Links to roughlydrafted? That is about as fair and non partisan as linking to winsupersite in opposition to Apple.
Dilger writes a good tale, but I'm pretty sure Bill Gates ran over his puppy at some point.
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Microsoft Launches Zune HD
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Links to roughlydrafted? That is about as fair and non partisan as linking to winsupersite in opposition to Apple.
Dilger writes a good tale, but I'm pretty sure Bill Gates ran over his puppy at some point.
Fanboy: OMG< LIKE Dom't get teh ZUNE beecuz itz NOT mad bi APPLE
AppleInsider: Here's some more info about the new features on the Zune. Just giving you a heads up before you spend $200.
Another yawner. I applaud the folks at Redmond for having the courage of thieves, but I can't imagine folks lining up to play with this at the forthcoming MS stores.
Maybe they'll line up to play with Word instead.
Maybe they'll line up to play with Word instead.
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if the iPod Touch has a 480-by-320 screen, and the Zune has a 16:9 screen of 480-by-272, surely watching a video on an iPod Touch with letterboxing down to 272 pixels is exactly the same as watching a video on the Zune?
Except that when you finished watching your film you have an extra 48 pixels in screen width to browse the internet/play apps. Surely that's better?
I'd love to see how this does with video playback compared to the iPod Touch.
This design is much more attractive than the pervious model.
If you could sync the Zune with iTunes, I would have bought one already. The practicality and vast amount of music and apps on iTunes just out weighs my want for a Zune.
This design is much more attractive than the pervious model.
If you could sync the Zune with iTunes, I would have bought one already. The practicality and vast amount of music and apps on iTunes just out weighs my want for a Zune.
Famous Zune colors?
Yeah, but does it come in brown?
Seriously - immitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The HD radio is a cool addition, but nothing else would make me even want to consider such a beast. I like Apple products because they just "work"... no futzing with drivers, mucking with tempermental software, worrying about compatibility, etc. With Microsoft's history, I'd have no such confidence with one of their accessories. That simplicity and trust is Apple's value... and they do a great job of living up to it time after time.
MadCow.
Yeah, but does it come in brown?
Seriously - immitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The HD radio is a cool addition, but nothing else would make me even want to consider such a beast. I like Apple products because they just "work"... no futzing with drivers, mucking with tempermental software, worrying about compatibility, etc. With Microsoft's history, I'd have no such confidence with one of their accessories. That simplicity and trust is Apple's value... and they do a great job of living up to it time after time.
MadCow.
Fanboy: OMG< LIKE Dom't get teh ZUNE beecuz itz NOT mad bi APPLE
AppleInsider: Here's some more info about the new features on the Zune. Just giving you a heads up before you spend $200.
AppleInsider: Not that we don't have an agenda or anything. Just ignore our name.
Contrary to what some of you are saying, I think it's a great looking piece of hardware but I'm surprised the degree to which MS phoned in the features.
Smart DJ is like Pandora except... you pay for it? (Still trying to figure out how they're going to market that, especially when the Pandora app is free on iPod Touch.)
XBox integration. Great... if I owned an XBox.
An app store featuring a few utility apps that already come built-in on the iPod Touch. Microsoft promises more apps in the future. (Gee, you think they could have had a few more things ready to go? What, were they caught off-guard by the Zune HD launch or something?)
No Mac support. If this were the late-90s, they could easily ignore <2% of the market, but that's not the case now. They're literally giving the finger to a significant number of potential buyers... buyers which, according to surveys, purchase more content.
Wired puts a fairly positive spin on this but I see yet another halfhearted attempt.
Smart DJ is like Pandora except... you pay for it? (Still trying to figure out how they're going to market that, especially when the Pandora app is free on iPod Touch.)
XBox integration. Great... if I owned an XBox.
An app store featuring a few utility apps that already come built-in on the iPod Touch. Microsoft promises more apps in the future. (Gee, you think they could have had a few more things ready to go? What, were they caught off-guard by the Zune HD launch or something?)
No Mac support. If this were the late-90s, they could easily ignore <2% of the market, but that's not the case now. They're literally giving the finger to a significant number of potential buyers... buyers which, according to surveys, purchase more content.
Wired puts a fairly positive spin on this but I see yet another halfhearted attempt.
Someone tell me the "Marketplace" link on the home screen fits inside the screen? I thought that was just a problem with the non shipping version?
Do they take any pride in their work? That is unacceptable. No one noticed that and fixed it? What a bunch of hacks....
Do they take any pride in their work? That is unacceptable. No one noticed that and fixed it? What a bunch of hacks....
I certainly don't mean to insult you in any way but what planet are you on??? Yeah, and rumor has it that Google Chrome is in the works for the Mac, well it's been how long now? Still now official release, we're talking about a simple browser here. Still, at least Google doesn't have anything really against Macs so that will happen soon enough....BUT...if you think for one minute that Microsoft is going to make the Zune marketplace or even allow the ZuneHD to run on Macs then you are on a different planet.
. It ain't gonna happen buddy. Yes, MS is in a worse position and it would be to their advantage to take care of the Mac customers but they want to keep people on Windows and it's a very shameless attempt the way they do things to stick it to Apple's customers.yes but you need a specail dock for that and knowing MS they will charge 100 like they do for the wifi adapter for the 360
I imagine the the Zune's success will be proportional to the number of nervous fanboi putdowns on this forum.
It is not a Problem, it is a Feature, and yes it is in the shipping version. At least as far as i can see around the Internet.
I know what ur going to say. Keep it. They do suck at design so.
As usual, the level of outright stupidity and rampant fanboyism towards Apple products just because they're Apple products is insane, especially towards this device even at a forum with an Apple-centric focus for most of the content it contains.
