The strong brand recognition and tremendous marketing output of the Apple iPod made Microsoft’s jump into the MP3 player market with the Zune like the dark horse of the Apocalypse.
With a fair amount of certainty, I can say that was true, until last week when Microsoft’s industrious nature proved that it’s never too late to teach an old Zune new tricks with its latest batch of firmware and software updates.
Zune 1.0 was a flawed system. Adding and removing music to the Zune was a hassle, renaming and organizing it was next to impossible.
The original Zune also sported a nifty wireless feature, good only for sending a song to another friend with a Zune, and ownership back then was scarce. Worse yet with the song sharing was that it was only a test drive, if you will, as the song would expire after three plays.
It also lacked a clock and other useless-yet-entertaining features that came standard with iPods.
At this point, the Microsoft Zune was nothing more than a pretty LCD face.
Enter Microsoft’s newest slew of updates, and Zune 3.0 saves the industry from a monopolized, homogenized market of Apple products.
The formerly useless wireless feature allows for users to download music from Zune Marketplace (Microsoft’s iTunes) directly to the Zune in wireless hotspots. Users can also “tag” songs heard on the built in FM radio for later purchase on the marketplace.
Sure the iPod Touch can do this, but is it really worth $400 for this feature? With the newest 120 GB Zune, you pay almost half the price for four times the storage.
If I spent that much on a crippled iPhone, I deserve to be institutionalized.
Zune 3.0 also introduces two games to play while spacing out to your favorite playlist, an audiobook player for those with no time to read and a refined software system complete with fun and educational visualizations of the artist playing.
Apple had a big head start in the market, but the Zune’s new updates should certainly give the Nano a run for its truckloads of money. Some aspects may still be developing, but the wait for free software/firmware updates beats buying a new iPod every three months.
By this method, spend the $250 on a 120 GB Zune, and keep it. You now own a product that the developer stands by, and will not simply allow their product to fall into obsolescence, but instead, continue to work to make their product better and worth your money.
Let’s see Apple do that.
