Zune Thoughts Coming Soon

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.zunethoughts.com' target='_blank'>http://www.zunethoughts.com</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/zunethoughts-logo.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/>

[Mike Temporale]

OOhhhhhhh, AAhhhhhhh :!: Love the graphic. Looking forward to the site.

What's all the talk about this Zune thing anyway? ;)

[Rocco Augusto]

:drool:

[Kris Kumar]

Details?

Just one graphic as the teaser? Come on Fabrizio! we need some animated/flash teaser. :lol:

[Pete Paxton]

You guyz are zo zilly :lol:

[Macguy59]

An entire site based on what is so far vaporware? Must need to account for every waking minute :lol:

[saru7755]

If anybody interested, this is what has been going on about the ZUNE at PocketPC Thoughts :arrow:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50235&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0

[alex_kac]

Forgive me, but I'm not too keen on all these separate sites. I love PPC Thoughts and SP THoughts but already wish they were really just one site. Now a site based on a non-existant device that we don't even know is even worth talking about just because it comes from MS?

How about a "Digital Device Thoughts" where we can simply put our gadget loving thoughts into one place :) That's why I love Gizmodo and Engadget as well.

[dh]

Forgive me, but I'm not too keen on all these separate sites. I love PPC Thoughts and SP THoughts but already wish they were really just one site. Now a site based on a non-existant device that we don't even know is even worth talking about just because it comes from MS?

How about a "Digital Device Thoughts" where we can simply put our gadget loving thoughts into one place :) That's why I love Gizmodo and Engadget as well.

Yes I have to agree. As far as I'm concerned, Smartphones and Pocket PCs are just two versions of the same thing. It would be better to have one site for those because there is so much overlap.

I guess the Zune thingy would happily live at Digital Media Thoughts, or as Alex says just make one big site.

[Ed Hansberry]

How about a "Digital Device Thoughts" where we can simply put our gadget loving thoughts into one place :) That's why I love Gizmodo and Engadget as well.
well, there is engadget and gizmodo already. why copy that? I like SPT and PPCT being separate. I am not a SP user so most SPT articles are of little interest to me. ba having them separate you also allow for the off topic posts that are only tangentally related. if you did that in one site, you'd have a big mess without the same unique character.

[Mike Temporale]

I agree with Ed. I could care less about those PPC things. I haven't touched mine in ages. I like not having to cut through he latest PPC news just to see what's happening on the Smartphone Camp. :mrgreen:

[Macguy59]

Of course Jason can do as he wishes but the Zune could easily be part of DMT. And he quips about Apple devotees :lol:

[Mike Temporale]

I seriously don't know much about this Zune thing. All i've seen is that it's microsoft's attempt at a ipod. Is there more to it?

[Stinger]

What interests me is how this could potentially affect Microsoft's Windows Mobile strategy in the future.

Could we one day see a Microsoft-branded range of smartphones and maybe even a Microsoft MVNO?

[Rocco Augusto]

You guyz are zo zilly :lol:

:rotfl:

[encece]

What's Next???

UMPCThoughts.com?
8GigabyteSDCardThoughts.com?
USBSyncAndChargeCableThoughts.com?

Really getting specific aren't you guys?

Then it will narrow down again when SPs and PPCs merge. Then again when PCs and PDAs merge. Everything was supposed to be converging.

In 5 to 10 years....There will be just one Thoughts.com one day :) and just a google cache of ZuneThoughts.com :D

[encece]

Besides....if someone figures out how to throw a 20GB drive in a smartphone or ppc....doesnt that beat the Zune?

[Jason Dunn]

Forgive me, but I'm not too keen on all these separate sites. I love PPC Thoughts and SP THoughts but already wish they were really just one site.

Merging the sites is something that's on my radar, but for now, they're still quite different devices and different communities.

Now a site based on a non-existant device that we don't even know is even worth talking about just because it comes from MS?

Launching a site about a new platform before knowing everything about it is a bit risky, sure, but I have my reasons that I'll express when I launch the site.

