10-03-2007, 06:19 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,053
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Positive Impression From the NYT
A year into this venture and Microsoft’s announcement, if it says nothing else, says they’re taking this market seriously. There is no doubt that they had a rough launch when it came to media impressions of the first Zune. While we might love our first generation devices, I’m sure everyone remembers the very poor reception it was given all around. I’ve already noticed a significantly different tenor in the media response to this generation.
“But one of the most striking changes had to do with Microsoft’s effort to enhance what had been perhaps the most talked-about feature on the original device: the ability to share music files and other media wirelessly with other Zune owners. Far too few people, however, purchased the player for such sharing to become commonplace, and the function held little appeal because it was crippled by usage rules negotiated with the music industry. Shared songs expired within a few days, even if the recipient did not play them. And a file acquired from one Zune user could not be shared with a third user.
Under the new rules, Microsoft said, shared songs would have no expiration date and it would be possible repeatedly to pass along songs sent from one device to another. But a shared file can be played only three times on each Zune.” – Jeff Leeds, NYT
I don’t think there is any doubt that this is a far more positive response to the new sharing scheme than what the first Zune garnered. While this is still a minor feature for many users due to the size of the installed user base, this response is a FAR cry from the derision seen in the first generation for this feature.
The NYT article goes on to talk about Bill Gates comments about the new Zune and the different models that will be available, as we all now know. Mr. Leeds seemed interested in the different social aspects that the new generation would bring such as sharing playlists via the web and the Zune Social website.
They say you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression but it seems that Zune 2.0 may be making its own first impression. So far it looks pretty positive!
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