A Hands-On Zune Review 279
jayintune writes "2old2play.com got the chance to sit down with Microsoft's new media player, the Zune, to give some comments and insight into the players User Interface, Video Playback, Music Sharing, as well as software and setup." From the article: "I had expected the player to be fairly heavy, but after holding the Zune in my hand it was clear that I was wrong. It is not as light as the latest video iPod, but compared to my fourth-generation iPod, the Zune was lighter. The top of the Zune had a clear glass layer while the exterior had a tactile feel to it, nothing like the hard metal and plastic of the iPod devices. The 'skin' of the Zune was a 'rubberized' material that had a smooth seductive feel to it. I found myself unable to stop stroking the device, so much that the demo assistant asked me to put it down."
NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Interesting)
Um... Yeah. looks a news headlines, again. OK... maybe the author just having a little fun with the reader.
Clicking on the "community" button allowed me to see the other two Zunes nearby. I decided to send them my community member a song. Browsed to my music folder, found to a song and, instead of selecting to play it, I chose to send it. Prompted with a list of Zune's nearby, I chose one and sent it. Watching the other Zune, the user was prompted to download and accepted the request. It took less than 20 seconds to send the whole song which included album art.
Sounds lengthy, but if you're trying to chat up a hot prospect 20 seconds is plenty of time to break the ice.
Upon a successful transfer, the music is wrapped with a digital rights management (DRM) layer which will give the user a three day or three-listen license. I don't know about many of our readers, but I can listen to a song over and over again. Three plays... please!
DRM(!) huhhhhh HUUHHHHH huhhhhh HUUHHHHH Welcome to the dark side I wonder if there's something which allows you to add it to a wishlist to buy later if you decide you like it.
Yes, it is a first-generation product but I really like the direction Microsoft is taking with the Zune.
Clearly the reviewer is happy with DRM. Only one model, Hmm.. So when's the Zune Femto coming out?
Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
Gee? What other ploys can Microsoft try?
Unfortunately, the mental bandwidth already belongs to iPod, it will be hard to dislodge them in favor of Zune.
http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entr
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft's traditional marketing isn't working well. Gee? What other ploys can Microsoft try?
Unfortunately, the mental bandwidth already belongs to iPod, it will be hard to dislodge them in favor of Zune.
They've got a big hurdle they'll have to clear, because anyone who already has an iPod and has purchased a considerable number of songs will not switch, because they'd have to buy the same songs again. No thanks. Zune will have to appeal to first time buyers and a lot of them will be asking the same question, "is it as good as an iPod?"
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't forget that the entertainment industry is BUILT on selling people the same crap over and over again... this might just work. "Oh but it sounds so much better on my Zune..."
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True, but this is because of the habbits of the baby boomers were used to... There was no way for them to copy their vinyl to 8 track and then to CD.
Secondly, there style of music kind of died a while back and since they have no new artists to be on the lookout for so they have incentive to buy that "super enhanced remaster" version of the Beatles for the 32nd time.
Wheras the younger 80s/90s generatio
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't understand your logic. How did anyone that buy PlaysForSure music get "FUCKED by Microsoft?" That would imply that those that bought PFS music would be better off in some way if Micrososft didn't come out with Zune, at all. But that's not the case.
PlaysForSure still exists, and those that bought PFS music can still buy many PFS players. They won't buy Zunes, but how does that mean that they were "FUCKED by Microsoft"? They can buy still buy PFS players, just as they could before Zune. Only if PFS was being terminated, would they be "FUCKED".
Also, most PFS users use the subscription model; the nice thing about that model is that you're free to switch services at any time without any loss in investment whatsoever.
As for MS badmouthing Apple's lock-in model, then choosing it for themselves, they're admitting that Apple's model is more successful. Apple fanboys should be happy at being vindicated (but MS is still offering subscription as well as purchases, so they didn't copy Apple's model entirely.)
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:4, Informative)
>won't buy Zunes, but how does that mean that they were "FUCKED by Microsoft"? They can buy still
>buy PFS players, just as they could before Zune.
Yes you can still buy PFS player... BUT FOR HOW LONG?? Analysts are predicting that Zune won't take iPod market share but it will take the share of non-iPod players. So MS is aiming to sink the PFS community with a new entrant.
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
So, what happens if you try to share an MP3 file? Does that get DRMed also? That would suck.
