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Zune Team Getting Amnesty for iPod Use
MsManhattan writes "The Zune development team at Microsoft is apparently offering amnesty to employees who give up their iPods in favor of using the Zune MP3 player. An MSNBC employee has posted a photo on Flickr of the company's 'iPod Amnesty Bin,' which sports an image of a bitten green apple and the words 'Bite me.' Whether it's to be taken seriously or is a joke to boost employee morale is anyone's guess, and naturally no one at Microsoft was available for comment. From what can be seen in the photo, only a few early-model iPods have been deposited."
I saw the new ad by Microsoft (on American Idol, at least they're finally picking a demographic):
I asked my wife to view the ad (tivo), as I suspected the "uploading one song" (tune?, track?, can't remember) on one Zune screen, and the "downloading one song" on the screen of a Zune behind the first did not convey the "sharing" notion. Sure enough, when asked, she said "of course" she understood -- it was demonstrating how a Zune could upload and download music from the computer wirelessly (something I don't even think it really is capable of).
I explained what it really demonstrated, and she thought that was kind of cool, but I told her she'd have to
- encounter a fellow Zuner within fifty feet of her (unlikely)
- could only play the shared tune 3 times OR
- within 3 days, whichever came first
- live with drm encumbered music
All of which she says (said) "ewwwwww!" to, and not in a good way. Zune is hardly a product that lights a fire under any consumers' desires.So, according to a manager at Redmond, there are ~16,000 iPods at MS-HQ. From looking at that bin, they've managed to get about 0.1% of those people to "upgrade" to a zune...
I especially love the employee who gained brownie-points by putting something (anything!) in the ipod-bin, even if it was only an iPod *cover* [huge grin]. I wonder if Steve (that's Balmer, in case of confusion) was watching him walk on by, and he thought he had to put *something* in...
If MS can only get 0.1% of their *own* people to switch, they ain't gonna make it too big in the far more neutral marketplace...
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
General Motors is granting amnesty to all employees who trade in their Acura TL for a Chevy Malibu.
Also, Nokia is granting amnesty to all employees who trade in their Nintendo DS for an N-Gage.
Interestingly, there has been an increase in the number of Acura TLs driven by GM lower management...
I like basketball!!1!
Those early model iPods weren't put there by real employees giving up iPods. It's like a tip jar. You always start it out with a little in there to give people the idea.
Disclaimer: I own neither an iPod nor a Zune. I have an off brand music player.
Remember RFC 873!
Isn't this a bit like trading in your mercedes for a cavalier and the ability to hear your friends tales of where he has been with his cavalier? Doesn't sound like a very good deal to me.
Then, she might have liked it. The great unwashed masses just might buy it - not that I'm commenting on your wife's personal hygiene. :)
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
I'm missing something here. Why would anyone deposit a few hundred dollars worth of hardware into essentially a trash bin for the sake of an anonymous show of company loyalty?
....DOA or broken. Otherwise, the bin would have been pilfered.
Camping on quad since 1996.
I would think that the Zune team should be working on making a better mp3 player instead of trying to guilt trip MS employees into giving up their iPods.
Heck, it should be mandatory for every single employee on the Zune team to have an iPod just so they know what the best in breed mp3 player looks like.
Maybe if Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and others actually asked their employees what they like about the iPod and why they don't own a Zune then they would learn something.
But instead they are too arrogant to realise their product isn't good enough.
None of these devices interest me anymore. I used to own a 30gb iPod video.
The screen died after two months. The backlight wouldn't turn on anymore.
Instead of getting a new iPod (ebay to me: gg) I recently purchased an HTC Hermes (Cingular 8525) for slightly more than the cost of a new iPod.
It's serves as my:
-Mp3 player (I have 8gb of storage and I'm telling you, when I pick the songs I really want, instead of the thousands I don't care about at all, I have PLENTY of storage)
-Digital camera for everyday use (if I want greater than 1600x1200 I use my Canon, usually 1600x1200 is plenty)
-Cell phone
-PDA running windows mobile; it synchronizes all my appointments and reminds me in advance of upcoming birthdays/holidays
-Instant Messenger and e-mail (has built-in WiFI G)
I got all that for trading the storage space for movies on a 2.5" screen and music that I am constantly hitting next to get to a better song.
Please tell me, for pure mp3 players/storage devices, where's the appeal now?
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
I really do feel bad for the Devs working on the zune. It must be tough to have the skills, the money, and the facilities to create something really really truly cool....but be held back by the fact that you "cool new toy" won't be allowed by upper management for fear of lawsuit. I mean, imagine if the zune didn't have the DRM built into the wireless song swap feature....that is just really really damn cool! I mean, imagine sitting in your cube, and talking to that cute girl across the row about some song that she should just oh so totally have, and then being able to just go "HERE!" and give it to her!! I would imagine that if the zune caught on, some cool linux dev would probably make a "zune server" or something like that, similar to the mt-daapd projectf (to make iTunes think that your linux box is sharing a song library with it), but for the wireless functionality of the zune.
