Zune survey points to video downloads

Apparently, video is all the rage these days. Just ask the folks who received a survey from Microsoft about services which may or may not be coming to the Zune. It's possible your heart might skip a beat when you read questions like, "I would rather download a movies from an online service than buy a DVD," or, "My friends and I regularly send each other links to online videos." Though the question, "I'm willing to carry a larger MP3 player if it improves the quality of the display," could just be suggesting a new Zune-XXXL is on the way. Regardless of what it you take away from these cryptic messages, remember one thing: just like that Netflix survey, this may not mean anything at all.

[Thanks, Ducttape38]

[matt @ Feb 25th 2008 6:09PM]

too bad itunes > whatever ms makes

[Andrew @ Feb 25th 2008 6:22PM]

That's a pretty bold statement, considering how poor iTunes is in terms of performance.

I think iTunes is decent at best, and I use it daily with my 80GB iPod. Doesn't seem to run well on anything except for Macs.

But for you to dismiss every thing Microsoft is to release in the future as being worse than iTunes, that's a little bit silly.

[Abuzar @ Feb 25th 2008 6:25PM]

The Zune software is a bit better than iTunes. iTunes is so slow. You have obviously never seen how fast a Zune syncs up compared to an iPod.

[John @ Feb 25th 2008 6:28PM]

Zune software may work better than iTunes on Windows, but Zune software doesn't work at all on Macs.

Just saying.

[Dustin Frazier @ Feb 25th 2008 6:31PM]

I know to each his own, but the Zune software is a complete pain in the ass. So much of a pain that I ditched my Zune.

[Homeboy @ Feb 25th 2008 6:36PM]

I'm a happy owner of a Zune 80. Although I have learned to live with the Zune software I fully agree with those who say that iTunes is superior. Prior to my Zune I owned iPods and was pretty used to iTunes which is a great software. The Zune software on the other hand, is dumbed down, can't read tags properly and lacks many of the features I took for granted with iTunes.

Despite the slick interface I'm surprised by how quick and efficient the Zune software is.

[Abuzar @ Feb 25th 2008 6:38PM]

Well I don't have a Mac so it works out fine with me.

What features does iTunes have that the Zune software doesn't because I don't seem to recall any.

[Chris @ Feb 25th 2008 6:40PM]

iTunes would make so many more people happy if it was able to play avi and divx files. I personally think that's one of its biggest downfalls.

[shaka999 @ Feb 25th 2008 6:40PM]

I'm pretty happy with my Zune 30 but the software is terrible. Between photos/music/video I have a ton of files and every time I open the software it brings my new core2duo machine to its knees. Itunes doesn't do this.

On top of that there seems to be no way to customize things (such as when/how often to update podcasts). I can't get a nice straight forward listing like I had on iTunes. Oh, and its just generally flakey. Crashing all the time and it doesn't always start when I plug in the zune.

Finally, it often goes off in to la-la land when I dock/undock my laptop. It doesn't like the multi-monitor setup I think.

[Homeboy @ Feb 25th 2008 6:50PM]

Abuzar:

-I doesn't read ID3 tags in the same way as iTunes. Although I haven't been heavily affected by the problem some of my songs are still messed up in terms of tags and album art.
-You can't drag & drop album art.
-Editing multiple of songs simultaneously is not possible.
-Poor customization for the list view.

Although iTunes was a slight memory hog it was simple but advanced.

[Killer @ Feb 25th 2008 6:53PM]

@Justin

I'm pretty sure there are more people in the world with PCs than Macs.

Just saying.

[ben @ Feb 25th 2008 6:55PM]

iTunes sucks balls. It doesn't automatically remove artist names from song names until you play them. Whenever I add the My Music folder it feels it needs to rescan all 13k songs over again, and it reverts said artist names back to the front of song names. It uses twice as much memory as Winamp. It doesn't support FLAC without downloading plugins, and even then it doesn't transcode FLAC to put it on your iPod like Winamp does.

Winamp and foobar are much better than iTunes. Needless to say, I use Winamp to put music on my iPod now.

[Abuzar @ Feb 25th 2008 6:56PM]

I agree about the ID3 tag thing, ecpecially not being able to edit them.

The Device itself is so good that it more than makes up. Plus can't you use iTunes instead of the Zune software now? I thought there was a hack for that.

[ben @ Feb 25th 2008 6:57PM]

Also, iTunes music store uses shitty encoding on all their music. Amazon is much better with LAME VBR V0.

[sinai @ Feb 25th 2008 7:05PM]

@John

itunes on windows eats up 800+MB of ram. that hardly counts as "working"

[vcx @ Feb 25th 2008 7:26PM]

I agree with Ben. Winamp is much better at playing audio on the PC and especially geared up for power users as well as a luddite.
Ben: I havent tried syncing ipods using winamp (does it work with iphone?) so cant comment on that. I just wish someone would get justin frankel back to nullsoft so that they could be even better.

