Five things Microsoft needs to do to fix the Zune
By Ryan Block 
posted March 20th 2007 4:57PM
posted March 20th 2007 4:57PM
Last week marked the fourth month the Zune has been on the market, and its sixth month since being officially announced. We know the Zune was in development all the way back into 2005 -- so why the hell is Microsoft having such a hard time ironing out even the basic kinks, let alone adding features? Wasn't the whole reason Microsoft went into the portable media hardware business because only vertically integrated solutions seem to be able to guarantee a vaguely acceptable DRM user experience?In month four it's not cool for the Zune to still have bugs causing skipping in (DRMed) content, nor any of the other severe issues, bugs, and limitations that keep the product from approaching likability by a larger audience than the handful of thousands of Zune users out there today. (Let's not kid ourselves here, Zunes haven't been selling, and most people don't take the Zune seriously at this point.) We're not trying to hate, but we think it's about time Microsoft acknowledged that the ball's been dropped -- and then pick it back up. Stop promising bug fixes and vaporous new features, and stop talking about future Zune products when the current product is ailing. Here are five simple things Microsoft should do to fix the Zune right now, and even make it into a somewhat aggressive contender in one of the most cutthroat gadget categories. In order:
- Fix the DRM, syncing, and system bugs, and get firmware v1.3 out the door!
- Add useful WiFi features: wireless streaming to friends, Zune Pass (subscription) song transfer to friends' Zunes (á la MusicGremlin), computer-free downloads content downloads.
- Add podcast and vidcast support. It doesn't even have to be as comprehensive as the iTMS, just a basic RSS reader / enclosure scraper or something.
- Increase codec support. Go out on a limb and add open (read: free) codecs like FLAC, APE, OGG, XviD; if you really want to make your customers happy, belly up to the bar and license DivX.
- Drop the price. For most consumers, there is still a huge mental barrier in paying $250 for a Zune when you can pay the same $250 for an iPod. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but people really love the iPod. Make it $230 MSRP, and let that sink down to like $210 for online retailers. People will freak out that this player, that does all these things it does, is barely more than two bills.
This podcast thing is a real brain scratcher. A novice coder could add podcast support to Notepad in less than a weekend...
So do it, and post it. I want to see.
#6 - Let people use the Zune as a portable drive - and here's a thought - since this is a Microsoft product - how about becoming the first one to support NTFS and FAT32???
You guys forgot one thing, Zune Marketplace & Xbox Live Marketplace integration.
What gets on my nerves is people are always quick to point out any short comings the zune might have while glossing over the Ipods short comings.
People get annoyed that you can't share your zune-tunes more freely. There are a couple others out there that are starting to do the sharing thing now -- but before Zune I never heard of one that did it period. Not IPod, not iRiver...none of them. It makes no sense. It has a feature no one else has -- it allows you to share some songs (depending on the licensing company) and yes, its shared. You can't keep it forever -- but it allows you to listen to it and, if you like it, make a note of it and download it yourself.
Some complain about the FM tuner. Again -- Ipod doesn't have it. Period.
Then people complain about the marketplace and how it doesn't have as many songs as itunes. Well, its been in business all of 4 months. Oh, and you can buy a subscription monthly to download at will whatever you want. I have yet to find a song that I can't download. Sure, itunes might have some obscure song from 1975 that was a b-side of a record that was never popular. But hell -- for the most part your mainstream music stores don't have it either. You probably won't find it at Target, Wal-Mart and maybe not even best buy. Yes, people try and complain about it. Oh wait...there is no other option with itunes than to pay per song, rip from a cd or illegally download your own songs and import them into itunes. You have more options with Zune -- download from their music store -- download from another music store, rip your own cds, import your own illegally obtained music OR get the subscription. Sounds like more choice to me.
Then people attack the directional pad for browsing music. I hear "Ipod is more intuitive"...how so? Going around in a circle with your finger over and over and over just to get down your music list doesn't sound 'intuitive'...you go around and around in a circle to scroll down a page. How is that intuitive? And then if you aren't careful you'll pass up what you are looking for...Zune lets you hold one button to scroll the list and puts a giant letter of the area you are now scrolling through. One click vs tens of hundreds of thousands of circles on the pad (depending on the # of songs) to get where you want.
They say the interface is cleaner on the Ipod. Cleaner meaning -- boring. With the Zune I can change it to whatever I want. Take 10 white ipods and 10 white zunes and put them into a room with only the screen showing and I'm sure most ipod owners wouldn't know which one is theirs - but I could pick out my zune in a second.
I'm not saying the Zune is better -- just that the arguments for the Ipod vs Zune are tenuous at best. The Zune isn't that much bigger than Ipod -- but when you consider it has wireless, a bigger screen, an FM radio and many more functions in it than an Ipod -- a little bigger isn't necessarily bad.
Everyone is free to like what they like -- no one can tell them otherwise....but when what you are comparing it to doesn't have ANY of the features -- its a moot point. Its like a completely bald man calling a man with a bald spot, bald. LOL -- who are you to be talking? You don't have ANY hair!!! :-) It makes no sense to me.
