Switched On: Dark side of the Zune
posted June 5th 2009 6:06PM
When the iPod touch swiped away the small display, aversion to WiFi and telltale scroll wheel of previous iPods. Microsoft was left with Zune models squarely targeted at Apple's state of an older art. This fall, though, Microsoft will close the features gap and, in some ways, leapfrog the iPod touch with the Zune HD, which takes advantage of the startling contrast of OLED screen technology and will be one of the first (and likely the most popular) portable HD radio receivers. But no DNA test is needed to see that the Zune HD is inspired by the iPod touch, with a single button below the screen, side-mounted volume controls, and a power button at the top.
Now that the Zune HD will have a hardware exterior that looks like a credible challenger to at least today's iPod touch, what about filling the flash memory in its interior? Here, Microsoft has a number of opportunities that could improve the Zune's standing if successful, or leave it in the iPod's shadow if not.
First, there's the music, of course. Microsoft has been fighting the subscription crusade with Zune since the device's inception, but may be on to something with the Zune Pass 10 MP3 song/month "use it or lose it" subscription credit. While the downloads are on some level at odds with promulgating the notion of "access", the downloads help combat consumer fears about losing access to music, provide an escape clause out of the Zune since they are unprotected MP3 files, and at least more closely resembles one established music subscription business in the US – the Columbia House music club (now at yourmusic.com) that dates back to the days of cassettes.
The download credits idea has also been picked up by Napster, which is offering an even lighter version of the Zune Pass plan with five songs per month for $5. That price hearkens back to what the now defunct Yahoo Music subscription service charged for unlimited on-demand streaming, which both Microsoft and Napster offer. But that becomes almost a bonus as consumers rationalize the subscription as a sort of monthly music allowance.
Second, there are the applications. The iPod touch has benefited mightily from the success of its subsidized brother; the vast majority of iPhone applications can also run on the iPod touch. But Microsoft is clearly in a state of transition with its smartphone applications. The Windows Mobile app store won't launch until Windows Mobile 6.5, but even bigger changes are likely in store for Windows Mobile 7, the interface of which Zune HD may offer foretell. Microsoft is certainly starting to focus on consumer applications for Windows Mobile that could transfer over the Zune HD, but the road ahead is long if it is to create the kind of library Apple has. Even at launch, the world of Windows Mobile will be the genesis for the Zune HD's most important application, its Web browser.
Finally, one non-PC platform where Microsoft has certainly seen developer adoption and critical mass is XBox. The company has already rebranded Xbox Live Marketplace to Zune, signaling tighter integration of the devices that began in the company's Entertainment and Devices group. Games have been the most popular application category for the iPod touch, and the category in which Microsoft has the strongest position of any application category.
And yet, Microsoft has done nothing beyond the design of the iPod touch to make the Zune HD more appealing to gamers – no D-pad, no joystick, and no extra buttons to mash. Granted, the Zune HD is not being dubbed the XBox Portable and need not take on the likes of Sony's PSP Go. But in creating a design that simply enables developers to port over their iPod touch user interfaces instead of adding some minimal physical controls that could enhance gameplay, Microsoft is passing on an opportunity to leverage an area of strength and further differentiate from the iPod touch.
Convergence products such as the Zune HD place their bets. Microsoft's are that a new way of valuing music subscriptions will drive content, a focus that eschews optimization will drive authenticity, and that some source of high-volume mobile applications can drive the platform versatility to make inroads against that pocket computer sold with white earbuds.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
" put on your other family computers, etc"
You can put the DRM music on up to 3 Zunes and 3 computers, so the 10 songs is mostly to burn to CDs or to keep when your subscription goes.
"But no DNA test is needed to see that the Zune HD is inspired by the iPod touch, with a single button below the screen, side-mounted volume controls, and a power button at the top."
Oh yeah, nothing ever had any of those elements before the iPod Touch.
Wait, what about Palm Pilots, with the button up top? What about every cell phone ever, with volume buttons on the side?
I'll give you that the single button was "inspired" by the iPod/iPhone, but I think that was just the next step in simplifying the hardware UI.
Also, faulty metaphor, DNA isn't in any way related to inspiration, it doesn't work.
Heh, I'm probably going to get downranked so fast.
Fuck it, I'm going for broke.
"When the iPod touch swiped away the small display, aversion to WiFi and telltale scroll wheel of previous iPods. Microsoft was left with Zune models squarely targeted at Apple's state of an older art."
