Nov
28
It’s been two weeks since Microsoft launched Zune and the verdict is still out on whether it will compete strongly with the iPod for a share of the wireless music/video market.
Consumers have responded positively to the choice of colors, the bigger screen, and its scratch-resistant case, but there are problems that are not making the majority of users happy campers.
First, to download the Zune software, a user’s system has to meet certain requirements; namely, Win XP SP2, processor running at minimum 1.5GHz, and so on. By comparison, Apple Computer’s iTunes 7 software does not have any such hardware requirements.
And to download the Zune software, users’ need to use only Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7). The software cannot be downloaded by using Mozilla’s Firefox.
Download time is a hassle with some reports that the Zune software takes up to 30 minutes to download, while iTunes 7 can handle the same task in five minutes.
Further, the result of the download is a media player interface that looks a lot like a less suave version of Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. What’s more, its not even compatible with Windows Media Player.
Going to the Zune Marketplace, it offers around two million music tracks (no videos/podcasts). But in order to buy songs, consumers have to use the store currency of points, plus there’s something called a minimum purchase.
In effect, a customer needs to spend at least 5 U.S. dollars to purchase blocks of 400 points (99 U.S. cents = 79 points). And, only upon spending 80 dollars, customers stand to get one extra song free-of-charge.
There are other minor things as well about the Zune; for example, its inability to wirelessly connect to the user’s PC even though its Wi-Fi capable.
Although users feel Microsoft will eventually take care of the minor things, the general feeling is that Microsoft has emulated the one bad thing about Apple’s iPod and iTunes, which is the DRM restricted closed system, while ignoring the many good things in making its Zune.