Zune is better than iPod for some and getting better
So we’re three weeks after the initial launch of Zune and it’s safe to say it isn’t yet an "iPod killer", but it’s not the flop that many are predicting. Matt Miller has used his Zune for three weeks and shares his observations as well as some of the hacks and mods that folks are already using to extend their Zune. Matt also provides a very compelling reason why the Zune dropped from second to fifth in sales during the last week.
I’d agree with most by saying the integrated WiFi is crippled at best: to this point, I haven’t even turned on my WiFi radio in the Zune simply because I haven’t seen any other Zunes in the wild and I get an extra hour of battery life. However, the fact that WiFi is there in a firmware upgradable device shows promise. Zune 1.0 might not yet be the raging success that Microsoft wanted. Then again, maybe they sold Zune 1.0 so you could later own Zune 2.0 in the same physical device.
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Incredulously Kevin C. Tofel wrote: “Then again, maybe they sold Zune 1.0 so you could later own Zune 2.0 in the same physical device.”
Ok, so I nearly spat my coffee over my laptop screen when reading this and I do hope your tongue was placed firmly in cheek when typing it!
Gadget manufacturers offering substantial device upgrades… good one that ;)
There is no “guarantee” in software upgrades, but one would hope so. Microsoft failed with Portable Media Centers in issuing updates to 2.0. It could also have been a licensing and support issue with the manufacturers, where the original manufacturers seem to no longer manufacture them any more or give support for them either. The same was true for Pocket PCs. Manufacturers would rather you purchase a new one, rather than upgrade your existing one. iPods seem to follow the same path with short battery life (around a year or two depending on charge and usage) and non-user friendly battery replacements, but have been pretty good about software updates. They haven’t been wrong in selling and marketing practices and people will upgrade to get the latest and greatest and sell their old one eBay or just upgrade rather than send it into get a battery replaced. Its a model that has worked for Apple, but not Play for Sure Devices.
Hypothetically, Microsoft’s strength is in the software. If they’re losing on the hardware, wouldn’t it be a better strategy to roll out less hardware and focus on using the software upgrades to improve the experience incrementally (and more rapidly)? You see all these device “ecosystems” – the ipod, the psp, the xbox, maybe the zune – and you see thriving userbases that are moding, unlocking, enhancing, (breaking the dmca,) etc. and at the same time you see corporations that can’t help but try to crush them instead of codeveloping with them.
Microsoft has a real chance here to go in a new direction with respect to its userbase and product development.
No matter what kind of numbers they get in sales, Microsoft won’t leave this market. It’s a strategic move more than anything and their interest I think is primarily to disallow Apple to take excessive profits from the market for PMPs. Look at the deal with Universal. It sets a precedent that, while absurd on its face, is essentially an incumbent tax.
Sorry dude but I really dislike the product. It was an un-ambitious marketing campaign to start with. Aside from the thing lacking the coolness of other MP3 players on the market, it is also big and behind the times ascetically. It almost looks like a generic product. Aside from that, Microsoft failed to realize that Mac sales are way up and expected to climb. With the cost of OS X at around $130 and Windows expected to be $300 + next year, it would have made good business sense for them to make the unit compatible with Apple and/or Linux. Apple made the iPod easy to use and compatible with everything. The Zune is good but I think it’s the knife at a gunfight.