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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.'"
That idea is sorely underrepresented in a lot of discussions about "media content". Even ignoring the ad breaks in TV shows, there's still product placement within the shows. If you haven't seen it yet, either you don't watch TV or you haven't been paying close enough attention.
When you really evaluate what's going on in media companies, it's clear that even a lot of content that you pay for is still designed to serve as advertising. The music and movies you buy are rigged and designed to get you to buy into related brands and merchandizing. Listen to a record executive for a few minutes, and you'll realize that what they're really interested in is branding, marketing, merchandizing. The music is an advertisement for lifestyle products, clothing lines, etc.
So the business model, under this light, is the consumer as a customer. The content owners/producers are providing a service, but you aren't the customer, you're the product. The customer are the huge companies who produce loads of crap that no one really wants or needs. The service being provided is to convince you (essentially the product) into believing that you want and need crap that you don't actually want or need.
The old one is now a great bargain. I have the old 30gb model, I won it at a charity auction. I always liked the thing, but with the new firmware and software it's really nice. I've seen them for $85 online with free shipping (in the U.S.) Not bad for a 30gb player with wireless and video!