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Microsoft Attempting to Recruit App Store Developers for Zune HD?

HLdan said:
A better question would be,"Why are MS designs always mimicking Apple's? This thing looks like a boxy, unfinished version of the 1st. Gen iPhone.
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I disagree. I don't think the Zune HD design is referencing the iPhone at all. It's memes are utterly different: angular, more industrial, visible screws. I happen to think it's a terrific design.

HLdan said:
Another good question would be, "Why is MS always eating off what Apple is doing? Damn, can't they attract their own developers without recruiting Apple's?? Honestly, Enough is Enough.
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"Apple's developers?" These guys are indie devs who will be looking at porting their apps to whichever device gains a large enough installed base to make them profitable.

Colrath said:
The only people who are going to buy this is the people who think anyone who owns an apple product is a pretentious hipster.
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No one thinks that. Hipsters buy stuff that isn't mainstream. The iPod/iPhone are about as mainstream as you can get.
 
It has been said but why in hell would you turn down a bucket of money? It's not like he has an exclusivity deal with Apple or that he is compromising principles in any way. I don't know if he is aware but many software and game companies develop for multiple platforms and they weren't even offered a satchel of money!

What a weirdo.
p.s. a bucket of money for a twitter app? bucket must be full of coins not bills.
 
*LTD* said:
Yet developers and users can't seem to get enough of Apple's "walled garden." There is a great deal to be said for it. In fact, consumers seem to be attracted to this walled garden like nothing else. Total control over the user experience, if done right, is a winning strategy.
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yeah, i've always wondered what polls would show if you asked the ipod/iphone consumers, on this issue. i for one like the "security" and "reliability" that apple's model affords. it's far from perfect i agree, but im willing to loose out on the "must have now apps" for the piece of mind experience i get on my iphones.
 
CaryMacGuy said:
That won't happen until there is no longer a good market for non-phone media players. At that point, it won't matter because the iPhone will have inherited all the success of the iPod (which it sort of has already). Once it gets on other networks, it will be unstoppable.
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Chris Pirillo I think I had a good thought on that. He thinks the next gen of media will be in the form of a Mobile Phone, like the iPhone. The reason standing so that you can pull down media from a service, and maybe even purge out the PC aspect of it all in all.

So if Apple takes the expected route by many that it will make the iPhone OS and it's devices as they're primary media Platform, there will be people who will want that, but without the phone aspect of that. Zune HD already seems like it's trying to get into some App thing, and will have at least a little of Xbox Live Integration, what with the Video Marketplace. It already is able to browse and download from the Marketplace, on the small Flash models to the hard-drive based ones.

What I'm trying to say is, MS has the room to change to whatever they need to fill a gap that Apple may create, like the iPhone one I stated. Again, we will just have to see.
 
Eidorian said:
I've been calling the Xbox the Microsoft Mac for some time now.
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Ahh! Now THAT, is an extremely lucid point! I've been waiting for someone to say something along those lines.

MS has pure gold with the Xbox (notwithstanding their current profitability issues with it.) It's MS' version of the AppleTV, except that MS seems to be doing something with it. And as far as I can tell, it has qute a bit of potential. I can't say a whole lot more about it, since I'm nor conversant with all things Xbox, but I'd like to see MS really push the envelope with it. I'm no sure, however, whether they have the vision to see it through.

MS desperately, desperately, needs new management.
 
Its in the design

Having looked at he Zune HD I think they have the same problem that many manufacturers of mp3 players/smartphones have.

"How do I make a product which will appeal to current ipod/iphone users without looking like I copied the design."

An example of this is the current design for the Mac keyboard. The design is about the removal of anything which isn't needed and then sticking an Apple logo on to it. Anyone who tries the same thing then looks like they copied them.
 
I'm in for a new PMP and since the Sony X series has a horrible web browser from the reviews that leaves for me to decide between the Zune and iPod.

Zune pros: Screen,Price, Sound, and Browser

Ipod pros:Apps, 3rd party support, and Browser (price?)

Having a camera is as meaningless to me as the HD output support of the Zune. I have a phone with a camera and I'm definitely not going to pay $90 for a stupid dock that I will use once in a blue moon. I don't care about HD radio since the reason I have a pmp is to listen to MY music. Sound is important to me and the Zune from what I've read is better in producing it. I would like to have an OLED screen, but again from reviews it is not that big of a difference in terms of quality. I'll wait until they both come out and head to best buy and try them out, but on paper the iPod offers a better all around package.
 
Arcadium said:
Chris Pirillo I think I had a good thought on that. He thinks the next gen of media will be in the form of a Mobile Phone, like the iPhone. The reason standing so that you can pull down media from a service, and maybe even purge out the PC aspect of it all in all.

So if Apple takes the expected route by many that it will make the iPhone OS and it's devices as they're primary media Platform, there will be people who will want that, but without the phone aspect of that. Zune HD already seems like it's trying to get into some App thing, and will have at least a little of Xbox Live Integration, what with the Video Marketplace. It already is able to browse and download from the Marketplace, on the small Flash models to the hard-drive based ones.

