15 Sep 2006 2222H

On Zune. Or Whatever.

According to PC World’s Harry McCracken, Microsoft’s Zune has been revealed. But there is a caveat.

Will Zune work? To me, this is in some ways the bottom line. I’ve tried a bunch of services and devicess that use various Microsoft music technologies, and their track record for simply working well enough that I can listen to music I’ve paid for is crummy. And I’m not the only one who’s struggled with them. In other words, Microsoft’s DRM still feels more like an obstacle than an enabler. I’m curious to see if Zune makes music enjoyment seamless. Which is one of the key things that the iPod does so well.

Like I said, it’s impossible to avoid comparing the Zune to the iPod…

Like many a Microsoft product before it, Zune sounds attractive in theory. But as with many of those past Microsoft products, it’s not a given that Microsoft’s execution lives up to the concept. Zune comes from the folks behind the xBox 360, which is certainly one of Microsoft’s most successful and successfully innovative products beyond the world of Windows and the PC, so there’s reason for hope, at least.

Frankly, a company that puts out consumer electronic products with as bad quality control as Microsoft can’t really be relied upon to put out a good music player. Let’s look at the three bad experiences that I and another friend have had with the Xbox and most recently, the Xbox 360. Two bad Xbox 360s, right out of the box. What are the odds. And my old original Xbox came down with a bad drive that worsened over time. Thank god I traded it in for a PS2 before it went bad completely. And you know something, Xbox religious freaks? Never had a problem with my PS2. No bad drive, no bad memory cards, I got two years of good use out of the thing and I traded it in.

I just flashed the iPod OS to v1.2 and I have to say this is a marked and long-awaited upgrade to the system. First of all, backlight brightness control. Improved scrolling by alphabetical index. A myriad of new features. I like it!

Permanent link to On Zune. Or Whatever.

Filed under Design, Technology

Be the first to respondto "On Zune. Or Whatever."

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

No responses yet.

No further responses are being solicited at this time.