Has your Zune gotten social yet?
By Peter Rojas 
posted November 14th 2006 2:51PM
posted November 14th 2006 2:51PM
posted November 14th 2006 2:51PM
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You thought that they meant feature demands from people who bought Zunes? How adorable. They meant demands from content providers to remove and restrict features.
Zune...by tools, for tools.
My sony NW-HD1 got Social with some kid's zune in school today.
Expect news on the mp3 player freak baby to follow.
I bought a zune today to play with. I love how there is a piece of lint under the protective screen so I can't get to it. Who put this thing together? I mean, seriously, a piece of lint in the screen. The install was fine on my mac running boot camp, but the software is not intuitive at all to use. Zune is being returned tomorrow. I'll stick with my ipod.
the people saying anyone who likes it is an ms employee is freaking retarded and needs to grow up.
i picked mine up after work, and it's awesome.
i synched my 22gb library onto it in about 40 minutes, downloaded some stuff from marketplace, synched that... all without a single hitch.
i would say the best way to describe it is this: it basically is URGE, but with the zune logo, and with a device designed specifically for it. the best way to go is the zune pass...
as for quality... the videos on it are eh. a lot of artifacts. but i stuck the halo 3 teaser on it and it looked awesome : p sound sounds good. i've had many an mp3 player before and they all sound ok to me though lol. never did the ipod thing. i'm a bit of a apple hater.
thats kind of how i see the zune. even if it doesn't beat the ipod in sales, it's still "an ipod for the rest of us" (who don't like apple)
i think this question will be more pertinent in say 4-5 years as microsofts total vision starts to evolve.
At the risk of receiving more than my share of flack I'm re-posting a comment I submitted to yesterdays "Zune unpacking" story:
Even though I'll never be able to prove it, a slight odor of impostor ship keeps bothering me every time I read comments regarding various Zune stories on Engadget. Sure, many if not most have an opinion. And it is more than probable that a dominant portion of Zune commenters are what they identify themselves as - the average techno oriented/savvy Engadget readers voicing their thoughts, observations, slightly biased opinions and in some cases passionately biased ones at that.
Never the less, pro or against the new MS offering, most of us with even the faintest amount of fair judgment surely will be able to accredit Mr. Gate’s company with one able thing: an at times frightening drive to succeed in an area others have pioneered or made successful before them. This is all fine as well as legal in a free market society like ours. However, there has always been a Machiavellian undertone to their promotional efforts to succeed, surpass and hopefully completely annihilate their competition at all costs. And in the process stooping far below the moral and/or legal thresh holds has generally not been beyond them as proven by well-publicized and documented lawsuits as well as documentaries.
The fact that I keep sensing a noticeable “sprinkling” of “hired” bloggers or comment posters around the internet gives me a feeling that the greeting “Welcome to the Social” is referring to a very skilled society of Zunesters that has been pre-planted in the blogoshpere drumming up a well deserved buzz to the ‘nth degree with everything from seemingly “objective” comparison observations to “MySpace”/teen type of blurts appealing to the “cool/hip” side of the potential consumer base.
I do like competition as the consumer often benefits from it in terms of “more for less”. Also, I do not want to claim that Apple and others are immune to shady tactics at times as well. But I do have an issue with ANY company that directly or indirectly through hired promotional agencies pretend to be one of us, the consumers trying to start a ground swell a la “Let’s hang ‘em” plants shouting in the crowds.
People are actually getting upset that Zune's getting more coverage? Where were these people when iPod articles run rampant?
Mac Zealots. Man. They creep me out.
I echo others comments. I tried to install today on Vista, but that was a no-go. So then I installed the software on XP, which worked fine but wasn't exactly impressive compared to some other media players. And, of course, when I WiFi'd on my subway ride home tonight there was no one to be "social" with. Maybe tomorrow...before I go back to using the nano...
I'm buying this not because i don't like Ipods, but because of it's potential capability.
lets be honest here. There is going to be an army of programmers that are going to hack this thing to death and release firmware. Its code is written in CE which makes it entirely exploitable. Now granted, this is a double edged sword because of potentially wifi spreading viruses, but regardless of that, the potential is amazing.
An ex-coworker saw me at a restaurant and insisted on beaming their vCard to my Treo. I felt violated and insanely nerdy at the same time. I think "unleashing my inner DJ" with a random person might feel more lame beaming a vCard. *cringe*
bt - very true.