What I'm trying to say is, MS has the room to change to whatever they need to fill a gap that Apple may create, like the iPhone one I stated. Again, we will just have to see.
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I suppose I can accept that. To quote a wise man, for Apple to win, Microsoft doesn't have to lose. There is room for more than one player in this game and as long as there is a threat from either company, technology will keep pushing forward and all will benefit in the long run.
 
*LTD* said:
Ahh! Now THAT, is an extremely lucid point! I've been waiting for someone to say something along those lines.

MS has pure gold with the Xbox (notwithstanding their current profitability issues with it.) It's MS' version of the AppleTV, except that MS seems to be doing something with it. And as far as I can tell, it has qute a bit of potential. I can't say a whole lot more about it, since I'm nor conversant with all things Xbox, but I'd like to see MS really push the envelope with it. I'm no sure, however, whether they have the vision to see it through.

MS desperately, desperately, needs new management.
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In this post-1980s, IBM-compatible world it's tough to do it on computer hardware. There's a high expectation of choice and options. Apple still does manage to try to keep control on the Macs and OS X but the interest in the hackintosh and Windows 7 being "good enough" brings up problems.

On the device side it hit me years ago what Microsoft was doing with the Xbox. They've already been stigmatized enough by trying to put control on your Windows machine. They just push that to the side and built their own platform, on PowerPC no less, where they were the gatekeeper for the OS top to bottom and the software on it.

To be honest I can't really argue with your opinions on the need for change in Microsoft's corporate culture. I agree you with.
 
qbricc said:
Having looked at he Zune HD I think they have the same problem that many manufacturers of mp3 players/smartphones have.

"How do I make a product which will appeal to current ipod/iphone users without looking like I copied the design."

An example of this is the current design for the Mac keyboard. The design is about the removal of anything which isn't needed and then sticking an Apple logo on to it. Anyone who tries the same thing then looks like they copied them.
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Apple is usually FIRST to market with either a brand new or signficantly better implementation, or (not as often) a brand new product.

MS is never an example of such "firsts." And once they do bring a product to market that is designed to be an Apple-product "killer", embarrassment ensues in Redmond.

Where oh where is MS' R&D money going?? Corner office renovations? Coffee runs? Lousy marketing campaigns? A Big-Ass Table(TM) that no one really cares about??
 
Looks good, like the design, the sw interface is nice as well... I do think they should offer the 16gb & 32gb in both colors...
 
How about looking at it this way:

Say you are the creator of one of the most popular Twitter clients on the market, perhaps one that has received an Apple design award and sells for a reasonable amount on the App Store (note, I'm not specifically saying this was Tweetie, I don't know, but if you were going to go for any Twitter app that would be the one I'd try to get on the platform).

Which would you rather do:

1) Spend your time porting the app to a foreign platform (which you may not be familiar with), ensuring you need to have at least two development strands to support, essentially doubling your support work in return for a short term financial gain and what, based on the success of previous versions of the Zune, will probably never bring in revenue even close to that of the App Store

2) Invest your time in your existing platform, making it better and increasing the sales on the established, known platform with *zero* increase in the amount of support you will need to do.

Just saying.
 
"Microsoft may be trying to draw iPhone and iPod touch developers away to develop apps for the Zune platform".

Of course MS must be trying to "draw them away" from Apple products. God-forbid a developer from making an application that runs on multiple platforms.
 
im surprised ive not seen more mention of this.

where is the mac os support for the zune?!?!?!

i guess for the most part im not going to fault or criticize MS for trying to draw devs, but i find it hypocritical and naive on their part to go to the apple community for devs but then ignore the consumers of apple products by not having software for the zune that runs in mac os?!?!

at least apple has got itunes running on both platforms, which provides a total experience for everyone. i think for all its pluses, the one thing that will surely hurt the zune's ability to attract CURRENT ipod users, is that lack of mac software.
 
Clipped 'e' on Marketplace - no attention to detail

I still cannot believe the end of the word 'marketplace' falls off the right of the screen - in every *marketing* shot I see of the Zune HD.

This complete lack of attention to detail - it's on the frickin front screen of the device, not 10 menu levels deep - is what separates MS from Apple, in my not so humble opinion.

They couldn't scale the font to fit the screen width? I mean COME ON!

I'm looking forward to seeing the OLED screen though, its the closest to fast refresh rates since we left the humble cathode ray tube behind - as plasma is not suitable for handheld devices, but I cant this device prying my iPhone from hand anytime soon.
 
sgibson said:
How about looking at it this way:

Say you are the creator of one of the most popular Twitter clients on the market, perhaps one that has received an Apple design award and sells for a reasonable amount on the App Store (note, I'm not specifically saying this was Tweetie, I don't know, but if you were going to go for any Twitter app that would be the one I'd try to get on the platform).

Which would you rather do:

1) Spend your time porting the app to a foreign platform (which you may not be familiar with), ensuring you need to have at least two development strands to support, essentially doubling your support work in return for a short term financial gain and what, based on the success of previous versions of the Zune, will probably never bring in revenue even close to that of the App Store

2) Invest your time in your existing platform, making it better and increasing the sales on the established, known platform with *zero* increase in the amount of support you will need to do.

