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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."
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
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
High school.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
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.
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.