Zune Bashing, Plain & Simple

I really can't stand it when journalists don't check their facts, and let their own personal opinion through when they're claiming to write an objective article.  The latest example of this is Popular Mechanics and their "Worst Gadgets of 2007" piece.  Because I'm posting this on a Zune website, you can guess that they bashed the Zune.  Ok, they're entitled to an opinion, but I really think it's not based on much.  Here we go:

Apple has revamped their entire iPod line, shrinking their already-tiny Nanos and adding the iPhone’s multitouch interface to a non-phone media player. So how does Microsoft respond? By matching the size and feature set of the previous year’s iPods and not even attempting to compete on price (the updated Zunes cost pretty much exactly the same as the new iPods). It’s almost as if Microsoft didn’t anticipate Apple making a single update or change to their constantly evolving line of players.

Popular Mechanics totally missed the boat.  You have to compare the Zune 80 to its only real competitor, the iPod Classic 80.  Sure, they're identical in price ($249) for the same capacity.  While the iPod wins in battery life, the Zune 80's got it beat in WiFi song squirting (now with the three day restriction removed), wireless syncing, and a larger screen, not to mention the custom backs.  While plenty of articles have compared the two, and it's been a lively debate as they choose one or the other, even if Zune lost all of those, it would only be second best, and not a worst product by a longshot.

If we look at it objectively, it is Apple that really didn't innovate on their hard drive players.  Their iPod Classic 80 is essentially the same player as last year, soldiering on with a $100 price cut.  No real new features were added this year except in the battery life department.  To compare the Zune to the iPod Touch is ridiculous as the Touch is a more expensive product, with less memory as it is flash based, and more than a media player.  And in the end, the Zunes don't really compete with it.

I think the gearheads at Popular Mechanics should stick to their wrenches, and leave the Zune out of this if they're not willing to educate themselves on the merits of a particular device, and write more objectively .  You read it firsthand here.

PS: To show you how out of touch they are, they even posted an image of last year's Zune 30, in brown no less, and it's been selling quite well this year with the current discounts to the point that they're running out of them.

Comments

[Timothy Bevil]

Zune may not be everyone's cup of tea. I was a proud owner of a 30g Zune, until the issue with staying charged kept surfacing. Charge it all night, use it ten minutes, turn it off and if drains itself. I've done the re-set, and everyother suggestion, but as far as I can see, my Zune has working on/off switch or at least it won't go into dormant mode. Four miserable months of tinkering with this and my next purchase is an iPod.

[Jonas]

Too bad to hear about your experience with the Zune. Did you contact Microsoft for some warranty coverage? None of these electronics are trouble free. How old is the player? Is it a battery issue?

[Jonas]

This looks relevant to your situation:

http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/23770/zune-30-battery-life-after-firmware-upgrade-better-for-some-worse-for-others.html

[rex]

that stuff about the battery issue is all Anit-Zune propaganda, promoted by apple fanboi's and sites like enapplegadget. There is no problem with batteries in Zunes,,period.