December
Okay--I'm a Mac guy, and I bought a Zune
Monday, December 11, 2006 11:37 AM (permalink)
I wanted to get a portable video player for my frequent flying, so I did a considerable amount of research and finally settled on Microsoft's Zune, despite all the rabid anti-Microsoft fervor with all the Digg-y kids out there. Now, I am as dyed-in-the-wool a Mac user as they come, as evidenced by the fact that I am writing this in Tinderbox, which (for now!) is as Mac-centric as they come. In fact, I am an outright inconvenience to the rest of my office back in NJ, who are all on a PC network and require the PC for some of our more esoteric research apps. Still, I 'cope' and do quite nicely with my MacBook Pro, Parallels, and (where necessary) Boot Camp.
But. I bought a Zune. I have a first generation iPod, so I am no luddite. Guess what, Mac fanboys, the Zune is actually pretty good. True, I have to use Boot Camp to get my Mac to recognize it (Parallels won't--yet) but in my case this is not a hardship since I already had to use Bootcamp for a couple of work apps. Frankly, despite the '5.5' appellation given to the latest iteration of iPod Video players, the '1.0' Zune has a number of compelling features that simply beat out the iPod. Here are my top 5:
1. The Screen--the "iPod Video" is no video player. It's the same screen the music iPod uses--but the tiny size is no "feature," it is an inconvenience. I ripped the complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Widescreen) to my Zune yesterday--try even watching a widescreen-aspect video on the current iPod video. Ow, my eyes.
2. The Radio. Why doesn't the iPod have a radio? I know I can pay even more money and get the Radio Remote, but the Zune ships with a pretty great FM radio interface, complete with RDS.
3. Zune Pass. iTunes music store has no subscription music option. Zune does. Pretty big benefit, as far as i am concerned.
4. Interface. This one, I grant, is a matter of opinion, but the Zune Interface is nice and clean, easy to use, and makes great use of the increased vertical real estate on the Zune. Besides, that scroll wheel on the iPod felt like cracking a safe with my massive music collection. I don't miss the scroll wheel at all.
5. The casing. Why, at version 5.5, does the iPod still scratch with a sneeze? This is one that much-maligned market researchers like myself could have helped to fix at version 2. You NEED cases and screen protectors with iPods, because they scratch so easily. Can't scratch the Zune, which tells me that they read all the iPod users' feedback, even if Apple didn't.
Apples to apples (no pun intended), the Zune is just a better value. Priced exactly the same as the iPod video with the same amount of hard drive space (30 Gigs), it just has more to offer. Note that I didn't even mention the Wireless functionality yet--which, admittedly, holds little use for me now, but perhaps in the future (even with a hack) I could grab my tunes off my wireless network. Doesn't exist now, but could, at least. Couldn't, with the iPod.
The biggest complaints I have heard about the Zune could easily be applied to the iPod--the draconian DRM, for one. How is the Zune's any worse than the iTunes "7-strikes" model? And the wireless feature is getting slammed by lots of pro-mac press. At least they tried! C'mon, Apple--respond with something cooler, and I will buy it.
Again, I am as big an Apple fanboy as they come. The Zune, however, is a welcome entrant--Apple has let the iPod stagnate over the years, as far as I am concered. Maybe the increased functionality of the Zune will convince Apple's product engineers that the public is ready for more robust .MP3 players.
Sam Turns Two
Saturday, November 4, 2006 12:00 AM (permalink)
Hilarity ensues.
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