Zune HD | The Coffeehouse

La Bomba
Boing!

Currently have an iPod, who else is thinking of buying this puppy? That OLED screen, looks nice.

RLO

Currently have a Zune 8, 30, 80 JD LE, and a 120. No sense stopping now.

Overall, if you are a fan of Media Center it's a nice way to go. I would suggest going ahead and downloading the software and taking it for a spin. Should be an update of it on the 15th as well.

The Zune pass is a wonderful option, and has allowed me to fill alot of gaps in my music collection a la "Columbia House" style. The keep 10 and download all you want, makes it an awesome deal.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Ray7

Well, I would if I could get hold of it!

Perplexed

It will all come down to the applications at the end of the day. If MS can get a decent app store going, then they could take a nice chunk of market share from the iPod (by chunk, I mean about 4 or 5%).

Refrax

In reply to Ray7

#Sep 10th @ 1:13 AM

an app store would be great, but i still want my 5 stars back. or at least the option to switch from the 2 hearts to the 5 stars

dahat

I put in a pre-order for the 32 gigger on New Egg the day they started taking orders.

As much as I love my wee lil 8 gig flash Zune, I want more.

PaoloM
Hypermediocrity

In reply to dahat

#Sep 10th @ 8:17 AM

I want one. I had wanted one since I saw it for the first time in January Smiley

dahat

In reply to PaoloM

#Sep 10th @ 8:20 AM

Same here... but I only saw my first in June or so... point is... they are but a week away!

RLO

In reply to Refrax

#Sep 10th @ 8:15 AM

Everytime I think about the heart/broken heart system, I hear in my mind David Alan Grier and Damon Wayans doing the Men on Film Skit.

"Hayyted it!"

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

I'd buy one if I wasn't forced to use the Zune software.

Ray7

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 9:44 AM

Couldn't be worse than the iTunes software ... Sad

Minh
WOOH! WOOH!

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 9:44 AM

Dude! The Zune software rocks!

It's probably one of the best UI MS has going...

This is the Zune 2.0 software... Zune 1.0 was crap! But 2.0 is a delight to use

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to Minh

#Sep 10th @ 10:09 AM

How hard is it for Microsoft to support MTP (a standard that _they_ came up with)?

stevo_
Human after all

Whats this zune thing?

PaoloM
Hypermediocrity

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 12:05 PM

That is not the point.

The Zune is designed to be an end to end experience, from the device to the software to the services, just like the iPod. That's it. If you like it like that, the Zune is for you, if you don't, then there are plenty of other players.

Ian2
Proud to geek ..

In reply to PaoloM

#Sep 10th @ 12:44 PM

Does anyone know if this is the sucka thats going to support Silverlight?

Ray7

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 12:05 PM

That's a good question.

What would happen if the Zune could be used with any piece of software? Then it would be Microsoft using its monopoly powers to take over the market.

Keeping it tied to an ecosystem may be a good way to avoid it being destroyed by their own past misdemeanours.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to Ray7

#Sep 10th @ 1:02 PM

I say the opposite. It would certainly be illegal for Microsoft to sell the Zune in the EU as is because it goes against the injunction on maintaining proprietary communication protocols.

The only way they could legally sell it in the EU region is by opening up the protocol.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to PaoloM

#Sep 10th @ 12:44 PM

dbl

RLO

In reply to Ray7

#Sep 10th @ 1:13 AM

Bad news, according to wmpoweruser and mobinaute looks like its going to be even longer before Europe gets the Zune.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to PaoloM

#Sep 10th @ 12:44 PM

You can still have a Zune software and not force people to use it. I personally find that aspect very lame. It's pretty much the only reason I will not buy a Zune and continue to dissuade others from buying it too.

RLO

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 1:09 PM

I can understand being platform neutral, but in consumer devices there is always a lock in of some sort. I can't play certain games on my PS3 and others I can't play on my 360. That doesn't negate either of those devices and I don't feel gyped by being forced to use one software on one and another software on the other.

Right now, as a consumer, I appreciate the Zune software and the device. To me it's no different than having a device that only works with WMP or one that only works for iTunes. The software is merely a conduit for the device, the fact that it runs on a computer is negligent to me.

Considering that you can have a variety of support for various codecs, you can still remain platform neutral and still use the device. I know that I am not going to change your mind, but look at it from a consumer point of view. Most consumers are looking for something that works, and having a locked down device for consumers is the future.

Consumers look at computing devices more and more as an appliance and expect them to work that way. Just like when you pop bread in the toaster, you get toast and when you plug up your device you get music. The locked software is just the easiest way to do that. No one complains about not being able to hack into the firmware of their DVD player. Or change the firmware to use the same firmware as their other player that is made by another manufacturer. They just want it to play DVD's.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to RLO

#Sep 10th @ 1:28 PM

Consumers look at computing devices more and more as an appliance and expect them to work that way.

So if I have a Mac OS X or Linux computer and I get a Zune, it will magically work?

Hey I know how to make the Zune actually behave like an appliance!

Make it support MTP.

Personally I view these kind of shenanigans as worthy of being criminalized. Under no circumstances should a consumer electronics company use proprietary protocols for the explicit purpose of maintaining non-compatibility. I'll call it the Criminalization of Banal Defects by Technology Plan Act, which would have an almost ironic acronym.

RLO

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 1:34 PM

So if I have a Mac OS X or Linux computer and I get a Zune, it will magically work?

No, and neither would an iPod magically work on Linux either. Each time that palm makes the pre sync with iTunes, Apple comes along and breaks it as well. I personally would think it would be smart business for MS to make a mac client. Others don't agree. It's their decision to make that for the profit of the company, not mine.

I can appreciate trying for an engineering standard that would make these discussions moot, and I may not like a company using proprietary protocols, but how else can you protect intellectual property and insure a stable experience for all consumers.

Lock down is not for everyone, and I can appreciate your commitment against it, but to dismiss it out of hand is not fair.

contextfree

In reply to Bass

#Sep 10th @ 1:34 PM

Yup, I also chose not to get a Zune thanks to this issue.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to RLO

#Sep 10th @ 1:51 PM

No, and neither would an iPod magically work on Linux either. Each time that palm makes the pre sync with iTunes, Apple comes along and breaks it as well. I personally would think it would be smart business for MS to make a mac client. Others don't agree. It's their decision to make that for the profit of the company, not mine.

I don't think it's a decsion they should be allowed to make. Before you go call libertarian on me, let me present an extreme example. If Apple shipped every iPod with a kilo of Anthax because "it's their decision", would you support that?

There is limits to what a company is allowed to "ship".

Where do you put the limit? At half a kilo of Anthrax? You have to point the line somewhere!

Well I think the limit of what a company can ship with consumer electronics should include no deadly diseases bundled. Smiley But why stop at deadly diseases? That's still an arbitrary defined line.

So lets include in this line, that a company shouldn't be able to ship products which are literally defective by design. I think that's fair. This is true for both the Zune and the iPod. They are both defective by design. So ban products which contain intentional defects. It's consumer protection.

I can appreciate trying for an engineering standard that would make these discussions moot, and I may not like a company using proprietary protocols, but how else can you protect intellectual property and insure a stable experience for all consumers.

Hmm.. Copyright and patents? Shipping a media device that implements MICROSOFT'S MTP standard doesn't magically make it public domain. Somehow many non-Microsoft companies manage this. It's funny how the author of the standard can not.