Well, I got the Zune unwrapped the day after it came out, and it’s got a few hours of pounding on it. I'm pretty impressed with the Zune hardware, only gripe is the circular fake wheel. They should have just kept Toshiba's cross looking mechanism, would have done the Zune more justice, but aside from that pain, the hardware met my expectations.
But the critical problem is that the software you install on your pc to transfer files is a complete piece of junk. Sorry dev’s while the code isn’t the problem, err for the most part ;), the design and implementation is a horrible piece of garbage. Being a developer myself, I doubt the developers who wrote the Zune would find it useful at all. I would have thought since the execs at Microsoft were so hell bent on changing protocols and shying away from the PlaysForSure protocol they would at least make absolute certain that you would have a easy, fun, and painless way of transferring and managing your files for the Zune. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the company enlisted to make the program went on a 6 month fiesta came back a few months before release and crammed this piece of filth out the door. (I’m not saying they did, but it sure feels that way)
So I decided lets see what there software does so I can attempt to make a much better program which is easier to use, to manage, and to transfer files to my Zune. I will add posts and updates on my progress so that when it’s conquered, you can see how it’s done.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
My history with media devices and why the Zune could take a bite out of Apples
Having used an mp3 player since my first Diamond Rio all those many moons ago, its odd to see Rio passed away.
Now the new heavy hitter is Apples iPod. When I first got my first iPod mini, I couldn’t understand why people praised its easy of use. Being a developer of software that transfers audio files to many devices, I couldn’t understand how the iPod was any better then any of the many other devices I already had.
At first I didn’t want to use the iPod much, it just didn’t feel comfortable, and the touch wheel was over sensitive, however at that time it had the biggest storage space, while being extremely small in size, so I kept with it. After a while I could see that its system of control started to grow on me. And wouldn’t you know I started to prefer its control instead of the many others I had. The iPod mini served me well for a few years, during that time I acquired more devices from both PlaysForSure, and Apples camp; however I never needed more then 3 gigs of space for my music files.
Being a software developer who makes components for transferring of audio files to an huge array of devices, I tend to have a enormous amount of devices laying around, however none would tug me away from the iPod Mini, until the Nano came out. I enjoyed the Nano, however its life span of being the player of choice didn’t last to long. It was inevitable; it was to easy to scratch the heck out of the screen, even taking diligent care not to scratch the screen efforts went in vain. While it was great to have photo capabilities in it, let’s face it. The screen was and is entirely too small. Fortunately enough for me the iPod Video soon came out. And it’s served my purpose for quite some time.
One flaw that I consider to be the death of the iPod Video, having had more then you can shake a stick at, all of the iPod Video players I have had all died well before it was a year old. The biggest problem is the USB functionality breaks, the only possible way to charge the system is with the Firewire, or non USB car charger. The USB chips burn out extremely fast. So while it’s great that they still run, there’s no way to ever manage your music again as it will not connect via USB any longer. Having a huge number of these devices all with the same exact problem I figured Apple would fix it since there all under warranty, however trying to send the thing I was informed it would cost 46 dollars per device for shipping and handling. If all these devices all suffer from the same exact problem what’s the chance that this problem with all iPod Video devices. I got them at different times from different places, but all have the issue in common.
Another issue is that when I send them in to be fixed, there going to replace them with other refurbished iPod’s, meaning I will lose any engravings and my entire music collections on all those devices.
Having experienced this problem I went back to the many other iPod’s I have had over the years, and was astonished by what I found out. Not one single iPod that previously worked great, no longer runs at all. Not a single one. It doesn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling about getting another iPod anytime soon. Sure it may look somewhat cool??? (Next to the PSP, nothing looks very cool.) It just isn’t worth spending $250 or $350 for a devices that can’t manage to stay alive for a year or more.
Going back to my other devices I was amazed to see all of the PlaysForSure devices, and Rio’s all worked as good as the day I stopped using, testing with them, from the Rio 300 on down the line to today’s latest models. Is there some serious design flaw in the iPod Video to have a handful of them all have the same exact problem?
I’ve been looking forward to getting the Zune to add compatibility with my software with the Zune, I still can’t believe Microsoft ditched the PlaysForSure model on there own device. After accusing Apple of not playing nice with developers letting them have accessibility to the iPod without hacking it, Microsoft then behaves the same exact way.
If the Zune can manage to live longer then a year, I think it can be a serious contender, not in 4 years like some analysts predict, but in the near future, why? Well I’ve always hated watching video on the iPod Video, my eyes have degraded several degrees from all the squinting I’ve done while testing stuff, granted the Zune’s screen isn’t much better, however every little bit helps. Personally I think the only portable device that plays video good is the PSP; the screen is perfectly done for portable video viewing. But nonetheless every little bit bigger it is does help.
I still can’t figure out what Microsoft was thinking by limiting the wireless on the Zune device. But it’s not like they can’t fix that later with a firmware upgrade, or (Hacked Firmware). I have read numerous complaints about the idea that they can only listen to a song 3 days or 3 times that a friend transfers over to you. Sure it might not be enough, maybe 5 times would be better?? But even being limited, its better then not having that ability, if a friend wants me to listen to a song he thinks I might like and I am unable to listen to the song at that particular time, it makes sense.
