Zune: sex & war & rock'n'roll (and BOOM!)

Welcome to the... IT Blogwatch, in which we wonder about the Zune. Not to mention the Jobs' favorite word ("Boom," in case you were wondering)...

David Haskin has crystal balls:

I just spent a couple of days reviewing Microsoft's Zune. It's a competent media player with some nice features, but the real Zune story is bigger than the device itself. To me, the real story is about business models. That may sound boring, but it will have a big impact on how we get our music in the future.

Microsoft clearly understands that Apple's real success isn't just from iPod sales but, rather, the combined sales of iPod devices and music from the iTunes music store. This system is sometimes called an ecosystem because sales of the device are dependent on sales of the tunes, and vice versa.

While subscription services are -- to me -- an excellent idea, they have not become popular ... Since iPod and iTunes have somewhere between a 70 percent and 80 percent market share, not many people are likely to switch -- it just doesn't make economic sense ... In order to enjoy the benefits, I put up with wretched, unstable software.  And sometimes, the DRM software itself is balky and frustrating to use.
...
What this means is that the competition is honing in ... They have a long, long way to go to catch Apple, but this might be a start.

Martin McKeay adds:

You know what, between insane DRM issues , a poor-to-middlin interface and software that sucks, I don't see any reason that I'd even think about buying a Zune.  The buzz on the blogosphere is almost universally negative and gives me no confidence that the Zune will make it until the middle of next year, let alone be an iPod killer.

Maybe I'm reading too much into the blogosphere and when average joes get their hands on the Zune, they'll love it.  At least until they go to install the software and start buying music, that is.

Cyrus Farivar is apologetic:

We don't mean to harp on the Zune for its faults time and time again, but we do it out of love for high-quality gadgets. That said, we'll be happy to give Microsoft some points this time; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has just told Bloomberg that the company will be adding video sharing to the media player newcomer -- though no time frame was given. Further, he reiterated what we already knew, namely that the Zune will be combined with a cellphone at some point in the future as well.

And his colleague Peter Rojas wonders when the Wi-Fi will be useful:

Listen up, Zunesters (someone out there did buy a Zune today, right?), we've got a job for you: bookmark this page, because we want to hear about the first time your Zune gets freaky with someone else's Zune. And we mean in the wild, too, like when you're out in public. Microsoft is really big on introducing all of us to "the social" with this thing, but remember that Metcalfe's Law cuts both ways and without other Zune users around the WiFi in the device is pretty much useless. Which is why we're dying to know how long it takes the average Zune user to actually get, uh, "social" with his or her new player -- will it be weeks, or even months, before you run into someone else with one? However it happens we want all the tawdry details of your Zune's promiscuity; maybe you can even tell us about the people you met in the process.

Speaking of promiscuity, Faruk AteÅŸ has a dirty mind:

One person reported a crashing installation sequence of the Zune software, and added various screenshots of the install routine. The crash screen itself is, well, questionable at best — in terrible taste at worst ... Are we meant to think of this girl as singing along excitedly to a song that's being played on loud speakers as she's clearly not carrying a Zune and has no earbuds in? Maybe. Is this girl in excruciating pain, perhaps someone is jabbing her with a pitchfork or some terrible music is playing and the girl is about to raise her hands to cover her ears? Probably not.
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One must wonder what parents will think ... Personally, I don't need to be confronted with weird, suggestive pictures while I'm setting up the supporting software of a digital audio player ... What is it with Microsoft and having poor taste? This isn't just a small "oops, guess we messed up" mistake, and in all likeliness, it's a conscious decision even. They are trying far too hard, apparently hoping to link the Zune with the image of [OK, that's enough sex -Ed.]

Brian Lam has a dirty video:

Here's a video of the Zune's UI to go along with our massive gallery, review, and all the other coverage. The thing is pretty straightforward. The problem I have with using it is that I keep using the 5 way pad (up, down, left, right, select) as an iPod wheel. Apple habits, and fanboys, die hard.

Siddiq Bello offers "10 Reasons Zune will Flop." Here are three:

How many of your friends have a Zune? How many are likely to buy a Zune? How many strangers you pass on the street have a Zune? Exactly, in order for the sharing feature to be worth anything lots of people need to have a Zune and in order for lots of people to have a Zune its main feature would have to be worth something. Chicken or egg, you choose.
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Let's say you're in the store comparing two products with the same sticker price; on one hand you have a 5th generation Apple product that is a pop culture icon and on the other you have a first generation Microsoft product thats heavier, with a shorter battery life, a weird name and draconian DRM limitations. Which would you buy?
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Zune marketplace tunes are inexplicably priced at 79 points. So how many songs does that get me? Lets see $5 gets me 400 points, which if I divide by 79 I get… a headache.

Joe Wilcox declares war:

Interesting that on the same day Microsoft touts renewed enterprise interoperability commitment, the company releases a music player that is incompatible with most of its other digital entertainment software, such as WMP and Windows XP Media Center Edition ... The IT headache will come when some executive finds that the music he or she bought from the kid's Zune Marketplace account won't play on his or her Windows Mobile smartphone.
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Zune is going to war because iTunes and iPod control a critical entertainment endpoint into the home. Apple's Fairplay-AAC format is not compatible with WMP, Windows Media devices or Windows Media Center. Why then should Microsoft create another bundle--music player, store and music format--that is incompatible with its own products?

But Jason Chen spotted an interesting angle:

When we last left off, the consensus was that Microsoft was still planning on rewarding song sharing with the Zune. Now we've got pretty much confirmation—unofficial, that is—that Microsoft is planning this feature. At a conference in Seattle this past Saturday, both J Allard and Christina Calio, both from the Zune team, talked about implementing such a system. The Zune team plans to reward people with Microsoft Marketplace Points, the same points you use on both Zune Marketplace and Xbox 360 Marketplace.

A reader commented last time that this looks very similar to Weedshare, and it seems like Microsoft seems intent on cloning Weedshare for their own song sharing and rewarding functionality.

Buffer overflow:

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Previously in IT Blogwatch

• Java is free, as in GPL (and feline noun verbage)
• Nasty Wi-Fi 'sploit from MoKB (and golf POV aid)
• Zune spoons UMG goons (and the Joe Board)
• Skype brandishes better beta (and mad ninja pirate)
• E-voting stories rounded up (and palindromes)
• Older posts

And finally... Steve Jobs' favorite word [hat tip: Boing Boing]

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richij.com. See my tailor, he's called Simon. I know it's going to fit.