David Tucker
06-01-2007, 05:39 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.zuneluv.com/2007/05/28/microsoft-sells-one-million-zunes-whats-next/' target='_blank'>http://www.zuneluv.com/2007/05/28/microsoft-sells-one-million-zunes-whats-next/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Microsoft has sold a million Zunes - or at least the report goes. Now that they've proven they can get another consumer product into the hands of consumers, here's a plan for what they need to do to make the Zune the kind of consumer product people are excited to get into their hands."</em> <br /><br />Given the poor response to the 1.4 update released today, <a href="http://www.zuneluv.com/2007/05/28/microsoft-sells-one-million-zunes-whats-next/">Zune Luv has some really great ideas</a> for what Microsoft should be aiming for now that there are nearly a million sold Zunes. I will give a hint: it doesn't involve WiFi. You can read the original article to see their ideas but read on here to see what I thought of their ideas. I kept their bullet points and italicized what they said if I felt it was needed to understand my explanation. Read on!<br /></p><br /><strong>Turn On Podcasting ASAP</strong>. I couldn't agree more with Zune Luv here. If only because then people wouldn't have it as something to wave as a flaw. Podcasting is very important to many people. <br /><br /><strong>Extend Podcasting's Feature Set</strong>. <em>You can do stuff that iTunes can't - start doing it. Imagine a world where one Podcaster beams their Podcast to another (or one fan to another) and when they return to the Zune Marketplace, they get a message along the lines of "Would you like to subscribe to the Podcast you were recently beamed?" That would generate more good press and more new subscriptions than anything I can think of right now. Podcasters would love you for it - and I dare say it would sell a few more Zunes.</em> <br /><br />This is really a brilliant idea and while I've never thought of it in regards to Podcasting, I have thought of this being a great feature for subscription users. If you have a shared song that's available via subscription, the Zune should also update that song and add it to your library if you marked it for such. <br /><br /><strong>Embrace the Podcasting Community.</strong> While I like the thinking here, I'm not sure how much room there is for Microsoft to really embrace the community. I think simply supporting podcasting is really more than enough. When Apple embraced them it propelled a fledgling technology. <br /><br /><strong>Give Zune Another Killer Feature</strong>. Zune Luv thinks the killer feature for the Zune is video rentals and I could not agree more. This is something I’ve thought about since the day I heard about the Zune. If Microsoft pulled this of I think it would be a paradigm shift for portable media. <br /><br /><strong>Go Viral In Ways That Aren't In The Viral 101 Class At The Local Community College</strong>. While this is also a good idea it’s probably the most difficult. The whole idea behind viral is that its community created and propagated. It really should be spontaneous. I think its hard to generate a viral campaign at the corporate level. <br /><br /><strong>Find Some Very Cool Xbox 360 Tie-Ins</strong>. This is another obvious one that simply needs to be exploited. The Zune does work very nicely with the XBox. If it could be used as a game accessory somehow that would really be nice. Using it to play music on my XBox has limited value for me since I have my whole library accessible through my network.. <br /><br /><strong>Get The Story Straight</strong>. <em>Zune went to market at amazing speeds. It's a fascinating little moment in Microsoft's history that I truly believe, one day, the "books" will write about. But, you can't let the time to market be less than the time from market to message. The Windows Media 11 / Urge/ Zune Marketplace / Plays for Sure thing is a mess. Find a way to tell the story better.</em> <br /><br />I really like what Zune Luv started with this. Of course my response when I saw the title was "Two million". What does everyone else here think that the Zune team should be shooting for going forward?