[ben @ Feb 25th 2008 8:33PM]

My iPod Classic syncs, and I know it has the option for iPod Touch, but I have no idea about iPhone.

[Erny Setyawati @ Feb 26th 2008 2:59AM]

Zune software may work better than iTunes on Windows, but Zune software doesn't work at all on Macs.
Erny
http://www.baliglobalmarket.com

[michael @ Feb 25th 2008 9:49PM]

@Abuzar : It's more like "What can both WMP 11/iTunes can do that the Zune software can do"

As much as I love the Zune, the software is too dumbed down for me. I've been giving WMP 11 a try, and it's way more advanced than the Zune program, with a ton of options on customizing and editing bits of media in your computer. It's also very extensible with a supported developers site, so there's tons of skins, codecs, visualizations, etc. to download.

iTunes in comparison to WMP 11 is pretty sad, except for the content in the iTunes store, which is mainly about it.

If they'd just drop the slick and fluid Zune Marketplace in WMP 11, and add Zune syncing from there, that would be a big win-win.

Zune program is good enough for beginners and people who just only care about syncing. But that's not everybody.

[Abuzar @ Feb 25th 2008 10:02PM]

WM11 is definitely better than Zune or iTunes. I don't care much about the stores, so that might be a deal breaker for you.

[Gabe @ Feb 25th 2008 6:11PM]

Zune can kiss my ass...

[Royel @ Feb 25th 2008 6:19PM]

Have you ever used a Zune?
While I do agree iTunes is better, Zune isn't THAT bad.

[Andrew @ Feb 25th 2008 6:25PM]

I don't think the Zune will want to kiss your ass after Steve Jobs is done pummeling it.

[Andrew @ Feb 25th 2008 6:50PM]

@Andrew: As a Mac user, I must admit that I laughed.

[ryan @ Feb 25th 2008 7:57PM]

could it be because your bond as an Andrew goes beyond your tie to a tech company?...nah it was just funny

[Andrew @ Feb 25th 2008 8:19PM]

I'm by no means tied to Apple, I just prefer Macs.

[kamandriat @ Feb 25th 2008 9:03PM]

^^ lol ^^

[nate @ Feb 25th 2008 6:22PM]

hmm, two comments, two trolls... (plus a reply to a troll)

anyways, seems like there wouldn't be a huge market for anything bigger than the zune80 is already, a much more marketable device would, for better or worse, be something along the lines a 'touch' clone (call it what you would, that's what it would be) Keep with the form factor you have (or make it smaller) and just get rid of the controls on the face and make it all screen. I have a Zune8, and love it, especially wirelessly synching my podcasts, but having played with one, the touch is aweful sweet, especially wireless web browsing.

[Johan S @ Feb 25th 2008 7:45PM]

It's ridiculous that they don't have a wide all touch interface. They seriously need to slap a WVGA display on it, and make it sync SEAMLESSLY via bluetooth and/or wifi over the internet even with files on the desktop/laptop.

Anyway, why carry multiple devices .. the ultimate device would be the DS Lite form factor with a wide WVGA display on the outside (so a total of three screens). The inside primary display (the non touch one) should be wide too (the bottom one that you write on can be kept the same size).


Such a device can function as a phone, PDA, web browser, mp3 player, GPS, and gaming device.

Of course it should be thinner than the current DS (after all tech advances right?).

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 25th 2008 6:22PM]

I just bought a new Zune 80 yesterday after owning a Zune 30 (and still do). Great player. Not too many upgrades, but smaller (size of the iPod Classic), great UI, great control, the included ear-buds are fantastic, and the software, is great as always.

Those saying that iTunes is better than the Zune software obviously don't have any idea, because it is such a smoother program (and nicer looking, too).

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 25th 2008 6:23PM]

By the way, the only thing worth considering over the Zune is an Archos. Apple has nothing of this quality.

[Karl Hackswell @ Feb 25th 2008 6:27PM]

I totally agree with this statement. Im a Zune 30 owner and I love it! The software is slick and fairly fast. The battery life on the player is very good and the UI is very nice.

On topic: I am totally for movie downlods. I dont think I would put them on my zune as I use it only for music but I would gladly buy movies through marketplace.

[Backlin @ Feb 25th 2008 6:38PM]

I have both iTunes and the Zune software on my computer (Getting the 16Gb Touch as soon as the price drops). I can tell you guys the Zune software loads up faster, syncs faster, and plays videos dropping less frames than iTunes. The only downside is that the Zune software takes more resources. That's something I can live with though.

[shaka999 @ Feb 25th 2008 6:42PM]

Well my experience is much different than yours. I hate the zune software. The player is nice but the software sucks.