How about a "Digital Device Thoughts" where we can simply put our gadget loving thoughts into one place :) That's why I love Gizmodo and Engadget as well.

Gizmodo and Engadget are both great at what they do, but what they do is pure news - community is a side-effect, and their version of community is very different from ours. Being broadly focused has its place, but that's not what we tend to be good at here at Thoughts Media. ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

What interests me is how this could potentially affect Microsoft's Windows Mobile strategy in the future.

An interesting thought...the Zune will have built-in WiFi, so it's not a stretch to combine some Bluetooth headphone support, Skype, and bam...

[Jerry Raia]

I like the name, Zune. Sounds futuristic.

[Jason Dunn]

What's Next??? UMPCThoughts.com?

It's on the radar, along with a whole bunch of others.

8GigabyteSDCardThoughts.com?
USBSyncAndChargeCableThoughts.com?

Come on, now you're just being silly. ;-)

Really getting specific aren't you guys?

Not really. Look at it this way:

Device (iPAQ, Zen Vision:M)...too specific
Platform (Windows Mobile, Zune, Vista)...just right
Genre (Digital Media)...very broad, hard to get traction
Concept (Computers, Sports)...way too broad

Trust me, I've been thinking about this kind of stuff for six years, I have a good grasp of how it works. ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

Besides....if someone figures out how to throw a 20GB drive in a smartphone or ppc....doesnt that beat the Zune?

If you've ever tried to use your Smartphone as a video/audio/photo player and compared that process to an iPod or Zen Vision, you'd realize they are VERY different devices and one is way easier than the other. ;-)

[Macguy59]

I like the name, Zune. Sounds futuristic.

Really? Makes me think of Ward and the Beaver :D

[Jerry Raia]

If you've ever tried to use your Smartphone as a video/audio/photo player and compared that process to an iPod or Zen Vision, you'd realize they are VERY different devices and one is way easier than the other. ;-)

Exactly, another reason I like this. Maybe we can get the media buttons off the Smartphones!

[encece]

First let me say that you didnt need to respond to ALL of my points. They were indeed meant to be silly and exaggerated.

I never did get DigitalMediaThoughts. It has always been too broad and covered too many areas. I like VistaThoughts (which I think you mentioned there). I also like the idea of XBOXThoughts or GamerThoughts if you went beyond the MS thing. DigitalMediaThoughts, I thought, should have been Audio and Video. I know this crosses lines many times into other areas....but it always felt scattered and lost in it;s purpose.

I never did get the PortableMediaCenter thing....nor the ipod for that matter. I dont see a need to carry 5000+ songs with me at all times, nor do I see a need to carry more than one device. I refuse to carry a PPC or SP AND an ipod or zune or whatever. I have a hard enough time getting myself to wrap my head around a BT GPS to go along with my phone. I tried a Samsung Napster 20GB player when they forst came out. I always thought it was better than the ipod at the time as it had an FM Transmitter, MP3 Recorder and FM Radio built in....but it was just another thing to carry and charge every day. Not for me.

Integration. Convergence. Convenience. That's what I'm all about!

Give me a SP or PPC with built in GPS. Larger capacity HD with a decent battery to go along with it. Upgrade the media software (Which is all an ipod is after all....software and a hard drive). A half decent camera, with built in wifi and internet access....and that's all I need (today).

ZUNE is going the wrong way IMO.
ZUNE should be software solutionS integrated into existing MS products like PCs, XBOXs and above all....Mobile Devices like the SP and PPCs and upcoming portable gaming devices.

MS should stop trying to capture what Apple has done with the iPod and instead reDEFINE it. PCs rule the world. If all of my media was accessable on my Home PC, Work PC, Cafe PC, Mobile phone....why would I ever need an iPod?

In short...I don't get it. Maybe one day I will. But not today.

PS.
Don't get too cocky when you state that you've been doing this for 6 years. We have been reading your (wonderful) sites for 6 years as well and know which ones worked and which ones didn't as well. ZUNEThoughts will only do as well as the Zune. You dont have any control over that. (Good thing you never started that SPOTThoughts site!) :D

[Kris Kumar]

ZUNE is going the wrong way IMO.
ZUNE should be software solutionS integrated into existing MS products like PCs, XBOXs and above all....Mobile Devices like the SP and PPCs and upcoming portable gaming devices.

