Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPod Zune Pricing and Shipping Announced.
- Thread starter Chundles
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No ****
Well, there go my dreams of buying a Zoom cos I was totally gonna be all over that sh*t when it hit the stores. But who the heck knows when that'll be anyway?
Everyone that hates iPod's make fun of it for not having a radio.
WTF do I need a crappy radio for, (with crappy sound quality), when I can have ALL the songs I want (that I have anyway) right there on the iPod.
ftw????
Also...wtf is up with the Zune looking like a 3G iPod on acid?
Who would buy that brown cheap plastic pos??????
wtff????????
WTF do I need a crappy radio for, (with crappy sound quality), when I can have ALL the songs I want (that I have anyway) right there on the iPod.
ftw????
Also...wtf is up with the Zune looking like a 3G iPod on acid?
Who would buy that brown cheap plastic pos??????
wtff????????
briansolomon said:
what $50 price difference?
Edit.
iPod = $249 for the 30gig
Zune = $249.99 for 30gig
where is there $50 in there?
The two things I like about the Zune:
1. 3" screen and you can show videos in landscape mode. I hope Apple does this in the future.
2. Personalize--with background image. It makes the display look a little nicer.
I don't like the whole point thingy. I prefer to pay 99 cents if I want to buy a song that costs 99 cents. Not 79 points which is equivent to 98.75 cents. To me its like going to a carnival. Some rides cost 3 tickets, some cost 4 tickets etc. Just seems confusing to me.
I also don't understand on how Microsoft is losing money. The Zune is based off of a existing Toshiba design. The iPod has been profitable since day 1.
scott
1. 3" screen and you can show videos in landscape mode. I hope Apple does this in the future.
2. Personalize--with background image. It makes the display look a little nicer.
I don't like the whole point thingy. I prefer to pay 99 cents if I want to buy a song that costs 99 cents. Not 79 points which is equivent to 98.75 cents. To me its like going to a carnival. Some rides cost 3 tickets, some cost 4 tickets etc. Just seems confusing to me.
I also don't understand on how Microsoft is losing money. The Zune is based off of a existing Toshiba design. The iPod has been profitable since day 1.
scott
Doctor Q said:
Well, I don't think they are worried too much, the resolution is the same, the capacity too, the features the Zune has over the iPod are marginal and not that important as Creative knows, sales are going to the nanos atm anyway and if they bring out the true video iPod then they have the high end market to themselves again.
The only thing where they might change something is the bit rate at the iTS to match or surpass MS.
For me, if they'd offer Lossless with song texts at 99 cents I'd never buy a CD anymore but that may just be me.
sfwalter said:
1. but it has the same res as the iPod so you're not getting any bigger of an image, if anything it'll be grainier.
2. i do agree that the personalization is something thats nice. not a deal-breaker, but nice.
and actually in all reality the iPod wasn't a money maker from day one, if you figure in the development and research costs into it all. granted Microsoft doesn't have to pay for that. but they are going to pay a lot of money for advertising that is going to be basically wasted because they won't be gaining a foothold in the market for a long time, but they'll try and saturate the market with a lot of machines.
sfwalter said:
Same res, no difference just a little big bigger, no real widesreen just horizontal instead of vertical positioning. Not really an improvement if you ask me.
Edit: Beaten
sfwalter said:
iPod displays in landscape by default. It does not, however display in portrait. IMHO, this is good. No need to sit there and turn the thing sideways all the time. Up is always up, down is always down. That's good interface design as opposed to a cheap trick to fool people into thinking your 4:3 screen is a 16:9 screen.
Doctor Q said:
Yes. Because what will give them pause for thought is Microsoft's involvement and re-energising of its efforts.
I share the opinion that what Microsoft is really concerned about is Apple essentially using the iPod to develop and promote a viable platform and product ecology in order to drive a Trojan Horse into the concept of the digital home, attempting to monopolise media delivery in the way that the iTMS has shown it can be done.
Forget all the trivia about the price of songs and the look and feel of the Zune. Longterm, the iPod represents a real threat to Microsoft's longer-term ambitions... Apple have stirred up a hornet's nest.
PlaceofDis said:
keep in mind that while true, the average customer doesn't have the slightest clue what resolution is.
I had a friend buy a dell laptop, despite really wanting a MacBook because he wanted a 15" screen and didn't want to pay the price for a MBP. When I noticed his dell had the same resolution as a MB, I just wanted to punch him; but alas, that is how the average customer thinks.
Couldnt agree with you more. Doesnt an FM transmitter defeat the entire purpose of having an mp3 player? Why in heaven's name anyone would want to listen to the radio on an iPod beats the crap out of me! These are the same morons who are not against ad supported podcastsmarkkk! said:Everyone that hates iPod's make fun of it for not having a radio.
WTF do I need a crappy radio for, (with crappy sound quality), when I can have ALL the songs I want (that I have anyway) right there on the iPod.
They are using the game console method of making money. They sell hardware at less than what its worth, take a hit initially, then make up the losses in software sales. It allows for a greater amount of customers that hopefully buy more stuff for as long as they own the device rather than just relying on a one time purchase. In the long run you make more money.notjustjay said:Not profitable this year, but hopes to be in future years.
So, their plan is to try and kill off the iPod, and once they're the last man standing they can raise their prices?
This is a good thing?
