09-09-2009, 11:28 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ptyork
Microsoft should put a camera at the TOP of their device so that users don't take pictures of their index fingers. Better yet, one that takes photos in addition to videos. Those are easy wins for Microsoft!!
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Agreed - the placement of the camera is kind of insane...unless it's designed to take pictures when the iPod is placed horizontally. There's a slew of video coming out now from people with iPhones held vertically... 
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09-10-2009, 04:17 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
iTunes is in 23 countries. The Zune Marketplace is in one. Microsoft's US-centric approach with the Zune is maddening...I thought there was some light at the end of the tunnel when they launched the Zune in Canada last year, but we never got the Zune Marketplace here, and now the devices being sold here are being killed off. "Disaster" is a good word for how well the Zune launch went in Canada. Between the Zune HD being US-only at launch, and all of the IP-based geographic blocking madness that the Zune software and Web site does, it's like the Zune team is doing everything they can to alienate everyone in the world outside the US. More after the break.
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Has anyone heard what is the mindset at Microsoft in only offering the Marketplace to people residing in the US?
Of all the issues that come to my mind, I can't figure out how they can't overcome them.
1) Copyright - It seems that Apple has overcome any issues with copyright. Surely Microsoft's lawyers must be a smart as them.
2) Software challenges - C'mon. One of the biggest software companies in the world should be able to figure out how to make certain pieces of music or video or whatever available to one market region and perhaps not to another.
3) Financial - Microsoft seems to have no problem selling other stuff online to people outside of the United States.
4) Distribution agreements - Again something that Apple has been able to figure out. This is something that is neither hardware nor software in nature. If Microsoft only signed an agreement to distribute content in the United States, I'm sure that the content provider would not object to deriving revenue from other markets via Microsoft.
5) CRTC - Again something that Apple has been able to figure out.
6) Canadian Networks/Music Distributors - Again something that Apple has been able to figure out.
I've never seen an official statement from Microsoft explaining WHY Marketplace is not available in Canada. Sure we're only on market the size of California, but Apple has been able to find worth in an additional 22 countries as well as Canada, just what is up with Microsoft?
While I continue to read news articles about how Canada is a haven for illegal downloading, but as an owner of a Zune I have no other software alternative to legally (and conveniently) purchase items.
Sure, I suppose I could buy an iPod, but I could also push a hot poker into my eyes. (The following statement was made by a late '80's Apple fanboy. I owned an Apple II+ when it wasn't cool to own an Apple.)
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09-10-2009, 07:05 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djrudiak
Has anyone heard what is the mindset at Microsoft in only offering the Marketplace to people residing in the US? Of all the issues that come to my mind, I can't figure out how they can't overcome them.
...
4) Distribution agreements - Again something that Apple has been able to figure out. This is something that is neither hardware nor software in nature. If Microsoft only signed an agreement to distribute content in the United States, I'm sure that the content provider would not object to deriving revenue from other markets via Microsoft.
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I agree completely (obviously) and I'm practically tearing my hair out of my head trying to figure out why Microsoft seems to be completely and totally inept a this. The only two things that comes to mind are this:
Apple was the first company to negotiate big, international music distribution deals, and way back then most of the music labels probably though Apple would fail, or at best only be mildly successful. So they said "Sure, 99 cents sounds fine as long as the bit rate sucks." Fast-forward, and iTunes is massively successful. We've watched as the record labels pressured Apple for variable pricing year after year, trying to re-assert control over their music. They finally got it. The labels don't like all the power that Apple has, so here's my theory: they're making it very hard, if not impossible, for the Zune guys to get the same sort of deal that Apple has. They're trying to exert control over the Zune deal in a way they wish they could have done with the Apple deal years ago.
Witness the $1 that Universal demanded Microsoft pay them for every Zune sold. We're talking POWER STRUGGLE here people. Maybe that's one reason why Microsoft can't accomplish now what Apple did years ago - the record labels are more aware of what they want to control.
Second reason? Maybe Microsoft feels that the Zune Pass is SO important that they can't/won't launch Zune Marketplace without it. It's quite integral to the Zune experience - many new Zune features rely on the customer having a Zune Pass - so maybe Microsoft isn't launching in new markets unless that market includes the Zune Pass. I think this is a bit silly - not everyone wants a Zune Pass - but maybe it's another reason?
These are just my theories. 
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09-10-2009, 07:51 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 20
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more negative THAN you
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I will say though that if you look around the Web at other reactions to the Apple announcements today, you'll find many far more negative about it then I was.
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Jason, I thought your thoughts were very fair to the iPod and were rather astute. On the other hand, I think you are overly optimistic about the Zune's competitiveness and the strengths of its few advantages.
Most negative comments derive from solely an in-the-know techy, consumer perspective. I don't find it very relevant in the real marketplace. Most people buying a music player or mobile device in the next year aren't thinking dream features they haven't heard of; they are thinking: this has more than last year and is cheaper.
Hell, can you remember which of the 3-6 announcements/keynotes Apple has made each year over the last 8 years that was received by the majority of the press favorably? Has the marketplace reflected these "pannings" of "meh, boring" announcements?
