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SHIFT: What Microsoft's Zune player has to do to beat the iPod
Each week Adam Frucci takes a closer look at the latest gadget buzz in his column, Shift.
Image by FalonThe iPod is the clear leader in digital audio players and has been since its launch for a reason — many reasons, in fact: simple design, ease of use, and elegant syncing with iTunes and its music store. Those features are often imitated but have yet to be improved upon. Everyone's been waiting for Microsoft, which most of the time is Apple's largest and most fierce rival, to directly take on the iPod, and it now looks like the company's getting around to doing just that. The player on the other side is the mystery-enshrouded Zune, rumored to be slated for a holiday season release this year. However, in order to get me to ditch my beloved iPod, the Zune is going to have to do more than just imitate the king of the mountain. It needs to load on features that I'll want as soon as I hear about them without becoming cluttered and confusing. That's not an easy task.
Now I'm no Apple fanboy — I do my blogging from my trusty PC, thank you very much — but I love my iPod. I never leave the apartment without it, and it makes the subway rides around New York City a more bearable experience. I love it not only for its clean interface and intuitive controls, but for the lack of tacked-on features I would never use. I don't need an FM tuner, as FM radio sucks and I never listen to it. I don't need a voice recorder, since I'm not a doctor and don't leave myself audio notes. Features like those that come on rival players are bloat that gobble up space and battery life. "Added features" such as these would actually turn me off to the Zune if they were included.
However, while there are many features I don't want, the ability to wirelessly share songs with other people would be amazing. Telling my roommate about a new album that I love and being able to send it to him while we walk down the street together is a potentially huge selling point. Adding wireless interconnectivity to the Zune would allow Microsoft to create an entire new way of sharing music and would almost certainly drive up sales. However, the thought of Microsoft, the king of intrusive copyright-protecting DRM (digital rights management), actually encouraging sharing content in a simple and elegant fashion is hard to imagine.
Expanding on the wireless idea, the ability to easily download songs from Urge (Microsoft and MTV's answer to the iTunes Music Store) from anywhere via Wi-Fi would be great, but only if implemented properly. If the prices remained the same as if you were downloading from a computer and the speeds were decent, it would be extremely convenient and no doubt a huge moneymaker for Urge. However, if the service was bogged down by jacked up prices and a slow or unreliable connection, it would be more of a burden than a benefit.
There have been a lot of rumors of game functionality being added not only to the Zune, but to the next-generation iPods. This seems like a mistake. If I want to play portable games, I'll go buy a Nintendo DS. Adding all of the internal hardware and external controls to make any type of gaming realistic would not only totally change the nature of the device, but jack up the price and size of the unit as well. The only way I could see this becoming a successful venture is if a separate model (an Xbaby?) was released alongside the music-only model, combining the two features for those who actually want it. Maybe a separate gamepad could be released to convert the portables into gaming machines, but even then the innards of the music players would be bloated and made more expensive by graphics hardware.
In order for the Zune to truly succeed in taking on the iPod, Microsoft needs to adopt a less-is-more attitude. I don't need a million new features, just one or two that will change the way I use my portable audio player. And those features need to be simple and unfettered by intrusive copyright protection and uncluttered by a busy interface. These aren't traits we've ever seen from Microsoft, a company known for design that's exactly the opposite of these characteristics. However, if the Big M is serious about taking on the iPod — one of the most popular electronic gadgets ever created — it'll need to change the way it does things, because the last thing we need is more of the same.
By zune at 8:33 PM ON 07/20/06
There is a lot of speculation about wifi draining the battery too quickly, but most the time it would be disabled. And this device might work well with the upcoming .mobi websites as a browser.
By hihp at 9:56 AM ON 07/22/06
I dunno... no offense, but your personal attitudes might not be what the mass market actually wants. I'd rather say that features are good - if they don't obstruct simple usage. Why would you be bothered by an FM radio if you would never see it because it would be turned off unless you activate it? Why don't you want a voice recording capability if it doesn't show up when you normally use the device?
I'd say it's more important that
a) it looks good
b) it works fine (which is always in question with Microsoft) and
c) it has an advantage over the iPod.
The iPod is not the best player in the market; it's just the most famous, and people are willing to pay loads of money for the looks and the name. If Microsoft manages to hype the media about the Zune, it might work.
