Zune Catching Up?

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11336&story=5878' target='_blank'>http://www.advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11336&story=5878</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>&quot;Microsoft recently released the Zune MP3 player to compete with Apple&rsquo;s iPod. The Zune, much like the iPod, is an MP3 player capable of playing music, viewing photos and watching videos. They are comparable units, boasting 30GB hard drives for $249.99... There are other cool features built into the player that the iPod doesn&rsquo;t have, says Appleton Best Buy employee Zach Michael.&nbsp; &ldquo;It has a larger viewing screen that tilts sideways, and it has WiFi connection from Zune to Zune,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It also has a built-in radio like most do now, but iPod owners have to purchase a $50 accessory.&rdquo;&nbsp; Even with all the cool features the Zune possesses, it still hasn&rsquo;t reached iPod sales yet, according to Michael.&nbsp; &ldquo;The iPod is still selling better, but the Zune is catching on,&rdquo; he said. But it&rsquo;s so new to the market it&rsquo;s taking some time to reach the public. Everyone is still on the iPod fad.&rdquo; When asked about what he recommends consumers buy, Michael says he doesn&rsquo;t recommend either product.&nbsp; &ldquo;I try to determine which unit is better based on individuals needs, which player suits them,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; He also mentioned that company preference comes into the equation of what player should be purchased. &ldquo;Some people don&rsquo;t like Apple, and some don&rsquo;t like Microsoft,&rdquo; he said.&quot;</em></p><p>Well, ain't that the truth?&nbsp; It's nice to see that salespeople now know what the Zune is, rather than giving me that blank stare when I ask if they have any Zune assecories.&nbsp; This guy even seems to know its features, which is also encouraging.&nbsp; As for not recommending it, well, I'm not sure I'd even recommend it to&nbsp;people at this point, so I can't blame him.&nbsp; Unless you've got all your ID3 tags in a row, or are planning on buying all your music, you'll find finessing your current collection a real pain just to get the Zune to view it properly.&nbsp; And converting videos to play on the Zune is not something someone new to the subject would find fun.&nbsp; What about you?&nbsp; Do you find yourself recommending the Zune, or are you holding off for now?</p>

[cjhp]

I think it depends on the person. I have been watching this market closely for about a year now and finally decided to jump in. The big persuading factor for me was I didn't have a library to convert and the subscription services was very attractive for me. I also liked the idea of something a little different. I was going to get one of the flashed based devices and was getting ready to purchase one right before the Zune came out. Then I changed and have loved the Zune device and the marketplace subscription service. I have probably 100 or slightly more CDs and most are available on the marketplace so I haven't bothered ripping them to the PC just downloaded them off the marketplace. For me it was the ideal device. I have also recommended it to a number of people that are in a similar situation as mine. I also was never a fan of the scroll wheel. Thanks j...

[USArcher]

When I do talk about Zune I find myself talking about it from a music only perspective. But until Microsoft has a more compelling story around movie/tv downloads and interface with Media Center PCs I have been holding off in actually recommending it.

Zune Catching Up? Right now, not at all. But if Microsoft does implement the right (existing) technologies & widens the target customer base there is no reason it can't start grabbing chunks at a time. Where is the family in their advertising? Sharing photos while visting grandma/pa? Teenager watching a movie on the airplane thats taking the family to their vacation spot? Or the everyday drive to work for the everyday man/woman. I'm not saying that mtv type advertising doesn't have its place.

[NPrtmn4evr]

I know what you mean about recommending it, Damion. I don't think I've recommended the Zune to anyone yet, but I will defend it when people talk bad about it.

What's funny though (or kinda sad), is that someone at work was asking me about my Zune, and I was telling them about how nice the screen is, and I was going to show them a video of Little Miss Sunshine that I put on there. However, when I went to select the video my Zune froze up on me and I had to reset the device. My Zune had never completely frozen on me before either. Not a good first impression for him:(

[Macguy59]

The Best Buy in my town won't have that problem (for the moment anyway). They have returned their remaing stock of Zunes. I got 2 different explanations. One said they were returned because they had not sold very well (the store had in fact discounted them about a month ago) another added that he thought new models would be out in the next couple of months. While the later may have some validity, why would they send them all back so far in advance? The Circuit city across the way has seen "moderate" sales of the player though they are expected to go on sale within the next 2 weeks.