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iPod Is The iPod In Trouble??? (Microsft Zune)

iLounge said:
Mossberg, Pogue unimpressed by Microsoft Zune

The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and The New York Times’ David Pogue, two of the most well known and widely read tech columnists, both give less than stellar marks to Microsoft’s Zune media player in their reviews of the device today. While both writers give the Zune credit for a handful of features—with Pogue even calling the device “excellent” at one point—they both offer up fairly damaging final reviews.

“This first Zune has too many compromises and missing features to be as good a choice as the iPod for most users,” Mossberg writes. “The hardware feels rushed and incomplete. It is 60% larger and 17% heavier than the comparable iPod. It has much worse battery life for music than the iPod or than Microsoft claims—at least two hours less than the iPod’s, in my tests. Despite the larger screen, many album covers look worse than they do on the iPod. And you can’t share music libraries between computers like you can with iTunes… Overall, the iPod and iTunes are still the champs. Still, I expect the Zune to attract some converts and to get better with time. And this kind of competition from a big company with deep pockets and lots of talent is good for consumers in the long run.”

“Competition is good and all. But what, exactly, is the point of the Zune?” asks Pogue. “It seems like an awful lot of duplication—in a bigger, heavier form with fewer features—just to indulge Microsoft’s ‘we want some o’ that’ envy. Wireless sharing is the one big new idea—and if the public seems to respond, Apple could always add that to the iPod… The Zune 1.0 player is pretty barren, too. It doesn’t have a single standard iPod amenity: no games, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, password-protected volume limiter, equalizer, calendar, address book or notes module. Incredibly, you can’t even use the Zune as an external hard drive, as you can with just about every other player on earth.”
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I think that speaks for itself. :rolleyes:
 
No, the iPod isn't in trouble. Microsoft thinks that the Zune will be able to claim a large amount of marketshare, but it won't. People trust the iPod. People will not go to another player if it doesn't work anywhere near as well as the iPod, and the Zune won't.
 
Warbrain said:
No, the iPod isn't in trouble. Microsoft thinks that the Zune will be able to claim a large amount of marketshare, but it won't. People trust the iPod. People will not go to another player if it doesn't work anywhere near as well as the iPod, and the Zune won't.
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zune_buy1.jpg


Engadget
 
I really think people need to stop thinking about this in terms of Zune killing the iPod. it's like for most of you, no other device can coexist in the presence of the iPod's greatness.

I think apple dropped the ball in not getting a true new high capacity device out for the holidays. They're not offering us anything new, at all. At least the Zune offers something untried and a little unique.

Also, for some reason a bunch of people don't know this, but Microsoft does not stand to benefit if they kill off the zune. They stand to make the most profit by winning over new consumers and trying to leave current iPod owners out of it. Why might that be, you ask? Because microsoft owns almost a billion dollars of stock in apple, thanks to a little investment they made in the late '90s as apple was failing miserably. As long as the iPod does well, Microsoft makes money. If they can win over their own client base, AND keep the iPod's base untouched, they win on both sides.

So, they're probably not out to kill the iPod. They're putting another device out there. I really don't understand why this is causing widespread panic and iPod owners feel the need to disparage the device at every turn. I mean really- are we that juvenile? Buy whatever you want. The iPod's not going anywhere. Why does it matter if it doesn't completely dominate the market?
 
feelthefire said:
Because microsoft owns almost a billion dollars of stock in apple, thanks to a little investment they made in the late '90s as apple was failing miserably. As long as the iPod does well, Microsoft makes money.
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This wasn't because Apple was failing miserably, it was because Apple was suing Microsoft for patent infringements. Furthermore, Microsoft soon shorted the stock because they thought Apple was going down. Turns out, Apple has gone up considerably since then, and Microsoft has lost $100s of millions for their lack of vision.
 
stoid said:
This wasn't because Apple was failing miserably, it was because Apple was suing Microsoft for patent infringements. Furthermore, Microsoft soon shorted the stock because they thought Apple was going down. Turns out, Apple has gone up considerably since then, and Microsoft has lost $100s of millions for their lack of vision.
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No stock information I've seen about this exchange cites microsoft losing hundreds of millions for their shortsightedness, or cites them dropping the stock. All accounts show the currently held stock to be worth about a billion dollars, which is a pretty big chunk of apple's existence.

Also, as I understood it, part of the deal was apple getting microsoft apps to boost the usability of their hardware, which they seem to still be using, so it's doubtful microsoft got that burned in this deal.
 
