whole MP3 things.
Being more ADD the younger generation tends to buy new music and only once because it isn't a big deal anymore like it was in the 60s and 70s... And keep in mind that younger generation person may never listen to that song ever again!
Not that I listen to Spice Girls anymore...
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
"Why does everyone talk about sharing music while you talk with some hot girl you met in a club/bar/wherever?"
Everyone isn't.
"...what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?"
If she's a hot girl you should be willing to buy her one. If not, some other guy will.
"Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?"
Everywhere.
"Maybe I'm just weird, but when I go somewhere to meet girls, I dont even bring my mp3 player."
No, you're not weird, but there may be times when you have your player that you meet a girl anyway. Besides, the feature isn't to help you get a date. It is more likely to be used with friends in general.