By sockface at 6:53 AM ON 07/26/06
The history of electronics: start out single-purpose - become multi-purpose. For example, phones: first designed to only make calls, now you can take pictures and movies, surf the net, listen to mp3's, etc... (Except for geeks) the public demands to carry one device, not 2 or 3.
History also proves that competition and time gives us not only more features but longer battery life, smaller size, increased quality, and lower prices.
Your "too cool" ipod will soon become history- displayed beside the original mac in the Smithsonian- as art.
By greevar at 3:00 PM ON 07/26/06
What Microsoft needs to do to make a winning rival to the iPod is to realize that they can't own the idea that Apple already has, but invent a new category for the product and be the first in that category. When you asked someone to name a portable cassette player in the 80's, they immediately responded with the Sony Walkman. From then on, nearly every cassette player was equated to the term "Walkman". What Microsoft needs to do is to do something with the idea of portable digital media player and do something that they are known for doing well. I don't presume to know what that might be, but I'm sure that they can figure that out.
By molochreborn at 10:38 PM ON 07/26/06
I agree, to a certain extent, to the idea of really curtailing all the extra features. When I got my first PDA I wanted it to be simple (read: short learning curve), portable, functional, and have a good battery life. So that's what I bought, and now I'm chomping at the bit for a PDA with all the fun gadgets that would make my life just a tiny bit smoother.
I'd like to see the Zune not only be intuitive to use, but have it be intuitive to MY PERSONAL needs. Most people want different things, and so I'd like to see the Zune customize itself with an option to let advanced users tweak things. The Harmony Remote is a perfect example of: simple, functional, AND customizable.
The future is individual customization, and if the Zune can only slightly improve on what the iPod does, then it’ll stand a chance. But if Microsoft can do to portable music players, what it did to gaming with the Xbox360… I’d buy the Zune in a heart beat.
By creativedestruction at 2:49 PM ON 07/28/06
One thing it could add would be some sort of reader. Something for reading books, daily news, etc, while also playing music. This would be great for riding the subway or other traveling. That would probably be the only way I'd get rid of my iPod.
By szjordi at 7:55 AM ON 09/21/06
Personally, it really makes me laugh when someone comments on how "advanced" the M$ products are (or should be) compared to Apples.....how the technology is so far advanced, how it is a "Apple Killer product", how it will dominate the market, ad nauseum. These are the same folks who subscribe to DRM, even though they can't use the product on their copy (legal or not) of Windows; these are the same individuals who pay thru the nose for the use of their chosen platform, and these are the same individuals who will buy into the hype that is going on with the player right now. Hmmm. Looks like these individuals are the sheepeople that are following their fearless leader blindly (Blind being the operative word here)down the toilet.
Which is where most M$ products belong.
By obi5kenobi at 11:02 AM ON 09/21/06
szjordi,
If you're coming from a Linux point of view I can understand some of your comments. But if you're a Mac apologist then accusing Windows users of "paying through the nose to use their chosen platform" is quite hypocritical.
Either way you're using too broad a brush when you say that ALL MS products belong in the toilet. It makes you sound like a fanatic and weakens what was a pretty good comment. Your ultra cynicism just makes you sound bitter.
MS has to make a reliable player, maybe add some new features but most of all make it much cheaper than any iPod. Compared to other, most likely better, MP3 players iPods are really expensive. You're paying for the little Apple logo and the name "iPod". You're paying for the Apple hype. If MS can make a more affordable product that's actually good I think they can compete. iPod's market share is already established though so it may be difficult.
By selfdynamic at 6:27 AM ON 09/23/06
The only thing I think could make the Zune any better than my IPod would be the Wi-Fi music sharing between Zunes would be a major plus, possibly a built in camera not only for pictures but also for video, I have a ton of pics and videos already loaded on my IPod but as sockface posted above ppl want one item more than they want 2 or 3. think about it for a second I have to take a picture of video on my camera, then, load it on my pc, then, put it on my Ipod. it would br much easier to just have those to capabilities built right in. Im a college student and I cant always carry arond my camera and my handycam but I never leave with out my IPod. As for really going out there optional wireless headphones would be crazy sweet.
By chris900 at 5:25 AM ON 10/26/06
I bought zune. I like it. But I've never had ipod though.
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