Seems to me like they might sell some of these if they allowed purchasing the song that someone shared with you, right from the device, and then letting you copy it back to your PC.
I find that compatibility thing funny. MS has spent soooo much time, effort, money, and compromise on backward compatibility in Windows over the years. Perhaps they just had enough of that.
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It might also be illegal. Many podcasts are under a Creative Commons license that specifically prohibits adding DRM to the file. This could get ugly.
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We don't actually "wrap all songs up in DRM:" Zune to Zune Sharing doesn't change the DRM on a song, and it doesn't impose DRM restrictions on any files that are unprotected. If you have a song - say that you got "free and clear" - Zune to Zune Sharing won't apply any DRM to that song. The 3-day/3-play limitation is built into the device, and it only applies on the Zune device: when you receive a song in your Inbox, the file re
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My MP3 CD player (RioVolt SP250... old school) just bit the dust. Not sure what I'm gonna get in replacement. But *my* question would be "is it cheaper than an iPod?"
(Actually I might get a player with a built in compactflash slot so I could move pictures from my camera to the hard drive.)
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Yes, but it's only $150 for a 20gig Zen Photo Sleek. Which is large enough for most people. I hate that Apple keeps dropping their lowest model in order to keep the price above $250. In 3 months, the 30 gig ipod will be history.
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
If you've spent a couple of hundred bucks on iTunes Music Store Tracks like me (all backed up as non-DRM AIFF, thank you) then you have to consider that those tracks will not play on the Sune without reripping - and reripping means you get big files that sound at least as good as the original iTMS store files, or you get Windows DRM o' The Week files that sound a trifle bit crappier.
May I add that this article sounds to have been written by a total flaming fanboy? Holy cripes, I haven't seen so much fawning since Bambi.
Re:Zune Meme Analysis (Score:5, Informative)
There are already YouTube downloader-converters and standalone .flv converters for the iPod.
Windows users can already paste a url into iTube, and it will download YouTube's .flv files, convert them to .mp4 format, and add them to iTunes [benjaminstrahs.com], which will then sync those movies to your iPod.
Mac users can already paste a url into PodTube, and it will download YouTube's .flv files, convert them to .mp4 format, and add them to iTunes [djodjodesign.free.fr], which will then sync those movies to your iPod.
SUPER is another Windows program that converts .flv files to .mp4 for iPod. [erightsoft.com]
iSquint is another Mac program that converts .flv files to .mp4 for iPod. [isquint.org]
Every one of the programs I mentioned are freeware.
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I was originally going to post a Windows-only method that involved GraphEdit and some non-standard DirectShow filters, but then a brainfart revealed this cross-platform solution:
mplayer -vo null -dumpaudio foo.flv && mv stream.dump foo.mp3
The audio in an .flv file is already MP3 (in every file I've run across, anyway). All you need to do is demux the file and save the audio; MPlayer [mplayerhq.hu] can do that, and it's availab
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Yes, but you could have said the same about "PlayStation" a few years ago. Sure, they've not won yet, but they're doing a fine job.
Dave
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However, should word-of-mouth turn bad - as it already has amongst geeks - then that mental bandwidth will quickly be replaced by the words "Three-Sixty" and "Wii".
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Insightful)
When I meet a girl in a bar, unless it was the starting subject, talk about music is usually scraping near the bottom of the conversation barrel.
Even if music is an important subject, what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
Maybe I'm just weird, but when I go somewhere to meet girls, I dont even bring my mp3 player.
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe I'm just weird, but when I go somewhere to meet girls, I dont even bring my mp3 player.
What is the most common vehicle for marketing? Even if it's far removed from reality... Come one, you know what it is.
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
They get you drunk, take all your mp3s, and you wake up in an alley the next morning with a scar over where your kidney used to be.
Did I mention your mp3s are gone?
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
Still have my kidney though.
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:4, Insightful)
I meet girls in coffeehouses, although I don't call them girls. I call them musicians. Music is almost always at the top of the barrel as a conversation subject.
Where do you meet people who want to trade music anyway!?
See above. I'm not a music spectator. I'm a participant. Trading music is something musicians do, although this is often done through actual social interaction and not just "socially." It's sometimes called the aural tradition.
Even if music is an important subject, what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?
Not a chance in fucking hell. Guess I'll just have to get her email address, huh?
KFG
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about 2/3rds of the people I know and hang around with are musicians (just back from a gig by one of them, in fact), and yet music sharing almost never bubbles up above the horizon, even if music is the prime topic of conversation.