I am commenting more on the concept of sharing that is (supposedly anyway) driving the Zune. I don't think they have it right yet and think they know they don't but felt they had to get something out there. Which is fine to be critical of but to say the whole idea lacks merit the way many, for some reason astonishingly furious people, are doing on this board seems a little shortsighted.
Personally I don’t think the concept of sharing this way is totally wrong. I can see a future rendition, even with a firmware update to this version, where people set up a playlist and make it available for sharing (or broadcast) to those open to it - similar to sharing from a PC or laptop. I always see people plugging into their friend's iPod on the train or sharing an ear bud on the train. So sure sharing with this would start there but it isn't a big leap to making it cool for the person across the way to check out what you are listening to. Also, I was hoping they ponied up to UMG just so you could share their files freely because some sort of commons model with this thing would be cool. I guess not.
Mainly I just find it strange that people hate this thing so much that they claim, basically, that nobody wants to share music at all which is just as brain dead and sad as the paid hacks posting from the bowls of Redmond.
Top Ten Reasons the Microsoft Zune is a turd
1. It's just as proprietary and closed as the iPod
2. It won't work with any of the other Microsoft PlaysForSure Music Stores
3. You can't use Windows Media Player to load the Zune with Music
4. Built in Wifi connects you to other Zune's only - not wireless networks
5. You can share songs with other Zune's over wifi, but they will auto-delete after 3 days, and you can NEVER send them to that person again
6. It even imposes DRM and 3 day sharing limits to files YOU create add to your Zune - like mp3's from your garage band
7. You can share music and photos with other Zune's over wifi - but NOT video
8. The Zune store doesn't sell tv shows, movies, audio books, or have podcasts
9. There are no additional apps, no stopwatch, no clock, no address book, etc.
10. It comes in brown. Are they advertising it's a turd?!?
http://www.microsoftshitbrick.com/
I just wanted to point out that I got a kick reading these comments especially the MS-employee ones and the people freaking out about other people making accusations about MS employees. It's so obvious, come on, they all write HUGE difference and you can smell the bullet points. I can't help but add, what an absurd name, Zune. ha
Once 3X3 and general wifi is cracked and I can play what I want and do with it what I want THEN I'll buy one.
Has anyone sniffed the packets coming out of the Zune yet?
I think the wireless part of the Zune is fascinating. It advertises itself as 802.11 compatible, although it may not use TCP/IP, I guess. Maybe it just sends out regular SMB?
I think it will be more applicable to industrial use than social. For example, at ACL fest there were people at the front gate handing out ITMS gift cards, which were good for downloads of artists at the festival. To approach the Zune market you could probably make something that just detected Zunes w/ wireless on and automatically send them entire tracks.
If you have the subscription do the tracks still run out after 3 plays?
Oh and also I assume that you have to have the wireless sharing turned on to see other Zunes right? So how long is the battery life with the sharing turned on all the time?
Be fair. With Apple you pay $0.99 per song. No subscription. No sharing over wireless. You don't get rewarded for sharing. These might not be significant things but the do add up. As I said in my previous post, I think this scheme is actually pretty clever. If it takes off it will lure people to Zune Marketplace and will help them spend money on tracks. This is a very simple idea. Revenue aside, RIAA would never let MS release a device that would just share tracks with no limitations absolutely free of charge. Majors would just boycott Zune Marketplace.
OMG... You sign on under two different names to slam MS? "BL4H!" and "Nick" .... ROFLMFAO
holy crap... you are the worst kind of Apple Fanboy hahaha get a life! If you are going to sign onto Engadget to troll MS threads, at least be careful and don't slip up and double post using both of your monikers!
And the insecure Apple dorks accuse people who like the Zune of being MS employees? What are MS fanboys supposed to think when they can actually SEE that some tool ("obviously" a paid Apple employee... prolly gets his paychecks signed by Jobs himself... blah blah blah LOL) is signing on using TWO (probably many more) names to slam the Zune?
Busted.
yeah i typed Hense... not hence... sorry
The Zune is pretty badass. My girlfriend asked me to get her one for Christmas, so I picked up two today. There are definately some minor kinks in the software as all the reviewers have mentioned, but nothing so big that it can't be fixed in time for Christmas when most people unwrap theirs.
PS: The sharing feature is useful and very slick. Like someone pointed out previously, most Zune users are going to pick the subscription, so all music is free after the monthly fee anyway.
