So, the Zune HD came out recently. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been keeping a close eye on it, because ever since it was announced, it seemed like an intriguing product \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or at least more interesting that then previous Zunes.<\/p>\n
I have to admit that I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had an opportunity to use the Zune HD yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only seen video demos and read reviews. And the impression I get is that this is a very 1.0 product. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rough around the edges (like the web browser) and the decision to display ads for twenty or so seconds before an app starts is boneheaded, stupid, ignorant and other unpleasant adjectives.<\/p>\n
Still, there are a couple of things I like about the Zune HD, which essentially shift the focus back to music. And this is something that seems to be brushed past in everything I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen.<\/p>\n
The biggest complaint I see against the Zune HD is lack of apps. To quote David Pogue<\/a>:<\/p>\n Of course, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an elephant in this particular room, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called the iTunes App Store. At this point, those 75,000 free or cheap add-on programs, which you can download directly to the Touch, are a juicy attraction indeed.<\/p>\n Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. Not 9,000 or 900 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d nine. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Woo-hoo.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n iPod. Zune. What are these things? Music players. But what happened to the iPod? The latest touch was advertised as a game console<\/a>. The latest nano was advertised as a Flip-like camcorder<\/a>. But what about the music?<\/p>\n Apple seems to think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done everything that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary with music. But if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing this Zune does, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that it proves them wrong. Based on what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen from both the player, and the software, the experience of playing your music is enhanced. The first, and arguably the less important, are some very impressive visuals when playing music. Album art, exclusive artwork, etc gives a nice presentation to your music. I say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the lesser because it requires you to stare at the player to appreciate. And just like Apple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new LP feature, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s questionable how much people actually do that. After all, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the music, not what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on with the player. Still, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nice touch that enriches the experience.<\/p>\n The second is the Zune pass. There is nothing like this in iTunes. For $15 a month, you can listen to as much music as you want. Big deal, right? After all, a common complaint of this is that once you stop paying, any music you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t purchased goes away.<\/p>\n But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not why you subscribe to this thing. No, the reason you subscribe is to discover new music. To listen to a new artist or a new album as much as you want before you decide whether you want to commit to it or venture further. Suddenly, a feature like Apple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Genius becomes so much more interesting and valuable. Sure, sometimes it can be nice to rediscover your own music, or listen to playlists that seem nicely constructed. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing like discovering a new artist that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never heard of, and fall in love.<\/p>\n But this is ignored. No one seems to care. This is the entirety of Pogue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mention of Zune Pass:<\/p>\n Music is still at the Zune\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart, especially if you sign up for Microsoft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $15-a-month, all-you-can-download music-store plan. Now, you could argue that those subscriptions are something of a ripoff; the day you stop paying that monthly fee, you lose your entire music collection.<\/p>\n\n
\n