Just saying.
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at one time, the iPhone platform was not familiar, so my two cents is, why not try and reach all platforms with a quality product.
 
sgibson said:
How about looking at it this way:

Say you are the creator of one of the most popular Twitter clients on the market, perhaps one that has received an Apple design award and sells for a reasonable amount on the App Store (note, I'm not specifically saying this was Tweetie, I don't know, but if you were going to go for any Twitter app that would be the one I'd try to get on the platform).

Which would you rather do:

1) Spend your time porting the app to a foreign platform (which you may not be familiar with), ensuring you need to have at least two development strands to support, essentially doubling your support work in return for a short term financial gain and what, based on the success of previous versions of the Zune, will probably never bring in revenue even close to that of the App Store

2) Invest your time in your existing platform, making it better and increasing the sales on the established, known platform with *zero* increase in the amount of support you will need to do.

Just saying.
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It takes time and effort to develop for a foreign platform (learning to code for it) and then provide support for that platform as well. Not to mention the fact that the foreign platform has nearly zero mindshare, and isn't really expected to get any (and rightfully so) than the same previous one it's designed to replace.

If the developer in question truly did turn down "a bucket of money", it's probably because he sees no future in MS' Zune Fiasco: part II.

He *might* be wrong (LOL). But you have to put your bets somewhere . . .


xIGmanIx said:
at one time, the iPhone platform was not familiar, so my two cents is, why not try and reach all platforms with a quality product.
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The only difference being that the iPhone came from Apple.
 
*LTD* said:
Know what the problem is?

The corporate culture at MS.

It all comes down to "culture." It all comes down to beliefs and attitudes - about the user, about how users should interact with technology. It's all about taste. People think that "taste" is some shadowy, abstract, elitist buzzword. It isn't. Taste means you care. It means you aginize over every pixel (a la Scott Forstall) until you get it just right. It means you give a damn about the person who is standing at the cash, ready to fork over their money for your product.

Do your products have that special kind of gestalt, or don't they? Are you making life more difficult for the consumer, or aren't you? Is it your stated goal to perfect design and usability, or isn't it? Microsoft has no mission statement. Zero. You ask anyone what MS is all about, you won't get a clear answer. Apple . . . easy. Right away: usability and design. Their products all scream these two principles. "Cool" stuff. It's "cool" because it looks good, is easy and fun to use, and it works like it should. It's just that simple. When Apple announces a product, you know, at the very least, that it'll look great - hardware and software, and be easy to use. Power wrapped in a great interface that is meant to make life easier, backed up by solid support should you need it. Done. Is that so hard to pull off?

Apple has about half of MS' manpower and resources, and they are redefining industries and markets constantly - from notebooks to operating systems to handhelds. The iPhone happened almost overnight, and its effects have been beyond astounding. In only a couple of years it has changed the mobile/wireless/handheld industry entirely.

Current innovation in the handheld/mobile phone industry is due to Apple. All of it. And it doesn't end there. The reason Windows is approaching some semblance of usability (as in, it sucks less), again, due to Apple. The reason MS is trying to make Windows Mobile something people will actually want to use, once again, due to Apple. The reason Windows sufferers will have an already obsolescent, late, about-to-be-upstaged (again) Zune HD, yet again it's thanks to Apple. When Ballmer walks into a room full to bursting with Mac users, saying "we've got more work to do", it's due to Apple. You like your HTC Touch? Thank Apple. The browser you'll be getting on the Zune HD . . . you can thank Apple. Palm's return to relevance (or semi-relevance), you can thank Apple. It isn't just Elevation Partners at work there. Apple is the key to the existence of usable tech in the mobile and computing industry today.

Where's all the MS R&D money going? Look at Apple from 2001 to the present. Now look at MS. Anything truly compelling or noteworthy from MS in around nine years? XP (nothing to be proud of), and xbox. And more versions of Office bloatware.

MS is essentially a corporate/enterprise software vendor masquerading as a home/consumer vendor.

Simply put, Microsoft products, in light of what could be accomplished with today's technology (what Apple is doing), are unfit for average home/consumer use. Absolutely unfit.

When, as a CEO (Ballmer) you spend half your time defending yourself and your operation against questions about why you're being upstaged, year after year, by a much smaller, nimbler, more focused competitor with half your resources, half your manpower, and half your global reach, something is horribly, horribly wrong.

MS is a follower. They run on two things in the consumer sector:

Ignorance and inertia.
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zzzzzzzz
 
*LTD* said:
Yet developers and users can't seem to get enough of Apple's "walled garden." There is a great deal to be said for it. In fact, consumers seem to be attracted to this walled garden like nothing else. Total control over the user experience, if done right, is a winning strategy.
Click to expand...

More reason to wish that Microsoft pulls its socks up and starts to offer an experience similar to what Apple provides..c'mon...we should not wish for a monopoly here...we should be in a position to choose between multiple walled garden experiences!!! :)
 
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