You thought John’s rant in PC Magazine was tough. This review makes his sound like praise.
Yes, Microsoft’s new Zune digital music player is just plain dreadful. I’ve spent a week setting this thing up and using it, and the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face.
“Avoid,” is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that’s so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity.
The setup process stands among the very worst experiences I’ve ever had with digital music players. The installer app failed, and an hour into the ordeal, I found myself asking my office goldfish, “Has it really come to this? Am I really about to manually create and install a .dll file?”
You’ll find that the Zune Planet orbits the music industry’s Bizarro World, where users aren’t allowed to do anything that isn’t in the industry’s direct interests.
[...]
Typical, selfish user: How does your convenience help make money for Universal?
If, for some strange reason these reviews don’t keep you from buying the future doorstop, there’s a way to bypass Zune’s WiFi sharing DRM.
Aside from the Zune’s massive faults, Microsoft (and others) don’t get it. The iPod is as much software and infrastructure as it is hardware, and it is as much a philosophy as it is anything. Microsoft can’t strongarm their way into this field because the users have an actual choice.
Users have an actual choice today, but give it a little while and Microsoft may have the last laugh. All that nonsense about catering to the music industry might make it impossible for Apple to continue their current deals with the record companies. If the iTunes Store isn’t as attractive to users then it helps to level the playing field for the Zune. Making superior products irrelevant by controlling the market around them is the MS way of life. Why do you think people use Windows, IE, and WMP?
I don’t have a Zune but rather invested in iPODs because of #1′s points above – iPOD+iTunes just works wonderfully and I’m a Windows user.
I was hopeful Zune would provide broad content support so that I purchase content from multiple vendors. It turns out to be just another MODE (My Own DRM Ecosystem).
Zune just solidifies my commitment to iPOD+iTunes as much as I cringe a bit in growing my Apple only DRM content.
I had not read much about Zune because I have been an iPod user for the past 2 years or so. My iPod is not a receptical for stolen music, it’s where I keep my library of CDs and music I have purchased from iTunes.
iTunes isn’t perfect, but it is a good medium for reasonably priced music that I can take with me. Universal Music is not going broke any time soon. I look forward to the days when I can pay ARTISTS directly for their works.
But I digress…
I saw the Zune in ads, but I have no desire to buy one. Between Sirius Sattelite radio and my iPod, I don’t need one. When my iPod dies, I’ll replace it with another iPod. (and no, I’m not a Mac user)
What boggles the mind is that somebody important at microsoft must have looked at the product and given it his or her blessing; somebody must have read a business plan that showed how it could be a successful product. And that somebody must have believed it, or else not cared that it would fail. Should be fired for being either monumentally stupid or apathetic.
At least Plays4Sure had some kind of chance, allowing different business models and manufacturers into the business. Zune is just silly.
#3, try transferring your songs to your work PC to listen music to, or, your laptop. Make backups for future use.
You are still being DRM’ed, but at least have functionality within the iPod + iTune confines, but not outside of it, unless you do the Digital to Analog to Digital conversion to create totally “free” MP3 songs.
I know people that do it, when they realize that the songs they bought at 1$ US ea won’t last forever and have limitations.
You use a double-ended stereo minijack from the iPod into your PC’s soundcard input. Lots of free programs that will Rip the analog signal into MP3, but that’s a lot of work (naming your file, artist, album, for each song).
So why pay for DRM digital songs, that you have to D-A-D convert in order to save/copy, when you can simply buy the CD at the same price and convert that to free MP3′s. Or just buy from AllOfMp3.com and save all the hassles.
Interesting Quote, Terry Demonte radio host on CHOM 97.7 FM Montreal this morning, saying how our generation, the 40yrs+ age group, are the most loyal in repurchasing music in the new formats.
However the teens+ are the most notorious file swappers.
I purchased the Heart artist & Heart album at least 3x, on tape, CD, MP3 (because I couldn’t find my CD 15 yrs later). Not counting the Greatest Hits CD and again under MP3.
I’ll never buy a device that limits me, and the iPod sure does. The Sandisk e250 is really cool. My current MP3 is a RCA Lyra 40 gig.
#4, as far as Sirius is concerned, is it worth the monthly $? I have difficulty paying for hardware that is locked with a monthly usage fee. If the hardware was free in exchange for a 1yr contract, like cell phones, I’d try it.
I took a look at one at Best Buy the other day and my favorite feature has to be the scroll wheel that isn’t a scroll wheel. Guess I’ll be replacing my dead 3G iPod with a new 5G… not that I had planned buying anything else besides.
