http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 10:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 5:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
It is not like I am planning on keeping it 5 years. After a year I'll be ready to purchase another. I hope it will be the new Zune but it may not be, that depends on what is available.

What the Zune does, it does well! ]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
So far, the only player than meats most of my needs is the Cowon A2, and perhaps a few Archos players, but they don't have enough storage, and cost too much!]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
If this widescreen multi-touch iPod ever comes out, I'll sacrafice some dough and I'll start transcoding now.

Either load the player with codecs, or give us one hell of an awesome gadget.]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 23rd 2007 12:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 3:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 22nd 2007 11:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 6:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Apr 9th 2007 10:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 5:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Has anyone actually considered buying a media player from a reputable company who's field is specifically solid state memory?]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Not really applicable in a discussion about players that rely on a hard drive for storage.

Not that it'd matter anyway; solid state memory is not rocket science. Nobody buys the iPod mini because of how awesome its solid state memory is, and nobody who does have problems with it has problems with its memory. I mean, it would make more sense to buy a music player from a company that makes batteries for a living; at least that's a component that does cause issues for some people.
]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
I mentioned SS memory because it's another thing Microsoft could look at if they decide to release another edition of the Zune (maybe they designed one last year and will hope to launch it by 2010). The read speed is pathetic. If you're loading media onto the device you can take your time.

What's more important: the write speed for loading content onto the device, or the read speed for using it everyday? Rhetorical question.

]]>Mar 21st 2007 4:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 5:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
I think it is fair to say that an awful lot of the iPod's appeal is the cool factor. The way people hang them round their necks with pride just to show everyone their sleek new nano.

Whilst all us Engadgeteers are obsessed with the alphabet soup of OGG, DRM and DivX the average consumer cares much more about its fashion statement. Obviously they want it to work, but after that all they care about is that it is easy to operate and impresses other people.

You look at some of the industrial design competitions and see some gorgeous designs of new devices, often done by students. It never ceases to amaze me that with MS's massive R&D budget they can't come up with something more like that.

]]>Mar 20th 2007 7:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 7:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
I'm so over hard drive mp3 players.]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 12:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 3:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 7:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/]]>Mar 20th 2007 10:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Also I like my Zune just fine except for the missing gapless playback/burn function. it took iTunes time to fix that too but still long before zune even came out. It kills concert recordings. ]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
They don't pick up the ball, they spend billions in marketing cash to try to convince us that the ball is actually better on the floor, and that we should play with it there.]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 8:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
You KNOW they are in redesign right now... I think they actually came out and said they would have a second generation out by the 4th quarter (just in time for Christmas). It will be smaller, better looking, and will have additional features (my guess is some of the features listed in this article).

This is Microsoft. They will do whatever it takes to get market share. They have the resources to do it. They have the fanbase (although you wouldn't know it from this site) to make a dent.

That being said, I own an iPod and a Zune, and I like BOTH. I like the Zune for video, music, FM radio... and I take the iPod places where I get worried my player might get damaged/broken or something and i'm only listening to music (don't like the video and no FM on iPod).]]>Mar 20th 2007 5:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 6:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 6:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 10:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
This would dampen their proprietary plans pretty easily. Don't expect it anytime soon (that goes for Apple and Sony, too).

In the meantime, I'd buy from a company who gets it, along with native drag-n-drop with no crappy software...like Cowon, among others.]]>Mar 20th 2007 6:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 12:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/The playlist structure supports videos, but video playlists aren't enabled yet. Why?
Zune created audio playlists should already have been in it to start, I mean my old Nomad Zen Xtra did.
Please fix the video tags!
Please fix the video tags!
Please fix the video tags!
]]>Mar 21st 2007 8:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 8:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 6:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 23rd 2007 1:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
-This is one problem i've never had with my Zune but i know lot of people have and yes V1.3 should of been out a long time ago.

2. Add useful WiFi features: wireless streaming to friends, Zune Pass (subscription) song transfer to friends' Zunes (á la MusicGremlin), computer-free downloads content downloads.