Fanboys complain that Microsoft has market domination in the computer OS market, and they do, that's a fact that not anyone can deny. And because of it, all you hear is "OMFG, Microsoft has a monopoly and it's killing competition, it sucks for consumers, yadda yadda yadda till the end of time, they must be stopped!"
But on the flipside, Apple has market domination in the PMP market, because of the iPods (not the iPhone, sorry, that's a phone that can do some media stuff), and they do, that's also a fact that not anyone can deny.
Now, why is it ok to bash Microsoft for market domination with OSes, yet if one attempts to flip it around and bash Apple for market domination with iPods, you're basically looked upon as ignorant and foolish?
People, Apple is simply not all that.
The only decent and intelligent comments put forth so far are those that specifically point out that "this is good for competition." Is the Zune HD going to hurt Apple? Of course not, it's a drop in the bucket, and people that wish to buy them (myself included), do so because I choose to "Be different" instead of just being another person that might "Think different".
The simple definition of fanaticism is:
Excessive intolerance of opposing views
Whenever someone in this thread or any thread anywhere automagically disses Microsoft because they make a product in a similar vein that can do just as well if not better than anything Apple currently produces, and then they continue to do so without ever stepping back to take a look at what they've said or done even in spite of people pointing out their rampant "fanboyism" gives pause to most that witness the events, and the definition of fanaticism drops right into place.
I mean really.
It's a portable media player.
It plays music.
It plays videos.
It has wireless connectivity.
It has great battery life (longer than any Apple product currently on the active market, I might add, by the quoted technical specs).
It has a great and very competitive price. It's got a gorgeous design that anyone with a brain has to say "that looks nice" (unless you're suffering from that rampant fanboyism again).
It offers a marketplace to add content.
It offers a subscription service that's effectively unlimited in the sense of new content for one monthly price, with the benefit of keeping 10 songs permanently, slowly building a collection if you wish.
It has games and will have more coming.
It does all this very well.
It offers superior capabilities in some respects (720p out is the biggest).
It will have plenty of accessories as time goes by and yes, the prices for the actual accessories from Microsoft direct (the AV/HD Dock, etc) are comparable for what you get to their iPod counterparts, given that the iPhone/iPod touch don't have 720p output capability.
And many other wonderful features.
So what exactly is the beef with people, now that Apple actually has competition that can live up to its own products, almost spec for spec and sometimes better?
Why the need to bash?
Sorry, but the age old idea of "the Cult of Apple/Mac/iPod" is just smacking so prevalent right now it's not even funny.
Are you folks that afraid of a little competition? Really?
Fanboys complain that Microsoft has market domination in the computer OS market, and they do, that's a fact that not anyone can deny. And because of it, all you hear is "OMFG, Microsoft has a monopoly and it's killing competition, it sucks for consumers, yadda yadda yadda till the end of time, they must be stopped!"
But on the flipside, Apple has market domination in the PMP market, because of the iPods (not the iPhone, sorry, that's a phone that can do some media stuff), and they do, that's also a fact that not anyone can deny.
Now, why is it ok to bash Microsoft for market domination with OSes, yet if one attempts to flip it around and bash Apple for market domination with iPods, you're basically looked upon as ignorant and foolish?
People, Apple is simply not all that.
The only decent and intelligent comments put forth so far are those that specifically point out that "this is good for competition." Is the Zune HD going to hurt Apple? Of course not, it's a drop in the bucket, and people that wish to buy them (myself included), do so because I choose to "Be different" instead of just being another person that might "Think different".
The simple definition of fanaticism is:
Excessive intolerance of opposing views
Whenever someone in this thread or any thread anywhere automagically disses Microsoft because they make a product in a similar vein that can do just as well if not better than anything Apple currently produces, and then they continue to do so without ever stepping back to take a look at what they've said or done even in spite of people pointing out their rampant "fanboyism" gives pause to most that witness the events, and the definition of fanaticism drops right into place.
I mean really.
It's a portable media player.
It plays music.
It plays videos.
It has wireless connectivity.
It has great battery life (longer than any Apple product currently on the active market, I might add, by the quoted technical specs).
It has a great and very competitive price. It's got a gorgeous design that anyone with a brain has to say "that looks nice" (unless you're suffering from that rampant fanboyism again).
It offers a marketplace to add content.
It offers a subscription service that's effectively unlimited in the sense of new content for one monthly price, with the benefit of keeping 10 songs permanently, slowly building a collection if you wish.
It has games and will have more coming.
It does all this very well.
It offers superior capabilities in some respects (720p out is the biggest).
It will have plenty of accessories as time goes by and yes, the prices for the actual accessories from Microsoft direct (the AV/HD Dock, etc) are comparable for what you get to their iPod counterparts, given that the iPhone/iPod touch don't have 720p output capability.
And many other wonderful features.
So what exactly is the beef with people, now that Apple actually has competition that can live up to its own products, almost spec for spec and sometimes better?
Why the need to bash?
Sorry, but the age old idea of "the Cult of Apple/Mac/iPod" is just smacking so prevalent right now it's not even funny.
Are you folks that afraid of a little competition? Really?
Check out Chromium for Mac, its the beta of Chrome for MacsI certainly don't mean to insult you in any way but what planet are you on??? Yeah, and rumor has it that Google Chrome is in the works for the Mac, well it's been how long now? Still now official release, we're talking about a simple browser here. Still, at least Google doesn't have anything really against Macs so that will happen soon enough....BUT...if you think for one minute that Microsoft is going to make the Zune marketplace or even allow the ZuneHD to run on Macs then you are on a different planet.
Yeah, you're right. MS has no stuff on macs
Oh, wait. They have office, hardware, live messenger, remote desktop, and WMV/A