But the real reason I see Microsoft being a contender is simple it can be integrated into the xbox360 live service. They’ve already got a legion of devotees there, and lets face ti who doesn’t want to sync there portable system to there game system. Even Sony sees that with there attempt to synch the PSP to the PS3. Argue all you want but the bottom line is this is what the next generation kids want. If they can empower Youtube to greatness with all its flaws and horrible flash video, just think what they could do for Microsoft.
Now the new heavy hitter is Apples iPod. When I first got my first iPod mini, I couldn’t understand why people praised its easy of use. Being a developer of software that transfers audio files to many devices, I couldn’t understand how the iPod was any better then any of the many other devices I already had.
At first I didn’t want to use the iPod much, it just didn’t feel comfortable, and the touch wheel was over sensitive, however at that time it had the biggest storage space, while being extremely small in size, so I kept with it. After a while I could see that its system of control started to grow on me. And wouldn’t you know I started to prefer its control instead of the many others I had. The iPod mini served me well for a few years, during that time I acquired more devices from both PlaysForSure, and Apples camp; however I never needed more then 3 gigs of space for my music files.
Being a software developer who makes components for transferring of audio files to an huge array of devices, I tend to have a enormous amount of devices laying around, however none would tug me away from the iPod Mini, until the Nano came out. I enjoyed the Nano, however its life span of being the player of choice didn’t last to long. It was inevitable; it was to easy to scratch the heck out of the screen, even taking diligent care not to scratch the screen efforts went in vain. While it was great to have photo capabilities in it, let’s face it. The screen was and is entirely too small. Fortunately enough for me the iPod Video soon came out. And it’s served my purpose for quite some time.
One flaw that I consider to be the death of the iPod Video, having had more then you can shake a stick at, all of the iPod Video players I have had all died well before it was a year old. The biggest problem is the USB functionality breaks, the only possible way to charge the system is with the Firewire, or non USB car charger. The USB chips burn out extremely fast. So while it’s great that they still run, there’s no way to ever manage your music again as it will not connect via USB any longer. Having a huge number of these devices all with the same exact problem I figured Apple would fix it since there all under warranty, however trying to send the thing I was informed it would cost 46 dollars per device for shipping and handling. If all these devices all suffer from the same exact problem what’s the chance that this problem with all iPod Video devices. I got them at different times from different places, but all have the issue in common.
Another issue is that when I send them in to be fixed, there going to replace them with other refurbished iPod’s, meaning I will lose any engravings and my entire music collections on all those devices.
Having experienced this problem I went back to the many other iPod’s I have had over the years, and was astonished by what I found out. Not one single iPod that previously worked great, no longer runs at all. Not a single one. It doesn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling about getting another iPod anytime soon. Sure it may look somewhat cool??? (Next to the PSP, nothing looks very cool.) It just isn’t worth spending $250 or $350 for a devices that can’t manage to stay alive for a year or more.
Going back to my other devices I was amazed to see all of the PlaysForSure devices, and Rio’s all worked as good as the day I stopped using, testing with them, from the Rio 300 on down the line to today’s latest models. Is there some serious design flaw in the iPod Video to have a handful of them all have the same exact problem?
I’ve been looking forward to getting the Zune to add compatibility with my software with the Zune, I still can’t believe Microsoft ditched the PlaysForSure model on there own device. After accusing Apple of not playing nice with developers letting them have accessibility to the iPod without hacking it, Microsoft then behaves the same exact way.
If the Zune can manage to live longer then a year, I think it can be a serious contender, not in 4 years like some analysts predict, but in the near future, why? Well I’ve always hated watching video on the iPod Video, my eyes have degraded several degrees from all the squinting I’ve done while testing stuff, granted the Zune’s screen isn’t much better, however every little bit helps. Personally I think the only portable device that plays video good is the PSP; the screen is perfectly done for portable video viewing. But nonetheless every little bit bigger it is does help.
I still can’t figure out what Microsoft was thinking by limiting the wireless on the Zune device. But it’s not like they can’t fix that later with a firmware upgrade, or (Hacked Firmware). I have read numerous complaints about the idea that they can only listen to a song 3 days or 3 times that a friend transfers over to you. Sure it might not be enough, maybe 5 times would be better?? But even being limited, its better then not having that ability, if a friend wants me to listen to a song he thinks I might like and I am unable to listen to the song at that particular time, it makes sense.
But the real reason I see Microsoft being a contender is simple it can be integrated into the xbox360 live service. They’ve already got a legion of devotees there, and lets face ti who doesn’t want to sync there portable system to there game system. Even Sony sees that with there attempt to synch the PSP to the PS3. Argue all you want but the bottom line is this is what the next generation kids want. If they can empower Youtube to greatness with all its flaws and horrible flash video, just think what they could do for Microsoft.
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