Local public school students get assigned Zunes

The latest edu-gimmick to hit small-town America: Liberty, Missouri's handing out a hundred and change media players -- Zunes, to be specific -- to local high school and middle school students for listening to lesson-supporting podcasts in the hopes of saving them "lost class time." Surely this will raise test scores, right? Or at least improve the Zune's cachet? Who knows -- even the district superintendent said, "Is it the next great thing? I don't know. Maybe. But it is another tool." Maybe the Kindle might make a better tool, but either way, Microsoft apparently intends to release data on the case study later this year.

[Saad Rabia @ Jun 29th 2008 9:24PM]

The Zune is a great gadget (Probably the best gadget Microsoft ever produced), and seeing it spread around is a thing I wished for since the first day Zune 2 was out.

Well done Zune team; this is only the beginning of many users to come.

[omnicloud @ Jun 29th 2008 9:52PM]

Yes it's getting more exposure but it's not like they would willingly use them for its intended purpose.

[OneLove @ Jun 29th 2008 10:00PM]

wha?

[heavydevelopment @ Jun 29th 2008 10:28PM]

You obviously work for Microsoft.....

[Zach @ Jun 29th 2008 10:37PM]

wow .. you must work for (insert any company except microsoft here)

see! i can be as cool as you too!

*disclaimer: i owned a creative zen jukebox --> creative microphoto --> sandisk e280 --> zune 2 (from VERY nearly first day of online release) --> ipod classic 160gb (bought last week)

i have to say..my zune had SO many problems that i find the ipod not to have.. seriously.. it's sickening to think that NO one can come close to as good as the ipod is (and i would know)
it's strange.. the zune only lasted me about 4-5 hours on a charge..but the ipod lasts me 25?.. VERY strange.
i'm willing to accept i had a dead unit (because i had problems with it until 2.5, then they got sort of fixed, then it got stuck in device recovery mode.. don't press back, the center button, and play at the same time..it's supposed to clear the device..it does. but it won't reinstall the firmware!)

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 29th 2008 11:12PM]

WTF!!! Somebody's been kissin' Bill Gates hindquarters. Smooch, smooch. They had to do something with all those surplus Zunes that nobody will buy. They're on their way to oblivion. Better for the environment than using them for landfill.

[Beau @ Jun 29th 2008 11:29PM]

"Well done Zune team; this is only the beginning of many users to come."

Uh, Microsoft donated them - "Microsoft apparently intends to release data on the case study later this year."

[Zed @ Jun 29th 2008 11:46PM]

@zach

my ipod classic 80gb is terrible. i wish i could give it back. i had to get it fixed once already.. album art doesnt work unless i buy itunes music (fuck that) and theres so many bugs that apple wont fix because they dont give a shit about anybody.

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 30th 2008 1:45AM]

This is ridiculous! The Zune or a regular iPod is a total waste of money!

I'm sure they could have even gotten free iPod touches for the class.
Instead of just listening to Audio lectures, you can watch video lectures.

Also, think of all the amazing possibilities with the iPod Touch software platform for education and learning support. The most basic would be a 21st century flashcard program, but obviously much more complex interactive education software could be developed.

This is actually something I never really thought of before. Going to need to look into mobile OSX development!

[typoink @ Jun 30th 2008 2:56AM]

You can watch videos just fine on the Zune, loosely_coupled. The Touch certainly has a better screen, but video lectures and presentations could be handled quite well by the Zune's top-notch podcast support.

And it's interesting that you mention educational app development -- the Zune's coming support for XNA-developed software will make it an extremely easy platform for development. The mobile OSX platform will probably be great for professional development, but XNA is easy enough that it's plausible for students themselves to develop simple apps.

[Mike10010100 @ Jun 30th 2008 7:52AM]

Pshhh..... iPods and Zunes and Creative mp3 players.

