[inteller]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I'm curious then - what other MP3 player on the market today has anything like the Zune social/cards/sharing stuff? Have you seen the 2.5 update yet? It's quite impressive with the updates for the social aspects.

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

listen, there are PLENTY of website forums where I can get "social" or read an XML stream to build a stupid playlist card. That crap is pure marketing fluff....which fails miserably if there is no one else around you to be "social" with. When was the last time you shared a song from your zune with a stranger? The "Social" should have been an open ended framework that other vendor devices could have participated in....I bet the only place the "social" lives up to its name are highly dense areas like new York Metro where you MIGHT bump into someone else using a Zune.

When you set out to compete in a market, do some basic research and find the benchmarks your device needs to have. The Social is an answer to a question no one asked. However, BASIC UNICODE SUPPORT should have been a requirement. It is dumbfounding coming from a company that stresses Unicode support in its software.

[inteller]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I'm curious then - what other MP3 player on the market today has anything like the Zune social/cards/sharing stuff? Have you seen the 2.5 update yet? It's quite impressive with the updates for the social aspects.

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

listen, there are PLENTY of website forums where I can get "social" or read an XML stream to build a stupid playlist card. That crap is pure marketing fluff....which fails miserably if there is no one else around you to be "social" with. When was the last time you shared a song from your zune with a stranger? The "Social" should have been an open ended framework that other vendor devices could have participated in....I bet the only place the "social" lives up to its name are highly dense areas like new York Metro where you MIGHT bump into someone else using a Zune.

When you set out to compete in a market, do some basic research and find the benchmarks your device needs to have. The Social is an answer to a question no one asked. However, BASIC UNICODE SUPPORT should have been a requirement. It is dumbfounding coming from a company that stresses Unicode support in its software.

[Lotheric]

I went through a Rio Volt and an iRiver iFP-790 and now I'm looking to buy a Zune 80 in june...

[Adam Krebs]

Originally Posted by inteller

When was the last time you shared a song from your zune with a stranger?

Just last week, actually. Maybe I have the advantage of being in a densely populated area, but I actually think it's kind of cool. Sure it's a gimmick, but the player is solid, and the wireless/Social experience is fun. As long as future updates don't have such a heavy reliance on Social (things with Social should be fairly modular from now on), I'll be a happy camper. If, however, they try to do to much with the service and start pumping out these acheivements (focusing less on the fun aspect and making it more of a competition to see who as the coolest music), then we'll have some problems.

But let's not talk about standards. Have you ever tried to minimize a whole bunch of windows at once in Vista? 9 times out of 10 I accidentally hit the (?) button on the Zune software because they stupidly placed it in the exact same position as the standard minimize button. That said, Unicode is a must, and it can't come soon (Zune?) enough.

P.S. 200th Post!

[David Tucker]

I have plenty of anime soundtracks on my Zune while it'd be nice if the text rendered correctly...that one definitely isn't at the top of my list of things I care about.

[yslee]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I have a Sansa Clip, and while it's a fine little device and does what it was meant to do, there's really nothing particularly impressive about it -

Heh, I see not many audiophiles visit this site, else you'd have been chewed out for that comment. The Clip has been lapped up by them as one of the best players for sound quality. Of course I personally think they take things too far...

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by David Tucker

But most of my friends who have their MP3 players have had them a while. My friends with Nanos that I can think of have had them 2 or 3 years. I know people with iPods that have had them longer than 3 years. People with non iPod players have all had them a while.

Really? I thought Steve Jobs had all iPods designed with built-in hardware failures that happen one week after the warranty expires, combined with the release of a nerve gas agent that compels the user to purchase another iPod.

[David Tucker]

My brother may be subject to that nervegas agent. I didn't count him because he went from an iPod to an iPhone.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by yslee

Heh, I see not many audiophiles visit this site, else you'd have been chewed out for that comment. The Clip has been lapped up by them as one of the best players for sound quality.

Well, I've heard that same thing about Audiophiles and the Zune, so if I have the Clip and the Zune, and both have great audio, I don't know what bad audio sounds like to compare it to.

[Janak Parekh]

Sure you do. Some of the Pocket PCs we've owned have terrible audio. The HTC Space Needle and the Treo 700w were amongst the worst...

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Janak Parekh

Sure you do. Some of the Pocket PCs we've owned have terrible audio. The HTC Space Needle and the Treo 700w were amongst the worst...

Ask me when the last time I used a Pocket PC or Smartphone to listen to music was...I haven't done that in over three years.