I Got Zen!

So, about two weeks ago I sold my Microsoft Zune and traded in for Creative’s Zen and it is fantastic! Not much difference in name but that’s where the similarities end. This little guy measures a little smaller than a credit card and weighs almost nothing! The Zune was hard drive-based making it bulky. Zen is flash-based and I gotta say that I’ll never go back to hard drive players. Flash is the future and capacities are growing by the minute. In fact, Zen is the world’s first flash-based MP3 player to reach 32 GB!! Creative for the win! I chose the 8 GB model. With the Zune, I never used more than that in the 9 months I had it. 30 GB was overkill for me.

Highly Stylized Microsoft Zune Ad

One Of Many Thoughts On Zune

One of the best enhancements to look forward to with the new Zunes and Zune software is it’s integration (read: compatibility) with the Vista flavors of Windows Media Center. To me, this offsets the further absence of TV shows in the newly revamped Zune Marketplace. I think Microsoft appreciates those of us who simultaneously despise DRM and prefer to create our own content for Zune whenever feasible. As a media savant, with Vista Home Premium or Ultimate and a TV capture card installed on my system, why on Earth would I pay for copy-protected TV shows twice — once through my cable provider and then again through Zune Marketplace? I applaud you on this one Microsoft! Yes, TV shows in the ZMP are coming for those who don’t want to mess with doing it themselves. But what a classy move. Apple would rather package it up for you, wrap it in DRM, and not price it accordingly. Microsoft has a firmer grasp on enthusiasts.

Apple….are you paying attention?

Microsoft Shows Zune Some Love

It’s the eve of the most anticipated announcement for anyone currently holding and endearing a Zune. At midnight EDT, Microsoft will lift an embargo on many members of the press who are currently being shown the next generation of Zune software and hardware. Of course, the blogs have been going crazy all day feeding the rumor mill to a mindless frenzy. It’s easy enough to find them with Google so I won’t mention them. Instead, here’s a link to The New York Times and their interview with the man behind the curtain Bill Gates and his thoughts on what we’ll all know in a few hours about Zune.

NY Times Article

Zune, Zune, Zune

I’m hearing alot of chatter lately about Zune. Microsoft cut the price to $199. Steve Jobs unveiled a new line of iPods and immediately some focus was put on Microsoft to counter-attack. Zune was offered on Woot! again on the dirt cheap. An interesting patent filed by Microsoft last year was recently discovered. Now there’s concern that Microsoft might not deliver. The hype machine is running on all eight. Microsoft has quite a road ahead. It’s been said that Microsoft’s plan to ramp up the Zune brand is a long-term goal but the masses are less forgiving when you don’t “keep up with the Jones’s”. One needs only to look at Microsoft’s history for the answer. They run on their own time-table in Redmond. It’s a huge company spread out out over many departments way more diverse than Apple. Decisions take time. Actions can take longer. That history tells us that when Microsoft enters a market, like portable music players, they don’t tread lightly. Microsoft’s in this to win. Nothing speaks to their intentions louder than what was done with Xbox.

Welcome to the party. Kegs are in the back.