Second Time 'Round - the Zune Flash In-Depth

J Mallard writes "Ars Technica has an in-depth review of the new Zune Flash. The overall verdict? An improvement over the original, with some caveats. 'I suspect there's a special shotgun in Redmond passed around ceremonially to the different divisions so each can shoot itself in the foot. When the shotgun arrived at the Zune team HQ, it appears to have been directed squarely at one of the most promising new features the device has to offer: autosyncing of recorded TV content ... [Specifically,] DVR-MS support for unprotected standard definition TV recordings from Windows Media Center. HDTV and protected recordings are not supported.' Let me make sure I understand this: at this point, a consumer has purchased a PC, Vista, a tuner card, and a Zune, but still can't be trusted with high-def content? Nice.'"

Comments

The Microsoft Production Model

[explosivejared]

Only recently has the company admitted what was clear from the outset: the first Zune was rushed to market (it was a "sprint cycle," in Microsoft terms), and "compromises" were made in order to make that happen.

Translation: Release it. Fix it in SP1

Re:Look

[fred fleenblat]

I would argue with you, but I am very busy right now. I am drinking a Zima while programming with some Zend tools. My Zune is rocking to the musical stylings of Zappa. I store my zinc in a zip-loc bag right next to my Zip drive, which contains a Zero Mostel mpeg. I do not use Zone Alarm. I drive a MBW Z3. I had some zucchini at the zoo. Any zircons? Zilch. I ran out of money yesterday so I robbed a zombie and hijacked a zephyr. I got my shoes at Zappos.com. But and between zeus and zygotes, I've had enough zeitgeist.

Re:Look

[morgan_greywolf]

Why not name it Monkey nipple? I think that the name "Monkey nipple" was already taken by some component of Gnome.

Re:I think this is what is most bothersomeLUCY&

[Nom du Keyboard]

I've often referred to the Charlie Brown - Lucy tension as the perfect metaphor... Lucy promises to placehold the football so Charlie can kick it. He falls for it every time and she never fails to pull it away at the last second (I keep hoping there's one strip where she doesn't pull it away, but I never saw it.... anyone?). We, the public are Microsoft's Charlie Brown. Sigh.

I had long hoped to speak to Charles Schultz about this very item. It was my fond hope that in the very last Peanuts strip that Lucy wouldn't pull the ball away, and Charlie Brown finally kicks it...

...right into the Kite Eating Tree.

Re:Look

[Sciros]

If it came with 7 strippers and a dwarf I'd buy seven. It would not fail. It would be awesome. If it were named Monkey Nipple and came with 7 strippers and a dwarf it would make Ballmer the ruler of the planet, Darkseid-style.

Re:Look

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoever the fuck mod'd me troll is a moron. Nope. STFU you boob.

Re:Look

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

No worse than iPod.

I hate to sound like an apple fanboy (I'm not, trust me - I don't even own an iPod), but I disagree. iPod has an elegance about it. It's like a pod that you can put your music in, and... er... it's "i" is for intelligent, or something. And the name matches the undeniably stylish looks.

Zune just makes me think of a cat throwing up.

Re:All software has bugs and/or design faux-pas...

[Toonol]

Better harmonics and a warmer picture! It doesn't have the harsh, digital flavor of NTSC resolutions.

Re:Look

[mcspoo]

There is no iPod, only Zune?

Re:Look

[keithius]

Move Zig?