I just strapped a terabyte external hard drive to a (tiny) motherboard and duck taped it all to a 4 inch LCD screen. Sure this baby has to be plugged in to work, but let's see your iPod/Zune hold 500 full quality movies!

[chickenator @ Jun 30th 2008 8:10AM]

*yawn*

[Timmy @ Jun 30th 2008 8:51AM]

They are taking a page out of Apple's book, Apple heavily subsidized Macs in schools so they could take advantage of a captive market. They hoped when little Suzy and Tommy grew up they would be so familiar with Macs they would buy for themselves.

[ShadowKain @ Jun 30th 2008 9:40AM]

It really isnt that great, gotta love its music service *cough* .... but DRM free music makes it a better product. The fact that you think its great it being spread around is odd, nobody likes the Zune man, check the sales reports. Another ploy to move units...

[Daniel Wharton @ Jun 30th 2008 5:36PM]

who cares if Saad likes his zune?

@Zed : I'm going to have to assume you don't actually have an ipod/iphone and are just talking out your ass. In cause I'm wrong:

right click (or ctrl-click if you don't have a second mouse button) on a song or selection of songs and select "Get Album Artwork." If you don't get anything back, its because you have the artist or album inputted incorrectly (or its something itunes doesn't offer). If that's the case, go to images.google.com and search for album/artist, then use that image. dope

I have thousands of albums with artwork and < 5% were purchased on itunes.

[deyanimay @ Jun 29th 2008 9:24PM]

Awwwwww man why doesn't my school do something like this. All i ever got was a free t-shirt with the school logo.

[Kurt @ Jun 29th 2008 9:29PM]

"I'll share Ms. Arnolds History lecture if you share Dr. Hagenstein's 'Anatomy of a Grasshopper' lecture..."

... Welcome to the social.

[Shiva N Singh @ Jun 29th 2008 9:28PM]

Atleast you got a free t-shirt...

[MarkHawk @ Jun 29th 2008 10:05PM]

My high school t-shirt cost me 26 dollars... Apparently the 26.00 dollars was for school pride. My ex-girlfriend was apparently so full of it, that she stole it and never gave it back.

[kal326 @ Jun 30th 2008 11:52AM]

@MarkHawk

No offense, but I'm pretty sure she was full of something and I'm pretty sure it wasn't school pride. Well that is unless the team was involved.

[Chris @ Jun 29th 2008 9:28PM]

I don't think schools will ever give out Kindles, kids hate to read(so do I) so if anything they'll give out audio books.

[Ignatius @ Jun 29th 2008 9:32PM]

I don't get it. Why do people hate to read?

I've got every single Blizzard pocketbook ever released and I've read all of them at least three times. I don't see how reading is such a chore when you read something you enjoy.

[Mam00th @ Jun 29th 2008 10:04PM]

How the fuck do you surf the internet if you hate reading?

Text-to-voice? Microsoft Sam?

[Kris @ Jun 29th 2008 10:21PM]

I never enjoyed reading until I got my Sony eBook. I hated the clutter hardback and paperback books created and found it difficult to carry them around with me but my eBook reader is small and compact. Not only that but it can play audio too.

I read all the time now and have about 50+ novels on my eBook reader plus some useful technical books.

Even if you hate to read, if you're a technical person an eBook reader may be for you.

[MrEggsalad @ Jun 29th 2008 11:00PM]

Schools should give out Kindles, but we should also have all our textbooks available on them. Or, there needs to be a device that's larger and supports highlighting and such so we can "mark" in our "books". Don't need to break kids' backs with 20 books they could easily carry around in one device.

[Kaiser-Machead @ Jun 30th 2008 5:35AM]

@mam00th,

Reading a book and reading the truncated text on the internet are two completely different things.

[tyler @ Jun 29th 2008 9:31PM]

i like how the lady is holding what looks more like an ipod not a zune?

[Jared @ Jun 29th 2008 9:34PM]

Looks like a Zune to me.