FatPhil
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
And the other 1/3rd are the drummers?
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Insightful)
High school.
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Interesting)
I live on Capitol Hill in Seattle, and I can just see retarted hipster indie-rocker wannabe's walking around trying so upload their "band's" single on to any/everyone's Zune.
It'll be the next venue for that annoying asshat who hangs around the bar w/ cheap PBR pushing cheaply made cd's onto passersby.
If for no other reason, this should dissuade you from picking one up.
Just my $0.02
Re:NDA? Goose? (Score:5, Funny)
Girls Girls Girls, not on Zune. (Score:2, Informative)
When I meet a girl in a bar, unless it was the starting subject, talk about music is usually scraping near the bottom of the conversation barrel. Even if music is an important subject, what are the odds that said girl will have dumped her $300 Ipod for a Zune and will be able to recieve your music?
Right on, but it's worse than that. If you do ever meet some kind of rare recorded music groupie, is there any chance in hell they would be impressed by "sharing" a song three times? Like Jobs said, it's much
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Because this is Slashdot, and people here only conceptualize meeting a girl in a bar.
Pull out a Zune and ofer to share a tune with a real girl in a real bar, and I'd lay my neck on a block against you getting laid, much less her number or name.
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Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Funny)
He's lying! He's a paid Microsoft shill! There's no way that it's as good as he says! It must be rigged! It's probably the new iPod and he thought it was a MS product! He's brainwashed by the DRM! It doesn't run Linux!
Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Funny)
>
>
The guy above me forgot to ask about .ogg support. BURN HIM!
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You know in Soviet Russia, Microsoft burns YOU!
Oh, wait, that happens in America too if you bought a PlaysForSure compatable audio device.
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Yes. In Soviet Russia the Zune strokes YOU!
Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Insightful)
The bullcrap about strocking the surface and melting reservations is so idiotic anybody with half a brain can see this jackass all he wants is brownie points with some effing provider for whatever his her bussiness is about.
All we care is weather the so called round button interface is simply enough to operate like you know what or is a stupid army-knife click-o-rama choke-full of features 4-way navigation pad where you have to memorize wich direction does what.
That's all.
Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Informative)
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Well the fact that he got caught in a "Stroke-back Mountain" moment with a Microsoft product is pretty bad in my book.
Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:4, Funny)
I think so. Someone put an iPod inside a condom and completely fooled the reviewer, who could not help stroking it.
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Hey, at least the condom will protect him should the stroking lead to other things.
-matthew
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Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Funny)
'iPod', huh? Is that what you kids are calling it these days?
Re:Standard Slashdot response (Score:5, Funny)
Give it a few days
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Hold On (Score:2)
Hold on just one sec. I need 5 minutes in the bathroom after reading that Slashdot story.
Of course, I'm imagining that the submitter is, um, not your typical Slashdotter.
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Stroke It (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyone who makes a statement like that in a review has obviously made their mind up about the device (they WILL love it) before they even saw it. Though I may be wrong, I cant read the article at work to see if he panned it or not.
I say this because I know that I will be stroking my Wii on Nov 19th. Dont try to hide your feelings from your readers if you are reviewing something, some people actually take reviews seriously.
Re:Stroke It (Score:5, Funny)
Too much information.
Re:Stroke It (Score:5, Funny)
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Yeah, the US school system truly is fucked if an adult and an 11 year old combined cant figure this brain-buster out.
Credibility? (Score:5, Funny)
I haven't RTFA, but I'll be damned if I'm going to after that little choice excerpt--this stuff reads like B-rate pr0n narrative!
Re:Credibility? (Score:5, Funny)
What the hell, man?!? I mean, I love my portable music as much as the next guy, but i sure as hell am never going to make it THAT physical...
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Methinks 2old2play doesn't get out enough. And is in desperate need of female company, asap!
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You seem to imply that there is such thing as an A-rate pr0n narrative.
-matthew
smells fishy (Score:5, Interesting)
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sheesh (Score:5, Funny)
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What if (Score:5, Funny)
OEMs... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft contracted out to the RealDoll company for that part.
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Yeah, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft contracted out to the RealDoll company for that part.
No the skin is made by Trojan (it's a scumbag).
Zune sounds like a curse word in Hebrew (Score:3, Interesting)
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What would you say about the Friends of the Zoo [fotz.org.au]?