When puts somebody a link for watching the zune in use. (not photos from Microsoft)
1) i only buy record industry-approved hardware.
2) i only buy commercial music available online by big companies
3) i encourage low royalties for artists and high royalties for corporate pigs with every purchase i make.
4) i discourage all open formats, and open devices that act like mass storage devices for both data and audio, because I have lots to hide
5) I consistently demonstrate my ignorance by comparing the Zune with the iPod, because, as we all know, no other manufacturers exist. Let alone others offering us the opportunity to copy music over devices and operating systems just like data, without separate software
I am Average Joe. My attention span isn't what it used to be. Zune is a revolution. I am blinded by the revolution, maaaaan. Wi-fi. Coool!
Let's get social!!!111
Ah, the Zune, Microsoft's answer to a someday soon out dated FAD, the I-Pod. First of all, I have hated the I=-pod since it launched. No, I'm not a hater, I am just not big on dumbing down consumers to make a buck. Yes, they hold quite a bit, but most any PDA could fulfill the same function. If Microsoft would have gotten off their a**es and actually worked over CE to be a communication oriented OS, rather than a mirror or Windows desktop, perhaps they could have made a media centric device that would have been competitive in the current market. I can not believe how short sighted this device is. I further can not believe how LOCKED DOWN the services and standards are. This is just as bad as the damn .dvr-ms file types the MCE uses and you have to convert. It would serve them right, to choke on this like Teddy Rukspin/Barney dolls of yore.
What makes this even worse to me, is that I work with Microsoft. Did anyone actually put some thought into the design and functionality here or did they just decide they needed something in the market place to compete with a company whose only saving grace for their current stock price is the I-Pod.
Wake up MS, you actually don't compete with Apple. When you try to it looks really bad,
John
After reading the thrid or fourth RETARDED post regarding Vista and how anyone using it at the mo is using an illegal copy I just have to post.
YOU ARE STUPID
I am running Vista RC1, because I signed upto the Beta test. And guess what, imbeciles. IT'S OFFICIAL AND LEGAL
I myself got a zune yesterday, and no...contrary to what I am SURE to be accused of, I am not an Microsoft plant sent here to post positive comments to sway influence on you so that you go and buy a zune.
Like with every other DAP out there, this unit has its shortcomings. HOWEVER, I DO have to say that overall, this is a DAMN good piece of hardware, and one that (for now) will give the iPOD a run for its money.
Allow me to share a few of my thoughts/observations regarding some of the things I've read in these comments.
First off, ALL of you seem to forget that the WiFi on this device can be shut off. This not only saves battery life, but also prevents "strange and unwanted" transfers. Only foolish people would accept files from people they don't know (the same morons who open up files in their emails from strangers), and in the unlikely chance of an "airborne zune virus", those of us whom are wise would be pretty safe..seeing how (I'd hope) you wouldn't take something unless you were expecting it.
Second. Huge and bulky? compared to a nano, sure. But to most other 30gb players...its about standard.
Third. The 3X3 deal. I must admit, this doesn't sit right with me. I completely understand WHY they do it, but for someone like me (In a band), I'd like to give/swap some of my new tracks with friends without them getting deleted after 3 days/3 plays.
More downsides are the zune software. Its nice, don't get me wrong...really easy to use..but SLOW and needs some patching. It did a decent job of handling my tags (as well as fixing a few on its own), as well as finding appropriate album art, but in those cases when I had to apply my own covers to albums, it was hit or miss. Sometimes it would work..others it wouldn't (for example, half the tracks of an album would have the cover..the other half wouldn't). Easily fixable with some updates obviously.
Back on to the subject of this entire thread...have I connected to anyone yet. Yep...I have. And it's pretty fast. This device is off to a slowish start, but I have a hunch it will gain in popularity (I honestly do know a lot of die hard iPOD users who are keeping an eye on the zune in a positive way..go figure!). As more and more people get it, I see lots of advantages to sharing songs wirelessly.
Oh..and in closing. Remember, microsoft doesn't like to fail. They will pump SO much money into advertising this device so that it will take off(x-box anyone?). They are aware of what they have to compete with, and I don't see the zune dissapearing for a long time.
Look at that screen shot, above, with the Zune error message. Read what it says.