I know what you're *trying* to say there, but for one, the period should be a comma, and "state of an older art" is really not understandable.
Translated: "When the iPod touch did away with the small display and iconic scroll wheel of previous iPods and added much-appreciated WiFi, Microsoft was left with Zune models that were competing for a different market."
Sorry if I'm being a nazi, but it really bugs me when people that can't write are being paid to write. If that wasn't the first goddamn sentence I might've let it slide.
@Paul a. Chapel you are so stupid ... the zune pass said that with 14 dollar ofr a month you can buy every song that you want and for the first month they give you a 10 songs bonus......and don't talk me about that microsoft copped another company cuz its not true ......and other thing is that you can buy a pc more powerful than a mac and more cheaper.....i have 10 years with a pc and it nevers give me problems.....and if i need to buy an accessory it cost to me just a few bucks but if i have to buy a mac accessory i need to call the stupid apple just to change a DDR memory and it cost me a fortune ..... and you want a example : if i have 1gb of ddr memory and i want to upgrade to 4gb i only have to pay just like 100 bucks but i have 1gb of ddr on my mac and i want to upgrade to 4gb i have to pay more than 100 bucks and the worse thing is that i have to sent my mac to a person that its so far away from me and i have to wat a lot of time to see my mac again...but with a pc yo can install the ddr memory by your own way.... so Paul a. Chapel shut up......i can use my pc for do movies , pics and more things than a mac can do and it cost me the half price that a mac cost........so apple is gays.
I just wanted to point out that the zune ad campaign is flawed, but not because of its semantics. assuming you rent music from zune for a maximum of 100 years (superhuman, I know), you get infinite songs and downloads, 12000 songs that have no drm (ie pass on to your friends, burn cd's, etc), all for 18000 dollars. 12 months x 100 years x 15 dollars per month = 18000.
That seems like a good deal to me, considering that I download easily 50 songs each month if not way more using zune pass. the model saves me money, and I'm going to continue paying for it for that reason. I have the musical world at my fingertips. I'm going to need a bigger zune soon.........
back to my rant though, assuming I downloaded 50 songs per month using itunes on an a la carte model, and songs average $1.10 since new songs are usually 1.29, 100 years of downloading music would run me 66000 dollars over my lifetime. that's like giving up a nice car and getting practically nothing in return except for 4 times less drm, which doesn't effect me in the slightest as long as I use my beloved zune.
its true that all itunes songs can be shared, but ideally, you aren't supposed to be sharing your music anyway. back in the day, you might lend vinyl, but you could never make duplicates and hand them out to your friends. the industry is just trying to greedily defend its profits. if the industry doesn't profit, it doesn't sign on as many new artists, and less music is discovered.
now, I challenge paul to argue with that. and yes paul, I prefer zune hardware to equivalent ipod hardware. I have a netbook and a zune, I simply don't need ipod touch's PDA functionality. when WinMo 7 comes out, hopefully I can buy a high end handset, a 128gb sdxc, and i'll be set for essentially all my needs excluding a computer and live television.
/rant.
I'm excited for the Zune HD; would love to get one or even an older Zune if prices fall. (and I can get one easily enough in the UK)
Don't get me wrong the iPod Touch is great but I don't care about flashy apps where I can flail my expensive device around to emulate a baseball bat. I care about the audio quality. I've listened to a Zune and an iPod Touch and the Zune is better IMO. (I'm not trying to start a flamewar, I'm giving honest opinion)
apple invented side-mounted volume controls and power buttons on top of a device
Natal is such a rip of of the shuffle, not having buttons and all.
Does Microsoft know they did something stupid?
I mean, they unveiled the ZuneHD too early, Apple has enough time to trump it in September.
Their product for September has to be well past the concept phase by now, and quite possibly past design as well.
does no one care about which type of audio formats it can/should play?
Yeah ZunePass is awesome, but the great thing about Zune is "You DONT have to get it if you DONT want to". I have it and enjoy unlimited downloads. I always have new, legal albums/songs as soon as they come out, while all my iPod friends dont, and they end up listening to my Zune when we hang out. (Some even ask me if I can send them the non-DRM 10 for free i get each month).
If you have a problem with renting, do you pay for a cable subscription, netflix? Your apartment? It would cost $9000 to have the ZunePass for 50 Years! That is all the music you could ever want for the rest of your life. And if you didnt want it your whole life, you still get to keep 10 a month forever DRM free (That's 6000 songs in 50 years). 10 great songs dont even come out a month, so you could backfill you library with older songs you love.