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wait (Score:5, Insightful)
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And I'll bet THOSE won't expire in 3 days...
I will trade lecture notes during the final (Score:2)
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Denied!
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/10/04 [penny-arcade.com]
You can only trade Dolly Parton songs.
Color me brown (Score:2)
Brown is the new white apparently.
Bad Article (Score:5, Funny)
[i]I decided to send them my community member a song. Browsed to my music folder, found to a song and, instead of selecting to play it, I chose to send it.[/i]
That was to a worst two a sentences I ever look, I choose to read.
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children's show (Score:2)
Sorry, just had a flashback...
It has to be MORE brainless than an iPod (Score:4, Insightful)
Help me out here... (Score:5, Insightful)
Same goes for all the hype around the interface? I found the best interface is to create a few playlists on the PC -- which has a real screen and a keyboard -- and move them over. Then, all I really do is pick a playlist which maybe takes 5 seconds in almost any interface. The only other controls I use are volume and stop.
Do people actually spend that much time fucking around with a music player? Isn't is supposed to like, play music? Or is it a form of entertainment unto itself?
DISCLAIMER: I have NOT read TFA (Score:3, Funny)
Welll, not necessarily YOU, the reader, but a generalized statement that one could, if one were so inclined, find such lurid tales in the pages of magazines such as Hustler. But one is not necessarily you. Although, you may be one and not even know it.
But that's besides the point. The quote in the summary sounds like the beginning of those first-person porn stories you find in Hustler.
Yeah, yeah... (Score:5, Funny)
I had expected the player to be fairly heavy, but after holding the Zune in my hand it was clear that I was wrong.
I could sense it somehow, as if the pully-downey force that makes things fall and me very tired was not affecting the Zune as not much as I expected it not too.
It is not as light as the latest video iPod, but compared to my fourth-generation iPod, the Zune was lighter.
Ah ha, thought I. As I go back generations of media player, things get heavier. It was also a tad lighter than a 1952 Bendix steam powered black and white television console, thus adding weight (pun intended!!) to my theory. I plan to compare the Zune to a four ton heiroglyphic slab in Luxor, Egypt when I get the chance.
The top of the Zune had a clear glass layer while the exterior had a tactile feel to it,
Tactile. Definition: Perceptible to the sense of touch; tangible. So, yes, the Zune did in fact exist as far as my sensory apparatty and perceptualtudeness could determine.
The 'skin' of the Zune was a 'rubberized' material that had a smooth seductive feel to it. I found myself unable to stop stroking the device, so much that the demo assistant asked me to put it down."
He then called the police who took me downtown to a jail cell, and that's where I'm writing thie review now.
Ewww!! (Score:2, Funny)
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Wireless pr0n (Score:3, Funny)
I found myself unable to stop stroking the device ...
Wireless pr0n on-the-go, huh?
Top n List (Score:2)
MS Natural Keyboard, Like your favorite pair of Jeans. (rough quote of an actual ad)
MS Back Office, for your Back Orifice
I forget most of the rest, but with the new X-Box and Zune products, maybe it could be completed.
Anyway, as for iPod vs. Zune, Everquest used to have near total domination of the MMORPG market, then World of Warcraft happened. EQ didn't have to lose many users to be eclips
It's all about marketing (Score:5, Informative)
Here is a blurb from the frontpage of their website:
Yep, and they seem to be pretty good at it too
That annoying guy in the subway (Score:5, Insightful)
What's the matter with people, can't we just go to work without some stranger harassing us in the bus?
iPod or no, walkman or not, I've never seen anyone in the bus or the subway start a conversation with a stranger who wasn't politely trying to end the conversation as fast as possible.
Besidses, some of us can listen to music AND think at the same time. Heck, I can even chew gum and walk on top of that!
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You must live in a rather unfriendly part of the world then.
Besidses, some of us can listen to music AND think at the same time. Heck, I can even chew gum and walk on top of that!
Yeah but trying thinking, chewing gum, listening to music and walking (without bumping into lamposts or into people). There's a limit to multitasking.
Re:That annoying guy in the subway (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That annoying guy in the subway (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yep small talk can be dull but so are public transport journeys, it doesn't have to all be conducted in silence just because that's how most people do it. When people are travelling together they talk with each other.
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How's the iPod to iPod sharing working out for you?
Oh, right, you can just "stick an earphone in her ear". Because you can't do that with a Zune.