The Zune Cometh

Well, except for those hiding under a mountain of used iPod batteries, it's fairly well known that the Zune iPod-wannabe killer is coming out Monday/Tuesday. There's a piece in the NYTimes about counting on the wireless part of the Zune to take down the iPod as well as some interviews with people involved in the creation. But OTOH, RoughlyDrafted (which has had a series of pieces about the Zune) points out some issues with the DRM systems, and forecasts a number of issues — and also calls out what they called a "Digg Fraud Campaign". But soon — the market decides.

Comments

Re:The War of the News & Products

[TomHandy]

There's a pretty big flaw in this comparison though. The TV ads you talked about do not have their origins hidden, etc. They are clearly television ads, it is clearly identified who paid for the ad (Apple), and anyone who sees it can clearly tell it is a standard paid for ad.

Now, stuff like this digg thing, is pretty different. Setting up anonymous blogs, etc. to give the impression that the story is independent and not coming from the company paying for it and doing the marketing is something different. Same thing with slashvertisements.

Not necessarily saying anything is better or worse, but I think there's a pretty big distinction to be made between things that are clearly identified as advertisements, and things that are not clearly identified as advertisements in order to give the impression that they are something else.

But what about the battery?

[Channard]

There's no still reason on whether or not the battery is removable. My number one reason for buying an MP3 player other than an iPod was that the iPod's battery can't easily be removed - in fact, the Nano's is even soldered in, so levering it out isn't an option.

Re:But what about the battery?

[Grishnakh]

This is silly. iPod batteries are replaceable. Here's a that sells batteries from the highly-rated Newer Technology. The high-capacity replacement for the iPod Photo is only $30. They aren't soldered in, either; they have a simple connector on them. All you have to do is open the case using the supplied plastic tool and follow the included instructions.

For something that only needs to be done every couple years or so, this really isn't a big deal.

Re:Not a big intro

[RAMMS EIN]

``It was also interesting to see that the Microsoft name was no where to be found.''

Perhaps they figured that saying it's from Microsoft is not a way to promote your product to their target audience.

Re:The War of the News & Products

[aitikin]

You know what is also funny? It's easy to say good things about a large company because they have a lot of resources and can accomplish a lot for the consumer. Stand back, I'm about to say something that will ensure this post hits rock bottom on the karma: Microsoft has done good things for computing. And you know what? So has Apple. I've used products of both of them to varying levels of success in my past--and that in and of itself is something.

This goes back to simple capitalistic theory, with competition being good for the consumer. Two major corporations in control of the vast majority of the market, fighting to make the better product.

This is an unusual viewpoint here on slashdot, but honestly, so long as they stick to bettering each other through competition rather than belittling each other, I'm all for it. When one company decides to launch whole hearted smear campaigns rather than improve their product, or, even worse, decides it's more cost effective to buy out the competition, that's where I get worried, and in honesty, most major corporations have done one, if not both.

...and it has shitty marketing!

[dr.badass]

If you look at the first run of commercials-- which you will undoubtedly be seeing every time you turn on the TV--you've got to wonder just what the hell Microsoft is thinking.

These ads show people out in public, at parties and concerts, with friends; there's talking, laughing, dancing; a DJ or a band playing music. And somehow you're supposed to make the connection that these are the perfect places to put on your headphones and listen to your own music.

"Wow, I'm glad I paid $20 for a ticket to this concert with all of these people! Now I'm going to listen to my $250 Zune by myself! Welcome to the Social."

Re:Not a big intro

[Archibald Buttle]

Microsoft also did not push themselves with the original XBox launch. There was no Microsoft branding to be found there - their logo isn't on the console. They are trying to create a new brand with Zune, not making use of their existing brand, much as they did with the XBox.

Maybe they feel it unwise to make use of the Microsoft brand for these products.

Re:The War of the News & Products

[Golias]

Alright, since theres nothing about those ads that are misleading, please explain to me: - Why they mention that PC's get viruses and Mac's don't (ever)

Because PC's do, and Macs don't.

I've been running an entire network of unsecured Macs 24/7 connected to my DSL connection for years with no anti-virus software. Not one infection.

On the other hand, in a one-year span, I had a RedHat Linux box and a Windows game machine that were pwned once each.

Why they claim Mac's are "just better" at doing graphics work

Ask somebody in the graphic printing business. I don't really know everything about it, but the professionals swear by Macs.

Why they claim that your average PC lock up every few seconds and needs rebooting

An amusing exaggeration. It wouldn't have gotten so many laughs if it wasn't rather close to the experience many people had with Windows.

If you honestly believe any of these things then you are behind your reality distortion field.

Call it what you like, but working virus-free on computers that don't get in the way of my creative work and run more reliably than Windows is a nice "field" to be standing in. You should try it sometime.