The Zune doesnt look that bad. The interface atleast seems like a breath of fresh air, its actually modern looking. The itunes interface or whatever Apple calls it is just plain outdated. Bigtime. It may have been cutting edge a few years ago but give me a break, they havent updated it since the first version other than adding color. I like my old iPod but if Apple cant offer something new in terms of the GUI then the next MP3 player I get is 100% not going to be an iPod. Its just inexcusable. The only thing I dont like about Zune is the fact that you have to use WMP, I hate using that program for music (although I like using it for videos, funny since iTunes is good for managing music but just laughable at handling videos). I'll have to save my final verdict for when its released and I can see just how good the screen and GUI is, I hope its not dim and cheap looking.
PlaceofDis said:
I assume that $50 comes from the price Apple charges for the FM radio/wired remote accessory.
But why do some people think built-in FM radio is such a killer feature? I think the market has spoken out pretty strongly about the fact that only a tiny minority care about it really care about it. And if you want it that bad, you can add it. But why should the rest of us have to pay for a feature we're not going to use?
plinkoman said:wow, I don't get how some people think that looks good. to me it is beyond ugly.
From a design standpoint it's actually not that bad. What I want to know is how are companies getting away with copying Apple's click wheel? Doesn't Apple have a patent on this? Can't they do a cease-and-desist?
Did I miss something?
sfwalter said:
And Toshiba was selling their version for more. Without the wifi, which is fairly expensive.
A couple things nobody has mentioned yet on this thread:
Sharing is NOT available for all songs, it will be limited to some but MS hasn't explained how that limitation works.
The "click wheel" isn't a wheel at all, it's just four buttons. So expect a navigation system that isn't nearly as cool as that on the iPod.
Preloaded content... this is just pretty annoying, no? It's like buying a walkman and getting a CD full of crap music to boot. Yes, it's "extra," yes, you can get rid of it. But that's just one more thing that doesn't add to the product.
Oh wow, wireless, you can beam stuff. Big whoop, that's not the primary function anyway. And sure, the software makes a big difference, but notice that the pics have these unnecessary backgrounds on them? Why? Probably, you can change those, but this reminds me of that "If Microsoft made the iPod box" video in which they package the iPod with all this junk (a rebate cupon ad, some guy jumping as the "human element"...). The controls look uncomfortable.
But I must say, the general failure of the Zune is obvious - the device is, for the majority of potential buyers, obscure. The iPod is well known and furthermore, well-liked by many, even those that have had to deal with breaking iPods. The Zune is not simply awkward, obscure, and in some cases, brown, but also rather uncool.
Theoretically, an iPod killer would combine an excellent online music store with an excellent music player. NOT, simply making a music player like any other on the market and synching it with an unknown fledgling music store. Microsoft simply needs to do much, much better to catch up to the iPod, and adding wireless features as an extra or having preloaded content doesn't add enough to make up for the gap in the strength of the basics. If the Zune were touchscreen and had sufficiently intuitive controls, for example, it'd be much more attractive than "hey guys, same deal as before, only with wireless and some other crap you don't really need!"
Oh wow, wireless, you can beam stuff. Big whoop, that's not the primary function anyway. And sure, the software makes a big difference, but notice that the pics have these unnecessary backgrounds on them? Why? Probably, you can change those, but this reminds me of that "If Microsoft made the iPod box" video in which they package the iPod with all this junk (a rebate cupon ad, some guy jumping as the "human element"...). The controls look uncomfortable.
But I must say, the general failure of the Zune is obvious - the device is, for the majority of potential buyers, obscure. The iPod is well known and furthermore, well-liked by many, even those that have had to deal with breaking iPods. The Zune is not simply awkward, obscure, and in some cases, brown, but also rather uncool.
Theoretically, an iPod killer would combine an excellent online music store with an excellent music player. NOT, simply making a music player like any other on the market and synching it with an unknown fledgling music store. Microsoft simply needs to do much, much better to catch up to the iPod, and adding wireless features as an extra or having preloaded content doesn't add enough to make up for the gap in the strength of the basics. If the Zune were touchscreen and had sufficiently intuitive controls, for example, it'd be much more attractive than "hey guys, same deal as before, only with wireless and some other crap you don't really need!"
stainlessliquid said:
not quite. games make money, but $.99 songs don't; at least not for the resellers (iTunes, zune music store or whatever they call it).
in apples case, they don't sell iPods at a loss to make more money selling songs; they sell songs at a loss to make more money selling iPods.
though I don't think apple takes a loss on songs anymore, they barely break even. for this, it works opposite of games; the money is in the hardware.
stainlessliquid said:
Too bad the Xbox 360 is still a money-loser over all IIRC, and they still haven't managed to outsell the PS2.
Speaking of Sony: a poster above brought up the PSP. Now that was the device Apple insiders were truly worried about. When the final specs were released, there was a huge sigh of relief in Cupertino.
plinkoman said:keep in mind that while true, the average customer doesn't have the slightest clue what resolution is.
I had a friend buy a dell laptop, despite really wanting a MacBook because he wanted a 15" screen and didn't want to pay the price for a MBP. When I noticed his dell had the same resolution as a MB, I just wanted to punch him; but alas, that is how the average customer thinks.
Not to back up Dell, but the thing is that it really isn't about resolution. You can have 1280 by 1024 resolution on a postage stamp, but nobody can read anything. It makes sense to go for a larger screen if you are uncomfortable on a smaller screen, for any reason, and it's not necessarily the resolution that is at the crux of this.