I hate to have to say it again, but it seems that you too have overlooked that this article is NOT comparing the iPod and the Zune - it is pointing out the Zune's flaws. Nothing more, nothing less. The iPod comparisons are, as you've said, moot - because there were none in the article (except mentioning the iPod in passing on the price point).
While I realize that -- I, too, was pointing out how can they talk about shortcomings of the Zune without pointing out that the sacred cow, the MP3 player that all are MP3 players are compared to has NONE of the features. Its like getting mad or pointing out that the new Toyota Camry doesn't have a record player or 8 track deck in it. Ok...? Name one that does. And they DO compare it to the Ipod saying that the Ipod is superior and it should drop its price to compete. I disagree. My Zune does more than the Ipod does. I can customize my screens, share music and listen to the radio -- 3 features that the Ipod doesn't even have. So when you compare it by price alone and 'prices being equal' -- the Zune does more for the same money and you have more options with it. I don't know why they should lower their price. More content and more options for the same money. Sounds like a no brainer to me.
I just feel that while they pointed out some pseudo short comings -- it should also be mentioned that while not perfect -- the Ipod and many other Mp3 players don't even offer it.
I guess it wouldn't have irked me so much had the article pointed out that there aren't many if any that do the things they have requested.
Give it up already. Sounds like you have a case of ipod-envy.
Intelligent comment.
"My Zune does more than the Ipod does. I can customize my screens, share music and listen to the radio -- 3 features that the Ipod doesn't even have. So when you compare it by price alone and 'prices being equal' -- the Zune does more for the same money and you have more options with it."
Can your Zune play songs gaplessly? Can it play lossless songs? Can it function as an alarm clock? Does it support unicode tags? Podcasts? Audiobooks? Contacts? Calendar? Games?
By the way, you can listen to the radio with the iPod with a separate accessory.
everyone and their mother likes to recycle and regurgitate the same criticism of Microsoft...it's getting so bad that i suspect soon it will be the "in thing" to like microsoft...you know, "it's in to be out."
give it a freakin rest. The Zune is a great player. i lived with both the ipod and the zune for a month. dropped the ipod for the zune.
"For most consumers, there is still a huge mental barrier in paying $250 for a Zune when you can pay the same $250 for an iPod. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but people really love the iPod."
I fail to see how that is stating that "they DO compare it to the Ipod saying that the Ipod is superior." Not to mention that they do have a point - features or not, the iPod has mindshare, and at the same price point, that will almost always win with Joe Sixpack.
"I guess it wouldn't have irked me so much had the article pointed out that there aren't many if any that do the things they have requested."
On that point, Engadget made sure to mention such products as the MusicGremlin that do allow proper Wifi sharing (and though they don't mention it, Sandisk's newest DAP has proper Wifi sharing and will even allow sharing of subscription songs between Sansas if you have the same subscription service). As far as codec support goes - Archos and other vendors don't seem to have any problems supporting just about every audio and video codec out there. I'd say Engadget has good reason to ride Microsoft on that point (and if you plan on mentioning Apple, yes the same could be said about that company - but that is for a separate discussion, as this article pertains only to the Zune).
the biggest short coming of the zune is that it's incompatible with iTunes music store... the defacto music download site... and it will never be compatible with it and this is why it will never succeed... MS missed the boat.
I still want one (did I say that out loud?) but I'm not buying the damn thing until they add DVR-MS support and provide a way to sync via Media Player 11. I don't want another damn music program on my computer. Media Player is far better.
Just the 5.5G and maybe the 5G iPod have gapless. And both account to what ? 20-30% of all ipods.
Can the shuffle play lossless songs ? Answer NO!
Umm...Zune supports podcast. I got the lattest podcast from Paul Turrot on my Zune.
does you ipod have Wifi or FM tuner or subscription service ?
/another ifanboy post debunked by some FACTS/
The nano also has gapless. The shuffle can play WAV and AIFF (which are lossless). The iPods can also be used as hard disks/memory disks to move data from one computer to another without registry hacks.
Have you done anything useful with your wifi yet? I don't need radio when I have thousands of songs on my iPod. As for subscriptions, I prefer to own my music and to pay for it once. That's why I buy CDs and I don't bother with online shops (until they offer unlocked lossless songs).
"Just the 5.5G and maybe the 5G iPod have gapless. And both account to what ? 20-30% of all ipods."
You've got to be kidding. What does that have to do with anything? Besides, 20-30% of all iPods = many more iPods than Zunes.
Can the shuffle play lossless songs ? Answer NO!
OK, this is pathetic. The shuffle is in a different market segment than the Zune. No apple/orange comparisons, please.
Umm...Zune supports podcast. I got the lattest podcast from Paul Turrot on my Zune.
does you ipod have Wifi or FM tuner or subscription service?"
No. Does the Zune have disk mode? Games? Calendar? Gapless? Screen lock? Etc.
One thing I would love to see is the Zune/Xbox Marketplaces go to USD format. I don't like this whole "Microsoft Points" format, it's very confusing and very useless, in my opinion. Keep it simple: use real money and make the stores connected with each other, so that there's ONE store with ONE account. Buy a song on Xbox 360 and it's reflected on your PC's Zune Software. Simple.
