{"id":593,"date":"2006-11-15T11:54:43","date_gmt":"2006-11-15T19:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/11\/15\/more-zune\/"},"modified":"2006-11-15T11:54:43","modified_gmt":"2006-11-15T19:54:43","slug":"more-zune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/11\/15\/more-zune\/","title":{"rendered":"More Zune"},"content":{"rendered":"

You never succeed playing catch-up ball.<\/p>\n

In the late nineties AOL looked unstoppable, adding millions of subscribers at twenty bucks per month.\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind that techies railed against the service, its incompatible e-mail system, its closed network.\u00c2\u00a0 The public was stupid.\u00c2\u00a0 And you could never lose money serving that stupidity.<\/p>\n

So demonstrating even a greater lack of knowledge, Jerry Levin decided to merge Time Warner with AOL.\u00c2\u00a0 To create a juggernaut.<\/p>\n

Jerry Levin rides the bus these days.\u00c2\u00a0 Where none of his ex-TW employees can find him and rail about the declines in stock value that will have them working until they’re seventy.<\/p>\n

But Jerry Levin knew nothing about tech.\u00c2\u00a0 What about MICROSOFT!<\/p>\n

Well, anything you can do I can do better.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, not exactly better, but I can employ my\u00c2\u00a0 marketing muscle, my business relationships, my MONOPOLY, to edge into your business and defeat you.<\/p>\n

So Microsoft went into competition with AOL.\u00c2\u00a0 With its Microsoft Network, otherwise known as msn.com.<\/p>\n

It was UNFAIR!\u00c2\u00a0 Microsoft’s link was on the desktop.\u00c2\u00a0 They were going to win AGAIN!<\/p>\n

Only one problem.\u00c2\u00a0 AOL was not where it was at.\u00c2\u00a0 The action turned out not to be in monthly subscriptions, but search.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, while Microsoft pursued AOL it completely ignored Google.<\/p>\n

Same deal with the Zune.<\/p>\n

We can categorize the Zune’s faults.\u00c2\u00a0 Its size.\u00c2\u00a0 Its non-spinning click wheel.\u00c2\u00a0 Its incompatibility with other music services.\u00c2\u00a0 Its incompatibility with Microsoft’s soon to ship operating system Vista <\/p>\n

\n

Zune incompatible with Windows Vista<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But what’s really gonna kill the Zune is the phone.\u00c2\u00a0 Apple’s iPhone, or whomever comes up with the perfect solution.<\/p>\n

You might not want music with your phone TODAY, but that’s because your handset has indecipherable menus.\u00c2\u00a0 Usability is at the bottom of its feature sets.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just too complicated.\u00c2\u00a0 Like that Palm Pilot you have stored in your drawer.\u00c2\u00a0 But what if you could talk and listen to music EASILY!\u00c2\u00a0 Could I convince you to carry only one device instead of two?\u00c2\u00a0 Are you INTERESTED IN THAT?<\/p>\n

I believe you are.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s why Apple just contracted with Hon Hai Precision to manufacture 12 million handsets <\/p>\n

\n

Taiwan’s Hon Hai wins Apple orders for mobile handsets, notebook PCs – report<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You can buy your chip anywhere.\u00c2\u00a0 Just plug it into your phone, and you go.<\/p>\n

Microsoft’s solution?\u00c2\u00a0 A wireless networking feature that has the transferred tracks expiring in three days or three plays.<\/p>\n

Is this really the feature you’re looking for?\u00c2\u00a0 To be able to get crap songs from someone you’ve just met?\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, if they’re your friend, you’re gonna get the REAL THING, not a facsimile that expires.<\/p>\n

Sure, social networking is important.\u00c2\u00a0 But is Microsoft’s solution a viable answer?<\/p>\n

Of course not.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it leaves out usability.\u00c2\u00a0 Usability isn’t only how you get the music in, but how you LISTEN TO IT!\u00c2\u00a0 And to have to listen within arbitrary parameters is…\u00c2\u00a0 Well, let me see.\u00c2\u00a0 These tracks are going to expire on Tuesday.\u00c2\u00a0 Those on Wednesday.\u00c2\u00a0 Oops, I took a phone call and let that track continue to play, so it’s gone now.<\/p>\n

Oh, don’t tell me about the DRM restrictions on the iPod, because THEY DON’T APPLY TO MOST PEOPLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Most people just rip and steal, they can’t be bothered with the man’s plan.<\/p>\n

Zune’s game is the same as the MSN Network’s.\u00c2\u00a0 To use distribution to dominate.\u00c2\u00a0 Zune is available in THREE TIMES AS MANY retail outlets as iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 Will some people buy them because of availability?\u00c2\u00a0 ABSOLUTELY!\u00c2\u00a0 And Microsoft can trumpet their inroads.\u00c2\u00a0 On a drive towards Cairo when all the action is in Damascus.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You never succeed playing catch-up ball. In the late nineties AOL looked unstoppable, adding millions of subscribers at twenty bucks per month.\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind that techies railed against the service, its incompatible e-mail system, its closed network.\u00c2\u00a0 The public was stupid.\u00c2\u00a0 And you could never lose money serving that stupidity. So demonstrating even a greater […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business","category-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-9z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}