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09-10-2009, 04:45 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
iTunes is in 23 countries. The Zune Marketplace is in one. Microsoft's US-centric approach with the Zune is maddening...I thought there was some light at the end of the tunnel when they launched the Zune in Canada last year, but we never got the Zune Marketplace here, and now the devices being sold here are being killed off. "Disaster" is a good word for how well the Zune launch went in Canada. Between the Zune HD being US-only at launch, and all of the IP-based geographic blocking madness that the Zune software and Web site does, it's like the Zune team is doing everything they can to alienate everyone in the world outside the US.
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Well, that's just it. Three years and still nothing. Does it really take that long to go global?
As impressive as the Zune HD hardware is, I'm after something that delivers an excellent all-in-one experience. As long as the Zune team insist on me importing the hardware, putting up with IP restrictions, futzing around with regional settings, and asking US-based friends to purchase Zune gift cards on my behalf, the Zune will never deliver that excellent all-in-one experience. It's little wonder that the iPod touch and iPhone are doing so well.
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09-10-2009, 02:49 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 984
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Steve Jobs on why there is no camera on the Touch (from NYTimes):
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“Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine,” he said. “We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.”
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So, I think that I was right; they were more concerned this year with getting the Touch at the right price/storage levels than adding features like a camera or a microphone, and most of their consumers seem to care more about simple gaming apps than they do about features. And keeping the same 8GB model meant that there would be a feature difference between the 8 GB and the 32 and 64, maybe something that they did not want.
Also:
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I also asked him why the Nano can record video, but can’t snap still photos. That reason, he said, is technical: the sensors you need to record video are extremely thin these days—thin enough to fit into the wafer-thin Nano. But the ones with enough resolution for stills, especially with autofocus (like the sensor in the iPhone), are much too thick to cram into a player that’s only .02 inches thick.
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So they'd rather have a thin, video Nano than a thicker one that can also shoot still photos. Interesting. (Still, my 4G Nano makes a flash Zune look like a thick slab by comparison, so he's probably right about keeping it as thin as the 4G.)
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09-10-2009, 07:53 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 20
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Watched Folders!
Bam! They have added watched folders:
http://lifehacker.com/5356619/itunes...-add-new-music
Well, since it isn't advertised and it's one specific folder, this isn't the true feature delivered yet -- apparently just a quiet test. However, with it implemented even in only one specific folder, there are a million ways to get this now to work as anyway could expect monitored folders to work with a few small tweaks.
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09-10-2009, 09:47 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 984
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dp
Bam! They have added watched folders:
http://lifehacker.com/5356619/itunes...-add-new-music
Well, since it isn't advertised and it's one specific folder, this isn't the true feature delivered yet -- apparently just a quiet test. However, with it implemented even in only one specific folder, there are a million ways to get this now to work as anyway could expect monitored folders to work with a few small tweaks. |
I've actually been doing this with a folder action set to a very, very simple automator script (it is a two step action, actually.) It's always worked fine. But I'll definitely replace it with this.
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09-10-2009, 11:56 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 20
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Automator to the rescue!
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I've actually been doing this with a folder action set to a very, very simple automator script (it is a two step action, actually.) It's always worked fine. But I'll definitely replace it with this.
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Yeah, pretty easy with automator, but the Win folks don't get that benefit. I've never had much concern for folder monitoring myself as I always want to scrub and edit tags based on my own conventions anyway when I import music rather than letting anything that may be downloaded or added from another source or added by someone else on my computer or on the network just populate the music with their own naming and tagging schemes. But it's nice to see Apple working on this, even in a crude state at this point.
Last edited by dp; 09-11-2009 at 12:06 AM..
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09-12-2009, 07:07 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
- ...I think it's a huge mistake for the Zune team to drop the small form-factor Zune. If I ever manage to convince my brain to take me back to the gym again, I'm not going to strap my expensive, 32 GB Zune HD to my arm. I'm going to bring a cheap SanDisk Sansa Clip, a device that's a pain to sync music onto. I'd much rather be using a really small, Flash-based Zune (even if it didn't have a screen).
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I just posted a similar rant. It's a huge mistake. Microsoft needs to understand that people want variety--at least 2 or 3 different form factor options. Taking the Zune HD with me to run or weight lift is NOT an ideal situation. The thought of dropping it while weight lifting or running (something that happens with my small Zune 8GB), getting sweat on the gorgeous OLED touch screen frequently or just plain being stolen from the gym makes me cringe. It's a theft magnet, and it's larger than ideal to strap on my arm or on shorts while working out.
I might delete my other post, but overall I'm wondering what is going on with the Zune development team. The Zune HD is great move, but Microsoft is still clearly missing it with these decisions. I don't really like the iPod nano, but with my smaller Zune 8GB in very worn condition (after a year of carrying it to the gym), I need to replace it soon and will have no choice but to buy an iPod nano now. And if I do that, it makes no sense for me to use two different programs for managing music on two different devices. So I might juts go the Apple route all-together now. I'd buy an iPod Touch AND a Nano as long as I can manage them with the same program.
The only thing I absolutely hate about iTunes however is its peer-to-peer system instead of central/server based media library option. Having to "license" 5 computers for playing music around the house is plain silly to me.
They just can't just get it right can they? LOL
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