Usually, we do not report on .mp3 players. However, sometimes we cannot go around them. Today is one of those times: Microsoft has launched its supposed iPod killer, the Zune. "Not a lot of surprises in the specs department, but they've confirmed the basics we've known for a while, like WiFi, 30GB of HDD, built-in FM, a 3-inch screen and the basic music, pictures and video playback. They also finally let slip the screen res - an unsurprising QVGA - and some better news on the codec front: the Zune supports h.264, MP3, AAC and WMA."
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Member since:2006-06-12
The paradox is that software giants like MS and Apple are betting big time on hardware (event though we could argue that Apple has ALWAYS been a hardware company).
Microsoft is really playing the "me-too" card here. True, Apple wasn't the first company to sell portable MP3 players, but it was the first one capable of convincing the Majors of the sustainability of selling music through Internet; and the first one to offer a global product (iPod + computer + iTunes).
It just makes me laugh when companies that are well-known for not being innovative come up with the next "iPod killer". Well if they really want to innovate, they should be willing to take some risk first hand, like Apple did, instead of following the crowd.
Microsoft did actually copy a lot of things (word processing, spreadsheets, Web browser and so on) but its opportunistic and agressive tactics allowed it to get to the top. Afterall in the case of Internet, it picked up late but eventually beat Netscape, the darling of the WWW, so I'll wait to see how Microsoft does with its portable player. We never know what the future holds...
I'm sure that as soon as the Zune gets on the shelves, some guys from Rockbox are going to hack it and port the firmware. I think Rockbox is one of the greatest initiatives: you pick the hardware, and you use it to listen to music on your own terms.
Member since:
2005-10-11
If they are selling them at a loss ill get one as long as rockbox comes out with a firmware replacement for it.
http://www.rockbox.org/