ZUNE

Microsoft has unveiled the new Zune portable media player, and I must say, I am impressed.

Those that know yours truly could attest to the fact that I've become increasingly dissatisfied with Apple products in the past couple of years. First, I bought a pretty 40gb iPod, which while heavy, was a pretty perfect device, until it decided to quit functioning. Then, I bought a shiny new iMac which burns itself out within a couple of months. These might have been forgivable lapses, had not Apple started acting like a fifteen-year-old boy who just found out the baby is his. And yet, I still had enough faith in the brand to buy a Nano. Don't get me wrong, the Nano has been a pretty good little machinula, but there have been issues: ever try to update an modern iPod with an outdated computer? Oh, that's right, you can't.

I should be more specific: you can't with a mac. I checked the specs today, out of curiosity, and it appears that you absolutely need a computer capable of running OS 10.3.9 to do anything with an iPod. With a PC, however, you only need Win2k. Now, I am excellent at simple math, but I do believe my now-antique iMac to be newer than Win2k, if only by a year. What this means then, is apparently that Apple wants that market share that Win2k compatibility provides, but doesn't want that of a loyal customer who can't afford to buy a second shiny new mac that will break down in a couple of months. Is that "Thinking Different?"

Apple may have some more tricks up its sleeve before the inevitable decline and fall, but I almost find myself pleased with the fact that they refuse to parlay these tricks into an advantage. Case in point, the newly-released updated Nano. What they've done is combine the ugly aluminum casing and unnattractive colors of the iPod mini, with the sleek functionality of the Nano. They've smooth the edges, more heavily backlit the screen, and made the new Nano into a rather disgusting parody of one of their past failures. The updated regular series of iPod deserves no mention, as the changes are few.

Returning to the point, all is not lost. Microsoft, that old Cascadian standby, has provided an alternative. The Zune. The device, which is roughly analgous to the regular series iPod, has all the old bells and whistles: 30 gb disc, video and photo viewing, etc. But it also has some rather neat new ones: interface customization, ability to sync with the Xbox, horizontal or vertical operation, oh, and wifi.

Sure, sure, wifi is probably just a decent excuse to try and get people to order tons of music to their device, which is actually not such a lame idea, but it does more: you can send and receive media from other users, namely, photos and music. Clearly the Zune has taken a page from the Mylo playbook.

Best feature yet: it comes in brown.



Gorgeous.