10-07-2006, 01:25 PM
Is the Zune going to blow the iPod's market share out of the water on Day 1? Most definetly not. But I think the Zune does have some interesting, if half-baked, features that are absent in the iPod. Zune's presence in the market can only be a positive for future iPod development.
I don't think Zune will ever be able to gain much market share on the iPod for two reasons: 1) M$ isn't that creative when it comes to usable software or hardware design and 2) M$'s partners all have subscription based stores based on WMA which have proven to be losers. People DO want to "own" their music, and they don't want WMA.
That said I don't think we iPod fans should be so fast to hope for the Zune's fast demise just for a quick "ha ha." It was the Zune and Sansa that led to the recent iPod price cut. That is $50 that stays in my pocket. They will definetly force Apple to add new features to the iPod quicker as well, like a larger screen and built-in wi-fi and bluetooth. But when/if the touch screen video iPod comes out it could very well be lights out for Zune and co.
I don't think Zune will ever be able to gain much market share on the iPod for two reasons: 1) M$ isn't that creative when it comes to usable software or hardware design and 2) M$'s partners all have subscription based stores based on WMA which have proven to be losers. People DO want to "own" their music, and they don't want WMA.
That said I don't think we iPod fans should be so fast to hope for the Zune's fast demise just for a quick "ha ha." It was the Zune and Sansa that led to the recent iPod price cut. That is $50 that stays in my pocket. They will definetly force Apple to add new features to the iPod quicker as well, like a larger screen and built-in wi-fi and bluetooth. But when/if the touch screen video iPod comes out it could very well be lights out for Zune and co.