So, the holiday season is coming.
And you know what that means: getting your hands on stuff you don't really need and buying things for people that really don't want what you're giving them. So, I'll try to pick some goodies, and write something about them, so you can make up your mind and know a little bit more about them.
Not so long ago, it seemed like there would not be anyone to steal any thunder from the iPod. Mainly because most competing digital music players on the market were, in few words, crap.
Then some manufacturers started delivering some good devices, like Panasonic, RCA, Creative Labs, and even the "it-came-from-the-grave" Sony MiniDisc technology. But quite frankly, none could match the iPod sexyness (or it's awesome features, simplicity and, oh yeah... iTunes Music Store' attached value to purchase music online).
And now it seems like there is a new player in the court: welcome Microsoft's Zune.
I like the fact that MS is entering this arena, yet we know that MS first attempts at something are usually quite awful. But first things first: The Zune is a music, video and photo player... and it's backed with an online store... meant to be easy to use... (so far, nothing different from the iPod). Where the two players start to diverge is here: the Zunes has some wireless capabilities, so you can send a song sample to your friend's Zune and if he likes it, he can buy it from the Zune Marketplace.
We all know that wireless capabilites are the next killer feature of music players, and really, Zune did not got it right. You cannot connect to a WiFi network and buy music online... you cannot pass along the full song file... it seems very limited to me. Plus, I think that until this is a popular gadget, you'll feel like the first guy with a telephone... with no one to call.
And things don't get better on the PC side (of course don't even dream about getting one of these if you happen to have a Mac or Linux machine). To begin with, you cannot use Windows Media Player to synchronize your device to your music library, you have to use the software provided with Zune... kinda like a Windows Media Player lite.
Regarding how you get your music... seems like the Zune Marketplace will allow unlimited downloads for a monthly fee. This scheme was already tried by the Yahoo! Music store, and it miserably failed. Yeah, it figures... you could listen to your songs for as long as you were subscribed, so you actually did not own them (who the hell rents a CD?), and there were a ton of limitations to the way you could use that music on different portable players, different pc's and so on.
You can also get "Microsoft points" to individually download songs. Songs you actually own from then on.. right? weeeeell... we'll see about that. I think this will work out just like the iTunes Store. Even the price per song is similar.
But hey, not everything is wrong about the Zune: It is cool to look at, since the screen is a bit larger than the iPod's, (though with the same definition). Operation is fairly easy, it even has a "pseudo-clic wheel"... that is no wheel at all, it's just a round soft thingy with buttons underneath.
To sum up, I think Microsoft will take two or three generations to get a competitive music player that can be as good as the iPod. Considering this is attempt n.1, it's fairly ok.
No comments:
Post a Comment