BrianAndPamela.com

Have you seen the marketing "feel" for Microsoft's new Zune portable media device?  Clearly, it has a different feel than what Apple has put together for the iPod.  I'm not sure I like it at all.  To be fair, I'm probably not in the target demographic for either player, but still the iPod marketing has always been fresh and appealing.  Apple marketing shows the device it in the hands of fresh young hipsters having fun.  The Zune "feel" is much grittier and earthier, and I'm not sure in a good way.  It is pictured in the hands of tough looking gangsta types and people with lots of bare feet.  (Did they pay too much for the Zune?  Can't they afford shoes?)   Let's compare the two.

First off, there are very few people who wanted the Zune to succeed as much as I did.  I'm an iPod user not because I really want to be an Apple fan boy, but because it is, without serious argument, the best all around portable media device on the market.  Other devices have better screens, or better audio quality or what have you, but when you consider the whole thing from design to ease of obtaining music and accessories, the iPod/iTunes combo blows anything on the market right out of the water.  So I was very happy when the Zune hype looked like it might bring some competition to the marketplace. 

Some of the initial rumors sounded too good to be true.  Microsoft was going to GIVE you any song you already paid for from iTunes?  Wow!  Better screen?  Built-in wi-fi?  Subscription capable?  Wireless sharing?  Integrates with Media Center, XBox and Live Anywhere?  I couldn't wait.  Basically it made my dreams of a touch-screen iPod evaporate over night.  Then reality started poking in.  Not only is there no credit for iTunes purchases (not really a big suprise, can you imagine how much that would cost them?) but the Zune doesn't even support Microsoft's own Plays-for-Sure DRM system, so any music I had before from MSN, Yahoo!, or wherever won't work either.  Yes, it has wi-fi, but you can't really use it to connect online and download songs, only to share songs with other Zune users near-by.  Oh, and when you do share songs, your player wraps them in a special DRM that allows the person you send it to the play it 3 times or for 3 days, then it's useless, EVEN IF YOUR COPY OF THE SONG HAD NO DRM TO BEGIN WITH (like a podcast).  Speaking of podcasts, one of the reasons I bought an iPod was the AMAZINGLY easy podcast management, the Zune?  No podcast support. Supposedly, it's coming in a "future release." And the list of disappointments goes on.

Then the marketing really started to show, and I thought to myself, "Ummm…. Wha?"  First of all, look at the home page for the iPod video.  Product everywhere, and they are slick and shiny, the images on the screens are of cool music and shows.  Everything about the page says "You're going to love this device," especially if you have experience with Apples design philosophy.  You can pop over to the page for the Nano or the new Shuffle, and you'll get similar feels. 

Now, take a look at the Zune home page.  Alright, first thing: whoever picked brown as the signature color for the Zune should probably be fired.  Luckily, it also comes in black and white.  As I look at the page, there is ONE image of the product, and on lower resolution screens, that's going to be below the fold.  Most of the page is dominated by some guy looking pained as he sings into a microphone.  And what's with that slogan?  "Welcome to the Social"  What?  Last time I heard someone use "social" as a noun, it meant everyone in the room had to drink.  This might be a hip scene, but it's not appealing yet.  Let's look at some other pics.  Try the link for "See photos of Zune".  First pic: A white Zune with a bare foot in the background.  Ummm.  It's sort of a pic of the device.  I guess.  Next image.  Ok, a black Zune and a white Zune on black and white tile that's been scribbled on with a marker.  Peruse the other photos.  Some gangsta looking dudes, more bare feet, several under exposed shots and a couple of people that look like they are done partying.   It's almost like the iPod is how you look and feel at 9 PM, the Zune is how you look and feel at 3:30 the next morning after you get tossed out of the last club.

Well, I don't see any way that the Zune can compete with the iPod technically, and with marketing like this, there's not a chance that it's going to out-cool the iPod.  This is MS's second attempt at the market (the first being the driving force behind the Plays-For-Sure movement), so like many MS releases, perhaps we just need to wait for the 3.0.