Can ANYBODY imagine Apple programming an iPod with an error message as dopey as "No nearby iPod devices found." Zune DEVICES? Is there another kind of Zune that's not a device? Are you frigging kidding me?
The word "nearby" is also redundant. What, no nearby Zune Devices were found, but we did find one in Toledo you can send a song to?
Perhaps it's a mistake to read too much into that screenshot, but this thing looks like it was designed by engineers, not designers, which will be the death knell if true.
I think I'll stick with my iPod device. Hell, maybe that's the next big thing in consumer electronics branding - adding the word "device" after the name.
First the iPod, then the iPod color and photo and nano and mini and shuffle and Red. Just in time for Christmans, the iPod Device!
Christ.
uhhh, wtf are you talking about? zune's a marketing term for the whole plethora microsoft is presenting. the software used for the zune device is called "zune". therefore, it is actually relevant to refer to the player as a zune "device".
& the whole "nearby" argument doesn't really make sense. i don't really see the redundancy in it.
frankly, you wasted a good deal of space complaining about one irrelevant word. and even if i were to give you that argument, you sure did a horrible job of presenting it...
Woo-hoo - linked from BBC News technology page.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/default.stm
You've made the big-time boys :-)
"most importantly, when you plug into a tv the interface is on the tv. That is a big one. ipod does NOT do that. So I plug the zune into my car lcd screen and the whole interface is there. NICE".
I really wish the iPod would do that. If I had a pc I would buy the zune just for that feature.
If apple added that for use with ir dock/remote functionality that would be a MAJOR selling point for me.
God, you people on here (mostly) are rude apple freaks. I run several websites, I get more linux visitors than OS X... Get over crapple.
I have a LEGAL copy of Vista Beta RC2. It will work until June next year legally. I think anyone talking about Vista probably got it from three sources. A) Microsoft Website gave periodic downloads of the Beta for people try it out. B) People paid redicioulus amounts for MSDN Universal which gives free access to all Betas. C) You are a member of Microsoft Connect (which is where I got it). I have been a MS Beta Tester since 2000, testing both XP and Vista.
About the Zune... won't get it. I bought a $299 HP iPaq which has Windows Media 10, can support 8GB SD (removal memeory, so actually your memory is limitless unlike Ipod and Zune) and allows real WiFi, Skype, Games, Apps, Infrared, etc...
I'm still happily using my old 4th-gen non-video-playing iPod, but I think there are some features that would quickly turn the Zune into a must-have:
1. Remove the 3x3 limit on non-DRM'd music. (I know that the bastards at the RIAA will NEVER allow this, though.)
2. Allow WiFi connection to the Zune Marketplace. Wouldn't it be cool to download new music to the Zune from whereever you are (as long as you have a WiFi connection)?
3. Podcasts. Of course Apple didn't have this until very recently and it is pretty easy to do so I would think that this feature will be coming pretty soon.
Some nice-to-haves:
1. Allow WiFi sync to your PC.
2. Allow WiFi access to internet radio.
3. Allow the Zune to be seen as an external drive on PCs, even if it's a separate file store than the music (similar to how iPods work).
They really could do a lot to improve the use of WiFi on the things.
virus + social = Social disease?
I am a disgusting spammer: info@sortnews.com
Hey,
My Zune got social and tell you what, when it does...its really cool. One of my colleagues had also bought a Zune and on Thursday I saw her (wirelessly) listening to Led Zep. It was really cool!! So I recorded a fun message and placed it on my Zune and sent it to her. It appears she bought one for herself and one for her daughter. I am having fun with this feature.
Rohit
Mine is a ipod mini, just to declare my colors. I'll repeat that I welcome the competition so my next ipod (or iphone) will be better. My comment:
Why do we assume that the only plants are from MS? If I were Apple I'd have some plants on the big blogs right now. Now that I think of it, I can imagine apple store employees spending their down time on the blogs.
Yeah... I got a Zune.. and wow... I had an iPod but i decided to trade it in for a zune after I realized how ANNOYING the scroll wheel is... But I love the thing... despite it needing some security updates and stuff in the zune Marketplace,(I uninstalled zune from my computer and got a new one, but didn't want to lose some of the preloads, so when it said 'this zune already has a home' I just hit cancel and I was able to reverse-sync all my music onto the new computer, plugged back in the Zune, and I just put all the music on it) the thing is great. I had to exchange my first one because it had a problem with not starting up right away, but my new one works great.