I am also all for convergence. I was never too crazy about music, so could never understand the iPod craze.

I agree that Zune should have been a PPC /SP based software solution. But I believe there is a market out there that wants a simplified/focused device. A market that is going the Apple way, that Microsoft wants to stake a claim to. iPod is driving the (crappy) iTunes business, Apple has a lock on both the content and the distribution. I don't think any competitor would like to be in a situation like that.

If Microsoft were to introduce a iTunes equivalent for SP / PPC (assuming Zune is launched as software only solution) then there will not be enough folks out there to make Microsoft's iTunes profitable.

The only way to be profitable is to launch a device that looks and works as good as the iPod, at a price and size of iPod and then go for the extra zing.

The extra zing that Microsoft is betting on is bring some kind of social networking play, I am not too sure how or the specifics, but I believe Zune is not just a music player and music download site. It will help you find music based on your taste, what your buddies are listening to, Zune is about service not just hardware and content. If am sounding like a Microsoft supporter, to some extent I am, but I too would like to see them execute. They have the financial power to make it happen, but it is bad to dismiss an idea as bad because the idea has no use for me. Not everyone is like me or thinks like me. What works for me, may not for someone else. And vice-versa.

I am sure Microsoft is trying to bring the Xbox Live aka gamertag experience to Zune. Let's see if it will click.

I am positive that in a year or so, we will hear about a Zune client for the Windows Mobile platform, who knows it will be baked into Windows Mobile .Next. ;-)

It will take time for Microsoft to dislodge or grab a stake in this new market.

Microsoft has the following: Live Anywhere, MSN, Xbox (and Xbox Live), Vista (and Media Center), Windows Mobile and now Zune. Lets see how it all comes together.

[Kirkaiya]

Besides....if someone figures out how to throw a 20GB drive in a smartphone or ppc....doesnt that beat the Zune?

Well... if you have an older PPC with a CF slot, and you can get your hands on one of those prototype 12 GB micro-drives Hitachi (or somebody) demo'd a few months ago... you could build your own "Zune".

But seriously - Microsoft will launch more than just a device. The iPod, after all, is partially so successful because you can buy songs for 99 cents a pop on iTunes. And buy TV shows and play them on your video iPod.

So Microsoft needs to launch an online music store that goes "live" with a huge number of songs/artists, and TV shows, movies, etc. that use some DRM to keep the studios happy, AND a device so sleek, simple and desirable that people will choose it over Apple's music-delivery-system (iTunes + iPod). I look at how Microsoft's "MSN" portal has fallen further and further behind Yahoo, AOL and Google, and I think there are some things they're not great at.

Honestly, iPod/iTunes is a tough nut to crack - iPods are practically fashion accessories. Maybe Microsoft will stick to it, and after 2 or 3 years, they'll have significant market share, but it's going to be a long, tough slog. Seriously - I bought my wife an iPod Nano last year, and she loves it, and she normally hates tech (she did use the Palm V I won on PDABuzz.com, back when that was a new product, for a few years, and liked it, though).

We'll see. I happen to like the PPC and WM5 SmartPhone Operating Systems, partly because I like to tweak and to hack around with my stuff.

[sojourner753]

ZUNE is going the wrong way IMO.
ZUNE should be software solutionS integrated into existing MS products like PCs, XBOXs and above all....Mobile Devices like the SP and PPCs and upcoming portable gaming devices.


Zune absolutely will fit in with all of this. There's one way to tell how far MS will take Zune. When it cmes out, think about how it fits into the Windows eco-system.

I bet it will fit perfectly into the MCE and XBox strategy. As I said in the PPCT post, I don't want to see a DAP. Lets mix things up and change the game.

Bill Gates once said that Palm want the organizer war. So let Apple win the music player war while MS takes the ubiquitous entertainment market.