New MSNBC Article about Zune

[Bionicspyder]

Microsoft's Zune player seeks stardom - Gadgets - MSNBC.com

[Carlos]

It would be great if they added some Video Exclusives in the Marketplace. Personally I never use it myself.

[lpxxfaintxx]

I'd use it, but only if it was free.

[stkr]

They should add performances. Something similar to AOL Sessions. It would definitely go along with the 'social' aspect of the device since we, as users, would get closer to our favorite artists.

[Jimmy1]

It's an interesting article. I do agree though with the point made in the piece: that this move sounds like a last ditch effort to save the Zune. It correctly even points out how Bach, the guy basically in charge of the Zune development never mentioned it during a conference call to MS investors. I could be wrong, but my prediction is that if after a product refresh, new Zunes still only hold on to 3% of the dap market, Microsoft will scuttle the brand. No company likes losing money year after year, especially if that company is Microsoft.

[creative zune]

well honestly there is only one thing that can bring MS and its zune success and that is the to pay a bunch of software makers and designers and programmers to sit in a room altogether and BRAINSTORM a way to use social and Microsoft xbox 360 (with the new dashboard update coming September) and
integrate it with one another because believe it or not that link on that post has bin probably being read by apple and they are probably finding a way to cancel what MS has above their sleave............(just a thought)


or they could lay back and watch ms plan fail ..............OR SUCCEED!

[helluvagood]

i think they have to look further than the zune social, some people just dont care about the 'social' and its features

[Dizzy]

Originally Posted by Jimmy1

No company likes losing money year after year, especially if that company is Microsoft.

Hold up... I swear I just saw an article the other day saying the Zunes helped MS rake in a few more million this quarter.

[Jimmy1]

Originally Posted by helluvagood

i think they have to look further than the zune social, some people just dont care about the 'social' and its features

I agree. I bought the Zune 80 because I dug the user interface, the navigation and the sound quality after playing around with one. The social feature of the Zune had no appeal to me, as I suspect it doesn't for many consumers.

I actually think the whole 'social' aspect for the Zune is a wrong headed strategy for Microsoft. They're confusing the social networking trend with sites like facebook, with a portable electronics consumer device.
The actual physical act of putting on earplugs to listen to your mp3 player is in itself not very social; it's an essentially isolating activity.

I used to commute to work in Manhattan from the suburbs on Long Island. Many commuters sat around or stood in trains and buses with headphones and earplugs listening to their respective players. If you asked a commuting New Yorker on the way to work or school about the possibility of connecting and sharing his or her music with some random stranger, they'd treat you like the homeless guy that pesters people for change on the subway.

I know I certainly didn't buy the player to 'connect' with some other random Zune owner. Who cares what someone else is listening to?
Just give me a cool device with great sound, plenty of storage space and wide codec support (which the Zune could use some improvement on) and I'm good.

[Carlos]

Originally Posted by Jimmy1

I agree. I bought the Zune 80 because I dug the user interface, the navigation and the sound quality after playing around with one. The social feature of the Zune had no appeal to me, as I suspect it doesn't for many consumers.

I actually think the whole 'social' aspect for the Zune is a wrong headed strategy for Microsoft. They're confusing the social networking trend with sites like facebook, with a portable electronics consumer device.
The actual physical act of putting on earplugs to listen to your mp3 player is in itself not very social; it's an essentially isolating activity.

I used to commute to work in Manhattan from the suburbs on Long Island. Many commuters sat around or stood in trains and buses with headphones and earplugs listening to their respective players. If you asked a commuting New Yorker on the way to work or school about the possibility of connecting and sharing his or her music with some random stranger, they'd treat you like the homeless guy that pesters people for change on the subway.

I know I certainly didn't buy the player to 'connect' with some other random Zune owner. Who cares what someone else is listening to?
Just give me a cool device with great sound, plenty of storage space and wide codec support (which the Zune could use some improvement on) and I'm good.

I don't believe you speak for every single Consumer that has purchased a Zune when you say you never bought it for Connecting with others.

The Social Aspect of the Zune is a great Marketing ploy for them. It just seems as though it hasn't been used to it's fullest.