The Zune wikk be obselete

The zune is coming and im an ipod fan. Ipods are a coolness mark, think about it; ipods fit in your pocket but everyone carries them in thier hand. Headphones, the ones it come with suck, but everyone uses them to say "Ihave an ipod look at me." The zune comes in brown now big deal, same color as the dump i just took. The zune also cant work on any itunes downloaded songs so the 10,000 song investors would be screwed. I dont know what the hype is about it will probably fail (especially if ipod price goes down) the zune only comes in one size as wel not like 6 i think. its not in trouble it only has a new reason for apple to actually work a little harder
 
The Zune will be obselete

The zune is coming and im an ipod fan. Ipods are a coolness mark, think about it; ipods fit in your pocket but everyone carries them in thier hand. Headphones, the ones it come with suck, but everyone uses them to say "Ihave an ipod look at me." The zune comes in brown now big deal, same color as the dump i just took. The zune also cant work on any itunes downloaded songs so the 10,000 song investors would be screwed. I dont know what the hype is about it will probably fail (especially if ipod price goes down) the zune only comes in one size as wel not like 6 i think. its not in trouble it only has a new reason for apple to actually work a little harder
 
feelthefire said:
out there. I really don't understand why this is causing widespread panic and iPod owners feel the need to disparage the device at every turn. I mean really- are we that juvenile? Buy whatever you want. The iPod's not going anywhere. Why does it matter if it doesn't completely dominate the market?
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We disparage poor executions of reasonable ideas. If the Zune actually meant something then we would be a little more respectful.

In fact, even Creative did much better on their recent offerings.
 
Another thing I've never seen mentioned anywhere in the media is that while the Zune is "competition" for the 5G iPod, where is their competitor for the iPod nano? The nano is Apple's highest selling iPod model and the Zune is no competition to it at all. They also have no answer for the shuffle either for that matter.

To boil it all down and say that the Zune is an "iPod killer" is silly, the iPod isn't just the 5G model, the iPod is also the nano and the shuffle too. And that's not to even mention the enormous secondary market of iPod accessories that the Zune will simply never be able to touch.
 
crudonrice said:
The zune is coming and im an ipod fan. Ipods are a coolness mark, think about it; ipods fit in your pocket but everyone carries them in thier hand. Headphones, the ones it come with suck, but everyone uses them to say "Ihave an ipod look at me." The zune comes in brown now big deal, same color as the dump i just took. The zune also cant work on any itunes downloaded songs so the 10,000 song investors would be screwed. I dont know what the hype is about it will probably fail (especially if ipod price goes down) the zune only comes in one size as wel not like 6 i think. its not in trouble it only has a new reason for apple to actually work a little harder
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I thought I actually heard that MS was offering free downloads of all songs that users bought in the iTMS if they switched to the Zune, i may have misread that though :eek:

In general I agree with what you're saying. Brown is no biggie, and i think that the Zune just asthetically is not pleasing. Apple isn't threatened by the Zune at all, but it is still a reason for Apple not be resting on their laurels. If the 6G doesn't come out relatively soon i think that the Zune may have a chance of selling decently, but it certainly won't bring a change in power to the market. Beaming music isn't that special and they won't give up their flawless iPods for a brick of ugly and a bigger screen.
 
I wouldnt worry. Most agree MS's music purchasing with it is horrible, and the gimmick of wifi transfers is a joke. hear it 3 times or keep it for 3 days and then it goes away? Whats the point. And a bunch of the songs you buy still won't allow for that share feature.

No worries here :)
 
the only thing the zune could really do is make apple make the ipod better. The ipod is no doubt the most popular a relied on (not sure about reliable) mp3 player on the market. I belive that a percentage of the ipod's success is thanks to the "novelty" of it all.The ipod is the coolest looking, slickest, slimest and therefore most popular player. (strict) Apple users who use ipod's shouldn't even bother , cuase from what i heard, it wont sync with macs (think i got that from this site). A high percentage of the pc users that use ipods use it maily because of the mentioned "novelty" cause it's cool. I personaly dont think that the zune is cool enough to steal them.

Now i think ipod's are the best,not just because they look cool, but for simple functions like it pauses when you pull the headphones out, it syncs with itunes seamlessly, the click wheel(perfect) and it doesn't freeze up (something i notice prevelant in high capacity player,eg iriver). However the ipod still lacks features like SRS sorround, built in microphones, etc.

With all that said, i think the zune would bring good things to the ipod fans, becuase real competition would stimulate perfection, which is exactly what we expect from apple.
 
I must say though it's looking more and more likely that the next iPod will render it irrelevant. MS might get two or three months of being talked about but that might be it.
 
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