People pay $$ for Netflix, and return the movies each month. Can you imagine how popular Netflix would be if you got to keep as many movies as you wanted for as long as you kept your subscription, and each month were available to keep one movie for ever?
Come on people, ZunePass might not be for everyone, especially those who do not care to explore and download a lot of music, but it really is a good deal, you have the choice to use it or just pay per track like iTunes, and it makes the whole Zune experience really come together with Channels, Download from Radio, etc.
Your first sentence is exactly what I believe a lot of people think. I have to tell people that isn't how it works. You can get your music from limewire just like with the ipod lol. for some reason it is a hard concept for them to grasp =\
Interesting.
Happy Mac user/Happy Zune owner and Zune pass subscriber checking in.
Need to put some soul to make it works
The comment in the article about how the Zune HD was inspired by the iPod touch is misleading since cell phones had volume buttons on the sides and a power button on top before even the iPhone happened. Take in example the HTC Touch. Maybe next time apple.
The fact of the matter is that the zune or any other pmp will not gain market share until the develops an app store on par with Apple I own a zune and LOVE IT but I know that the average user will play real game and make phone calls and all that jazz. I hate carrying an mp3 player and a phone as do most people and if they can get it all in one they will. This is the reason MIDs, the macbook air, netbooks, standalone pdas, and other gadgets of this nature fale. I hate macs with a passion im just a realist. the click wheel sucked and no one likes there iphone and yet its almost a lock to be a top seller because of almighty intergration. give me a gadget that can do it all. in know my spelling suck i tryed
Allow me to sync iTunes with this Zune, and I shall buy it. Oh yeah, apps plz.
Few articles are as pointless as this.
At least to regular Engadget readers.
@Quix Can you choose exactly which song you want to listen to when you want to listen to it on those apps? No. Ok then. (PS: I have a Zune120 and an iPhone+Slacker thanks)
As for every single MP3 player discussion always coming back to the iPod Touch...I am SO SICK OF IT! Yes, it's pretty. Great. On the other hand my collection is 100+ GBs. Got an iPod Touch that can help me with that? No? Then STFU already! The iPod Touch is not for everyone. It's for people who only want to carry around 32GB or less music/video. And it's been shown time and time again that it doesn't even do audio playback that well.
Ach, I hope @Homeboy is wrong about MS clearly not wanting the HD to serve as a PDA.
I got my wife a Touch for her birthday, and it was probably 2 weeks before she actually plugged headphones into it--being able to get her gmail & google calendar from such a small, beautiful device was so compelling that I think even if that's all it did, she would be happy. I was surprised by how usable the web browser is on it.
The main thing that keeps me from dumping my Zune 80 & getting myself a Touch is the zune pass. I know people rail against the subscription stuff, but it just fits how I tend to listen to music: I fall in love w/a few albums at a time, listen to the crap out of them, and then move on to the new. If I had more disposable income (or no subscription option) I'd probably buy more (and have more of a backup problem, heh) but I've got a crap-ton of ripped music from the olden days that I just never listen to anymore. Plus the freedom to indulge whatever silly whim I have at a moment, or drill down on favorite artists' older stuff is just kick-ass.
Anyhoo--my hope is that the HD turns out to have a decent path to 3rd-party apps (via the XNA games stuff maybe?) and that devs rush in to meed the PDA-ish stuff. Having a browser is key (if you're going to have wifi, you got to have a browser--for accepting TOS' and authenticating to semi-private hotspots, at the very least). But custom-developed gmail & synced calendar is also a minimum, IMHO.
if you live near a major area taht has HD radio available this is a big selling point. I love the hd radio in the car and have always been bummed there is no portable alternative. It's going to take a big failure on microsoft's part to keep me away from a zune HD.
@maquereaugrande apple copped nokia cuz nokia have volume buttons on the sides and have a power button on the top...... so apple can't talk about that microsoft copped they cuz apple copy many things from others companys.and nokia started making phones so long ago and apple just started like 3 years ago making phones.... so please apple don't talk about copy things cuz you are like a parrot you always copy.apple sucks and is only for gays.
Uhh, Microsoft didn't write this article, I don't know what the hell you are talking about.
The deciding factor for me on whether I get a Zune HD will be if it supports line-in recording.