[inteller]

well get ready to dwell on it because the iPod side is going to beat that drum the entire segment.

[inteller]

well get ready to dwell on it because the iPod side is going to beat that drum the entire segment.

[David Tucker]

Well, they're welcome to harp on it all they want.

Honestly if unicode support is the worst that they can come up with I think the Zune is in fine shape

[Dyvim]

The iPod side could tout

(1) its rating system (not that it's anything special but it's adequate while Zune's new rating system of love it/hate it is the pits if you rely on ratings to generate smart playlists)

(2) auto-refreshing (i.e. on the device without desktop) smart playlists. You know, like "Music I haven't listened to in the past month" that updates itself on the device as you play tracks without having to resync to refresh.

(3) iPod Touch. Ok, I know there's no Zune direct competitor, but that's exactly the point. Some DAP shoppers won't be choosing just between an iPod Classic 120 and a Zune 120; they may well consider an iPod Touch 8/16 as well. There's been a lot of harping about Zune's FM radio feature, but the Touch completely obviates the need for FM radio when you're in WiFi coverage- you can use any number of free apps to stream just about any internet radio station, or create your own station with apps like Pandora.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the Touch can now also browse for and download or stream via WiFi any podcast in the iTunes Store- that opens up a whole world of listening possibilities. Provided you have WiFi coverage, granted.

Of course David can tout all the obvious things: Zune's nice screen, better UI (at least compared to the Classic), wireless sync, the iPod Classic's dated and deficient UI, subscription music, etc.

[doogald]

Originally Posted by Pony99CA

Wow, $50 for an FM radio? I bought a CF card radio for my iPAQ for less than that (years ago...)

Well, it's also a remote, which is nice - it's the reason I bought one (on sale). I've used the radio once, just to test it mostly.

But, yeah, it's too expensive. And I haven't used it in over a year anyway. Still, it's there if I want it.

(Though I must say that having an FM radio to hear the show is convenient only if you are in the NY metropolitan area at the time of the show anyway.)

I'm thinking that you can also stream the show on the iPod Touch, but I'm sure about that one. Podcast is the easiest way, as I don't have to drop everything at 2:00 this afternoon just to hear the show. (And it's nice that they create a convenient podcast just for that segment of the show, so I don't need to listen to the whole thing, either.)

[David Tucker]

This whole thing is meant to be fun anyway. It looks like I have a very knowledgeable competitor in Jason O'Grady so it should be a fun show!

[jdmichal]

The archive is up for anyone that missed it:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck...des/2008/12/09

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by jdmichal

The archive is up for anyone that missed it:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck...des/2008/12/09

Thanks, jdmichal. I've updated the original post.

[Darius Wey]

Nice work, David. It was a good listen.