[kamandriat @ Feb 25th 2008 9:07PM]

i too have a zune 30 and plan on buying a zune 80 within a few weeks. my plan is to leave my 30 with music in my car with an adapter and wirelessly sync my music on it and put my music, video, etc on my 80 to go.

[Pavan @ Mar 28th 2008 9:38AM]

Someone would have to pry my Zune from my cold, dead hands...but I must admit that I keep iTunes around to manage/edit/sort/fix my music collection since it's better suited for fixing entire albums, etc.

I also never thought I'd go for Zune Pass but for $5 a month ($15 but you can have 3 Zunes on it so we just split it)it's better than searching limewire, putting up with the duds, adding album art...etc.

[Scottie @ Feb 25th 2008 6:24PM]

Question 5: Does it seem like you are the only person with a Zune?

[Arsenic0 @ Feb 25th 2008 6:35PM]

You guys need to stop making shit up that nobody owns a Zune...just because we dont have horribly gawdy low quality ear buds hanging from our ears doesnt mean we dont have an MP3 player.

Oh and by the way, every Best Buy in Oregon and Washington is sold out of Zune 80's as of last Friday when i went to buy one..

I had to goto Circuit city and they only had 1 left.

Good thing nobodies buying them. Idiots.

[Scottie @ Feb 25th 2008 6:39PM]

That's because they are ordering five per month to make it seem like there is a demand or something.

Have you ever gone to an Apple store and they were out of iPods?

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 25th 2008 6:51PM]

Scottie, are you honestly this stupid? I know you're being sarcastic, but you're just making a fool of yourself.

[Jeff Lewis @ Feb 25th 2008 6:52PM]

@Scottie:

Question 6: Is being striving to be one of the herd an important element of your gadget buying process?

[sinai @ Feb 25th 2008 6:54PM]

last i checked, apple was slowing down production on ipods. maybe they're stocked with ipods cuz no one's buying them?

[Arsenic0 @ Feb 25th 2008 7:10PM]

Part of the reason people are buying Zunes because it got better reviews than the iPod Classic 80gb.

Wired recommended the Zune, CNET found them dead even.

The only negatives listed for the Zune were things i dont care about. Being able to run on a Mac for instance, because i dont have one and dont ever plan too(I am a gamer).

The fact that Microsoft announced that Zunes will be able to play XNA games soon just sealed the deal.

[elithemicrowave @ Feb 25th 2008 7:29PM]

@ Jeff Lewis

Wow, 'cause you're being so different by buying a Microsoft product.

iPods are popular for a reason, and you are the perfect example of a Zune fan. Just buying it because it's different and you're not "one of the herd" doesn't make the Zune good or the iPod bad, so shut up.

[sinai @ Feb 25th 2008 7:47PM]

elithe - meet the answer to apple's counterculturalism, i call it counter-counter-culture.

it's like voting republican because a lot of democrats are unwashed hippies who don't give a rat's ass about politics, but play along cuz their fathers hate them.

besides, apple build their whole marketing about "being different." what's the difference between buying apple to be different and buying microsoft to be different?

[Josh @ Feb 25th 2008 9:07PM]

Just saying... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080225/apple-ipod-iphone-mac-sales.htm

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Feb 25th 2008 6:29PM]

maybe, instead of a zune XXL, they could be pointing at a phone. As you know, microsoft =bought danger, maker of the Sidekick. The sidekick's screen is relatively large. In conclusion, they could be making a side kick like phone that ties in with the zune and maybe xbox live.

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 25th 2008 6:37PM]

*Ahem*

Maker of the Sidekick's firm/software.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Feb 25th 2008 7:20PM]

That's obviously what I meant. I'm not stupid. (please don't counter message on the fact of my username and the previous statement.)

[cswallow01 @ Feb 25th 2008 6:29PM]

I'm surprised the Zune doesn't already have movie purchasing and renting... Especially now that Apple offers both.

I mean, it's common sense that it's coming.

I believe Microsoft will be number 2 to Apple in the digital media market... If for no other reason then the fact that they're going to provide an all-in-one digital content experience. You know... Music purchasing/renting & movie purchasing/renting all for their Zune and X-Box.

Sony will (someday) be number 3. Between their Walkmans, PSP, Mylo and PS3.

The markets gonna come down to Apple, Microsoft and Sony. With 3 different DRM schemes and 3 different inoperable ecosystems...

The war may not be between Blu-ray and HD-DVD for movies anymore.

Its gonna be Blu-ray versus FairPlay DRM, Zune DRM and Sony's MagicGate DRM.

Then the wars gonna be FairPlay DRM vs Zune DRM vs MagicGate/OpenMG DRM.

The format wars, just turned into the DRM wars! And although DRM left the music scene, movies are another story.

I ain't holding my breathe.