-very true. we keep getting promised and hopefully something will happen.

3. Add podcast and vidcast support. It doesn't even have to be as comprehensive as the iTMS, just a basic RSS reader / enclosure scraper or something.

- The Zune has podcast support but just tosses them in the the music. Yes they should have their own categories, this was something we were promised in january and still has yet to be done.

4. Increase codec support. Go out on a limb and add open (read: free) codecs like FLAC, APE, OGG, XviD; if you really want to make your customers happy, belly up to the bar and license DivX.

-I have no problem with the WMA/mp3 for audio, but video is ridiculous it should support MP4, WMV, and DivX Avi with no converting needed.

5. Drop the price. For most consumers, there is still a huge mental barrier in paying $250 for a Zune when you can pay the same $250 for an iPod. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but people really love the iPod. Make it $230 MSRP, and let that sink down to like $210 for online retailers. People will freak out that this player, that does all these things it does, is barely more than two bills.

-true, it would help, but until it starts selling, or until the 2nd gen comes out i wouldn't expect a drop.

And in final, I've been a Zune supporter since the announcement was made and i play an active roll in a few Zune communities and i'd like to thank you engadget on posting this. Hopefully it will help some since the Zune Team hasn't been listening to anyone else lately.]]>Mar 20th 2007 7:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Cesar
www.zuneinsider.com]]>Mar 21st 2007 12:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Damnit Microsoft, I love Windows, Xbox, Office, etc. but you frickin sunk with the Zune software. The worst piece of crap I have ever experienced.

Anyone know an alternative to it? ]]>Mar 20th 2007 7:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 4:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
No Pod casting support or even a clock show this platform was not well managed or planned. Oh well there is always eBay and then an iPod.]]>Mar 20th 2007 8:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 10:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
*** Add useful WiFi features: wireless streaming to friends, Zune Pass (subscription) song transfer to friends' Zunes (á la MusicGremlin), computer-free downloads content downloads. ***

Where is ipod Wifi ? ey, wait it doesn't even have a FM tuner inside its pearl white and chrome scratch-tastic body. Uh ?


*** Increase codec support. Go out on a limb and add open (read: free) codecs like FLAC, APE, OGG, XviD; if you really want to make your customers happy, belly up to the bar and license DivX. *****

Does ipod supports any of those formats ? Just 1. Tell us which one.


**** Drop the price. For most consumers, there is still a huge mental barrier in paying $250 for a Zune when you can pay the same $250 for an iPod. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but people really love the iPod. Make it $230 MSRP, and let that sink down to like $210 for online retailers. People will freak out that this player, that does all these things it does, is barely more than two bills. ****

Ask Apple to drop the price on the nano and shuffle. My GF Samsung YPt8 and mine Insignia Video can do video and line-in recording with bigger screen than the nano and are cheaper than the nano..or even the shuffle.
(Mr. ETIRCOPYH. ETELED TI RO TI NAB.) Don't care. At least I know you read IT.]]>Mar 20th 2007 8:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 10:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 21st 2007 12:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 8:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/1. Wireless syncing
2. Wireless connectivity with Xbox 360
3. Fix Drive problems in Vista
4. Various lag in the Zune device
5. DRM issues

]]>Mar 20th 2007 8:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
This is what they did with the 360. And although I don't think the 360 is that relevant given it's sales numbers compared to the PS2, the media seems to be inlove with the 360 for the time being. I think their just catering to the readership. The adoption rate for the 360 is already falling. 225K last month's not that great. They wanted to be above 300K/month. A price drop might do it.

Both projects are still in the hole. How much has M$ lost on both these projects? I know it's in the billions.

]]>Mar 21st 2007 7:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 8:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/
Can I see your marketing diploma again?


--
Baseball for Nerds: http://www.scoutingbook.com/
]]>Mar 20th 2007 8:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/Mar 20th 2007 9:11PM