THAT would be freaking cool.
FYI..i don't work for microsoft...i know that sounded like an ad for the zune or something...I own an iPod in fact. I'm just saying, keep in mind that the engineers I'm sure are working on this device aren't evil RIAA lawyers, they're geeks. It must just really really really suck to not be able to put all the cool features i'm sure you would want into a project that you're working on...
NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
That the few iPods in the bin were purchased on E-bay and planted in the box. After all, an empty box would be an embarrassment by itself, and MS has a track record of manufacturing its own fans.
A housemate of mine owns a Zune, and having used it once or twice on occasion (I wanted to get a look at the competition), I can safely say the iPod has nothing to fear. You're right that the Zune has a very nice UI, attractive and easy to use...but other than that, it has no outstanding factors that would make anyone prefer it to an iPod (or other DAP). It's not very attractive (brown?), somewhat bulkier than an iPod, and the software that's used to move music to the player is hit-or-miss. As was mentioned a couple of posts earlier, if the song-sharing function didn't have DRM, it'd certainly give the Zune the foothold it needs to stand out in the market. As it is, what's so special about it, exactly?
Look at them! They're all the current generation, and the backs of them still look quite shiney. Brand new iPods, probably purchased for filler, like the tip jar of a worthless cashier having a few dollar bills in it.
Dekker Dreyer
> The screen died after two months.
> The backlight wouldn't turn on anymore.
What about the warranty? Didn't Apple honor it? You should have at least had Apple fix the iPod under warranty so you could sell it on eBay. The semi-recent iPod Video models fetch a good amount of money on eBay!
Heck, I'll take your dead iPod if you don't want it.
So you're the one who bought the Zune!
Same resolution though. That just means you need to hold the Zune a little further away...
Yes the Zune has its own software, but thats no diffrent than itunes being seperate from quicktime.
Very different actually. Quicktime is a component of iTunes. Not the same relationship between the Zune software and WMP.
Apple is more evil than MS.
Opionion stated as fact.
If you look at anything that apple sells, you could easily find the same thing made by another company at leat 1/3 less cost.
1/3 is a bit of an exageration. (The Zune is not 1/3 the cost.) Often times Apple may be a bit more expensive, but its the user experience that comes with their products that people like.
I' not trying to rain on your parade, just point out some things you're missing.
"Most of the people [working on] Zune would want to have an iPod to keep track of the competition,"
That's right, how can you copy your competitor if you don't have any of their products on hand? Oops, did I say "copy"? I meant "compete with".. my bad..
plug their dirty headphones in your ear?
just plug your headphones into their ipod.
What's the matter, you don't have your mp3 player with you? Well then, you wouldn't be able to share with the zune either.
After the Zune was released, I decided to go counting how many people would actually buy it. My target was where my internship was: New York. This would be a fairly easy time killer; many New York commuters have some sort of MP3 player, so it shouldn't be too hard to at least get a raw estimate and ballpark a real-world value from there.
Since it's release, I only counted TWO people who had a Zune. TWO. Out of the HUNDREDS of people that I have seen while commuting every weekday to work, and out of the HUNDREDS of iPods (various generations) I have seen on those commuters, I have only seen TWO people carry a Zune. Furthermore, I have yet to really see a Zune make Page 1 of your advertisements. It's usually pretty deeply hidden, unlike its competitor.
Another interesting place to confirm this is eBay. If I had to ballpark a value for the average price of a Zune there, I would have to say it was somewhere around the upper $210-lower $220 range. Check here. However, the average price of iPods is noticeably higher. Check here.
In short, I think that this iDumpster, while it might surface as a joke, is just to remind the Zune developers that they have quite a bit of work to do before they even expect to see people actually flocking to this device. This is just my honest opinion.
There are many freeware options to manage files on an iPod, just check versiontracker.com. However, iTunes is the simplest solution. That doesn't mean you have to use only DRMed songs from the iTunes Store, however. You can use any mp3, aac, etc. Additionally it will convert windows media files on import.
Sweet! so tell me wher eI can get a ZUNE adapter for my car stereo or my Houses whole house audio system
Both of those plug into my Ipod and control+charge it. (no a FM modulator or a headphone in does not cut it. I like the complete control as well as playlist control from the head-unit or the LCD touch panel in my wall.
NOTHING like that exists for the Zune and therefore makes it a complete turd for me.
Ipod integrates with all audio systems seamlessly because they opened it up (and added a RS232 control port on the plug for complete control.) The Zune is designed to NOT integrate.
Tell me again how great the zune is.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
... was this interesting bin: http://flickr.com/photos/tarkwyn/513911705/
Tarkwyn.
I don't understand why so many people are bashing the Zune. I love mine! It is the perfect size to shim up an old table I have in the den with a short leg.
How ya like dat?