Let me start this by saying that I do not own an ipod and have never used iTunes so I don’t have that experience to compare it to. My previous MP3 player was a Rio Karma which finally gave up the ghost a couple months ago. I have been a huge music “pirate” in the past but the frustration of trying to keep thousands of songs organized and tagged with album art and whatnot when it’s coming in from various torrents had me looking for a hardware/software combination (preferrably with a subscription plan) that would meet my needs.
I bought a Zune a day or two after launch and have overall been very happy with it. I’ve seen a few reviews where the reviewer has had issues during installation and wonder if that put them in the wrong mood to start with. Installation was smooth on mine and with the $15 /mo subscription I downloaded several hundred songs the first night without issue.
I really like the Zune marketplace software for finding music. It’s a pretty smooth experience and reasonably fast for all the album art and track information that’s being sent. Doing searches for a specific artist or song can be a bit slow and there seems to be a bug or two in the software regarding search results, but browsing the Billboard charts going all the way back to the 1940s or just by genre and sub type is a friendly experience.
My biggest complaint would be that even with their subscription plan, there are still artists or individual songs which require you to pay if you wish to download or even can’t download at all (read: Metallica). I would say these are less than 10% of the total, but you will run into them. My other biggest gripe would be that the Zune software won’t import or convert videos from AVI (including divx/xvid) or MPG format. I have to do it on my own in another app and then can put it on the player. I hope to see video downloads in the Zune marketplace soon. Music video downloads would be fantastic.
I’ve seen so many horrific reviews for the Zune and its software, but I really don’t think it’s justified. While I’ll admit that neither the hardware or software is _perfect_, I think that it’s a fantastic first generation product and hope they keep updating and refining it. I would definitely rate my overall experience with it as positive and look forward to what comes of the franshice in the future.
#2
People use Windows, IE and WMP because they are right there in front of their faces and have no concept of finding something that doesn’t suck. They don’t even know they suck!
#6 If you have a Mac, you can legally strip the DRM from iTMS songs with iMovie and QT Pro. There is even a nice 3rd party app out there that automates the whole process.
I think the larger point is that while you will never get away from DRM while recording industry profits are involved, Apple has done more than anybody to make their DRM scheme as unobtrusive and unhampered by usage restrictions as possible to end-users.
Microsoft defines a complete failure as “version 1.0.”
“These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it,” said Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group. “So it’s time to get paid for it.”
Well, if they are getting paid for it now, does that mean the lawsuits are going to stop?
6. “I’ll never buy a device that limits me, and the iPod sure does. The Sandisk e250 is really cool. My current MP3 is a RCA Lyra 40 gig.”
I agree. I bought the Sansa e260 based on Dvoraks comments on Crankygeeks, and I love it. It has more features than a comparable iPod (FM tuner, expansion, voice recorder), and works flawlessly. AND I work for an Apple dealer. For me its about versatility.
to anyone that says “the ipod limits me” you’re an idiot. It doesn’t,
iTunes does though. The iPod is just compatible with it. The ipod is compatible with a bunch of non-drm’d formats, and it is easy to copy music on and off (not quite as easy at it could be, but easy).
Plus the huge ammount of 3rd party software (including hacks) make it even better.
So how does it limit you?
A sacrifice? Do you suppose the Zune was released to take the heat and inevitable bashing of Windows Vista and or Office 2007?
I happened across the Zune display at Target over the weekend. While the kiosks for other devices, like iPods and gaming consoles, were crowded, the Zune was deserted. Bad sign.
I played with it a while. It has a beautiful sharp screen and the UI seems adequate. What got me was the way they presented the device. It was locked down into fixed plexiglass holders that prevent you from picking it up and holding it, and you can barely get to all the buttons. When you play videos on the Zune, they run in landscape mode, while the UI and menuing are in portrait mode. So as soon as the video starts playing, you have to crank your head 90 degrees to watch it. The kiosk prevents you from having any real experience with the device. Dumb.
“So how does it limit you? ”
FM tuner, voice recording, memory expansion slot, easily replaceable batteries. Price.
Nuff Said?
14: my son’s laptop hard drive crashed and died, along with his iTunes Library, exclusively content ripped from our own CDs. So we loaded iTunes on the new laptop, and it gave us one option: delete everything on the iPod if you want to use it on this computer.
That’s a pretty severe limit in my book….off to find that crankygeeks article, I want a player for xmas.
#14 Not an idiot at all, and that’s such a broad subject. So let’s just say when it comes to Tech, I’m no idiot. Why such a negative response?
Yes you are limited with an iPod, compared to any other USB device that reads MP3′s and other formats, thus a similar device. Just read the other posts.
Give credit where it’s due, the iPod made it simple for non-Geeks to play music digitally on the go. Plus it does so with handcuffs – that’s what DRM is. Do you really want to pay twice for the same song?
19. I’ll never understand why iPod users think the iPod is the end all/ be all of MP3 players. Just the battery issue is enough to turn me away from them.