Had six guys out for a bachelor party this weekend. Almost every gen of ipod was there and one zune.
The zune was the winner hands down. Better feel, better screen, better features and the realization that the scroll bar on the iPod sucks for scanning through music.
Four out of five of us said we're buying the zune to replace the ipod (the lone holdout is a stubborn Apple fanatic so that wasn't surprising).
gee another anti zune story on engadget, I'm shocked!
I agree with most of the things you mentioned, I think additional codecs, price, and (for me at least)I need a bigger hard drive. I am waiting on a Zune until they hit at least 60GB. Also, it wouldn't hurt them to get a nano-ish Zune out as well, ...maybe it 4GB/6GB/8GB with a smaller screen, but some people like the smaller/more portable mp3 players a lot more than the bigger ones. Just my $0.02
there's already IMO an un-noticed, low-profile DAP that already beats both the iPod and the Zune in that it provides the best of both worlds: the Creative Zen Vision:M. It's low-profile because Creative never marketed the player like it deserved. It's been out for more than a year now, and it still is the King of the HDD-class, large-capacity DAP IMO when it comes to having stellar video capabilities in addition to great audio quality.
The only thing it doesn't have in comparison is the Wifi sharing of the Zune, or the gapless and games of the iPod, but it ties or surpasses both the Zune and iPod in every other feature mentioned above. Creative now has started using the single-platter 60GB HDD, so both the 30GB and 60GB are the same size. And you can find the 30GB ZVM's for below $200 on amazon.com these days, while both the 30GB Zune and 30GB iPod are still selling for closer to $250....
Are you high? I work on iPods all day long and have encountered very few that do not skip either through songs or right past them at some point in their lives.
And has no one noticed that since day one the only improvement that Apple has made in the iPod interface is the change from black to blue for the highlights? If Microsoft has accomplished nothing else it is the future of the iPod interface. Praise the Lord for competition; it's the only thing that drives companies to improve things. It's just funny that Microsoft is on the innovator side of the fence this time instead of the one that's trying to catch up :)
I have to agree with you on number 6 because it is awkward and poorly thought out, especially because they had a good working model to copy!
My friend bought one this past week; she broght it over and we filled it up with some tunes and vids. Really, it isn't a bad unit - I liked it, actually, particularly the video playback. That said, it needs wider video format support (at least Divx/Xvid). Podcast/vidcast support at WiFi hotspots would make it a nearly perfect player.
I own a nano and a Vision:M, personally. The nano I got for free; the Vision I bought.
why do people want wireless syncing?
if you don't plug it in, ho will it charge?
I had some very similar comments a few month back, especially regarding the wireless features, podcasting and the high price. Peep it out:
http://www.sumolabs.com/blog/what-microsoft-should-have-done-zune
Jordan
#6 get apple to make it
-#
http://www.WindowsVistaUserGuide.com
I completely agree with those 5 suggestions. And thanks for not zune-bashing this time. =)
Simple, Built in Bluetooth... so you can use wireless headphones.
Possibly the most frustrating part of the Zune software is that NON-DRM'D TRANSFERRED SONGS ARE STILL LIMITED. Honestly that completely kills any appeal the wireless transfer had for me. I tried it with a friend and got very pissed off when I saw that. Microsoft has NO right to add DRM to non-DRM songs!
While on software, the whole idea that I have to transcode videos to inferior, horrible WMV is a disgusting idea. Not because starting a transcode is a big deal, but because any transcoding software package I've found can only do it IN REAL TIME, so I have to wait for the ENTIRE whatever to play out. Incredible! Add XviD or DivX, SOMETHING better.
Also in my opinion, physically, they need to fix the controller. I know they feel like they have to make it as iPodish as possible but its not a goddamn wheel controller, so why is it round? Pressing up sometimes hits left or right because nothing is restricting you from accidentally pressing a little too left or a little too right when you just wanted to go UP. Poor design there, IMO. Oh, and the completely non-standard USB syncing/charging cable is a bitch too
hi i purchased a zune on ebay as im in the UK pretty much as soon as i could. i payed 160 GBP with postage, this is cheaper than i could ever have hoped as i was prepared to pay more. the device its self feels wonderful i got the black one with the blue double shot and couldn't be happier. the screen is awesome big and probably the greatest selling point i take it to school with me every day and if someone sees it there reaction is wow whats that and immediately demand info on the storage space and battery life compared to their ipods.. pretty soon they are asking where they can get one then i say the price... "160! wow i payed 240 for my video ipod!" there are now loads of ipod fans waiting to get one of these on the uk release as they are not confident about ebay.. i dunno why :P. there are faults but nothing that microsoft cant fix. i am confident this player is here to stay, oh and zune linux? hell yeah!
I had me Zune for 30 days and the LCD screen cracked. Apparently this is a problem with the Zune. I loved the Zune but because of this i had to buy an ipod shuffle as i cannot afford a big player again. microsoft won't cover this issue under warranty although it is a fault with the product (apparently the battery expands and puts too much preassure on the screen). I'd advise you not to get 1 until 2nd gen!