[Drew Scott @ Jun 29th 2008 9:34PM]

how so?

[Joshua.JWilliams @ Jun 29th 2008 9:38PM]

Are you an idiot? It's obvious that she has a black 80GB Zune in her hand, just look at the contours of the device. Darker metal, more rectangular not rounded..... uh... yeah Zune.

[tyler @ Jun 29th 2008 9:38PM]

idk maybe im wrong but it really looks like the ipod video black to me

[tyler @ Jun 29th 2008 9:39PM]

ok ok ok i see it now sorry didnt realize the screen went all the way down my mistake sorry

[Derek @ Jun 30th 2008 12:24AM]

I don't know, DO you like it? What's with all these questions, we don't even know you tyler!

[Jose @ Jun 30th 2008 7:41AM]

That is obviously too big to be an iPod :-)

[JoeSmack @ Jun 29th 2008 9:32PM]

i hated reading growing up. cleverly, my mother would buy me book after book on tape in order to get me to 'read' them. it worked. i read hundreds of books like that before hitting college. if they had ipods or zunes back then, i'd have been in heaven cause i could of hauled around my library in my pocket.

i think it was a smart thing for the school to do.

[alex @ Jun 29th 2008 9:33PM]

those poor, poor children, their education will be distracted by crappy microsoft products that will need to be reset every time they perform an illegal operation.

how the %^&@ does a computer perform an illegal operation? and why hasnt my moms computer been arrested yet?

[Jared @ Jun 29th 2008 9:35PM]

I have yet to have any operational issues with my Zune...however the software to transfer music isn't the best.

[Pochi @ Jun 29th 2008 9:40PM]

Congrats on being the first stupid douchebag to bitch about Microsoft in a Microsoft related article.

How creative!

[Joshua.JWilliams @ Jun 29th 2008 9:42PM]

Jared's right -- the Zune hardware is very good .... the software on the other hand isn't the best. It's okay, and it's getting better, if they would just make it possible to utilize the space as a hard drive ...I'd really give up my iPod and get the Zune80. It's a sharp device; no EQ or not.

[deyanimay @ Jun 29th 2008 9:44PM]

poor poor children they will all be distracted by playing zune games in class when they are supposed to be listening to educational info.

[Zorque @ Jun 29th 2008 9:46PM]

I haven't seen an "illegal operation" error since Windows 98. I'm gonna give your troll a D for effort, but you need research to back it up.


Also, why not give the kids a cheaper device and save some taxpayer money for things like, I dunno, updated textbooks and better cafeteria food.

[alex @ Jun 29th 2008 10:09PM]

me? troll? how creative of you to call someone critical of your favorite brand a troll.

[Zorque @ Jun 29th 2008 10:10PM]

If your comment actually had any relevance I would have left it alone, but as it stands that problem hasn't existed in over 7 years.

[alex @ Jun 29th 2008 10:14PM]

regardless, i always thought it would be funny if the police came and got our computer because it had done something illegal.

and since my mom hates computers and didnt replace her windows 98 until...a month ago, for some people out there im sure its still relevant

[Drew Scott @ Jun 29th 2008 11:19PM]

wow .... engadget comments hit a new low ...

[Mark @ Jun 30th 2008 3:16AM]

illegal operation? Last time I saw that was on an Mac, iMac G3 to be exact. It was accompanied with a picture of a bomb to let me know that all hell was breaking loose.

[billedluh @ Jun 29th 2008 9:41PM]

Giving out zunes to listen to podcasts on... are there zunecasts?

[deyanimay @ Jun 29th 2008 9:45PM]

you bring up a very interesting point.

[thethirdmoose @ Jun 29th 2008 9:52PM]

Punecasts!
Pu-casts!
Puke-ass!

i dunno...

[DeoWulf @ Jun 29th 2008 10:44PM]

Microsoft isn't that full of itself. Podcasts are still podcasts on the Zune.