I wonder how much Apple paid for that segment?

Wow, that Zune review quickly turned into an Apple love-fest! Apple must be loving this...

Wohho, are you trying to claim that comparing the Zune to a 2nd gen shuffle for size and wieght is not valid?

Actually, that segment was so poorly played, it looked like they were desperately trying to fill time. Not really what I'd call a "review" by Mr. Sorkin.

Funny I didnt think it was all that impressive either. Infact I thought it kinda sucked for being the same cost of a 30 gig iPod.

And I can just tell that rubberish stuff its coated in is just going to get so nasty.

I just saw the new Zune retail display and it is horrible. Can barely touch the heavily caged non working model. I do like the brown. They had one that worked and the radio seems pretty sensitive.

I would have really like to hold the thing but that wasn't possible with this display

Man, at least fanboys online (on both sides) know how to frame the debate properly. These guys just ridicule the thing from beginning to end.

From what I've heard, the biggest reason to ridicule the Zune is the software that goes with it. The hardware and its features sound great.

I'm not saying that the Zuen is the best DAP ever, but that was a HORRIBLE review. What I've been noticing is that a lot of the tech blogs are pleased with the 1G Zune and looking forward to future iterations to fix the quirks and design issues, but all the more "mainstream" reviewers are just slamming the product left and right. Which, in the end, will be what affects the majority of end users' opinions since the masses aren't that technologically versed. Well, I guess thats what is keeping the iPod on top these days anyway, since there are tons of players that are technologically better.

Don't they have some soldiers to get killed?

Sorry, I try to be a rational person most of the time but I hate 2 organizations with a passion that burns deep in my belly.

Sony Online Entertainment (Only SOE, no other Sony entities)

and CNN. They can both lick my hairy 'right in their demographic' ass.

Hey, wow, I think I actually saw the Zune for about 2 seconds there. BEST REVIEW EVER!

Looks like they couldn't get Pogue out of his Mac-cave so they slapped a suit on some kid from the mailroom and shoved him in front of the camera with those two brainless talking heads.

Interesting spot, because usually on these news shows all the people there support the new gadget.

Apple probably didn't pay for it, but I'm sure they are going to make money from it.

So just cause some people don't like the Zune or a Micro$oft product, people start to assume Apple paid them.

iPod is a successful marketplace that is pretty much easy to use to by most people (not everyone).

Thats Soledad O'Brian... Not Suzanne Malveaux

I remember before major news outlets covered tech stuff. This is probably the reason why.

tee hee, I have my little shuffle, why would I buy THAT? besides the screen, 30x the memory, wifi, video playing ability, FM tuner, blablabla.

idiots.

one good point made in this review is the reality of "sharing" songs on the zune. When you see "Sallie's Super Zune mix" on your zune, are you really going to ask if you can "share" a song with her?

The art of face-to-face communication is practically dead now (myspace being the nail in the coffin). Oh well, i guess microsoft has never been on the cutting edge of trends...

BlindsidesDork, when you're defending iPod (which I'm cool with, even if i'll be screaming GMini til the end of days) at least try to make sense. "iPod is a successful marketplace that is pretty much easy to use by most people." What the hell is that supposed to mean? Did you mean the iTunes store is a good way to purchase music, or that apple is the market leader because it is well designed and easy to use?

I know we're on an internet forum, but can we strive for a certain level of readability?!

Sorkin's sigh and grimace there at the end is just precious. (Guys I'm trying to put some lipstick on this pig here and you're just not helping!)

Zune is such a horrible name, i don't predict much success for MS.

I believe I was looking for market piece...sorry I am also doing work so I am not thinking what I want to say but accidentally use the wrong words.

My apologizes. It is a device that has proven successful in the real world and been accepted. Majority of people find it easy to use and very convenient. Heck my boss picked up my video iPod (I was very reluctant to get it but now happy I did) and even thought it was easy to use and she doesn't have any mp3 (I don't know what technology pieces she has).

How could they complain about the Zune not being able to play Napster DRM when the Shuffle and all other Ipods can't either

stk23452

I think part of that issue is that maybe some people stayed away from iPod cause it couldn't play Napster DRM and was hoping that this new Zune would let them.

Because the people who would likely buy the Zune, would have bought music from Napster and other fairplay sites as well.

If someone is buying a iPod, they are buying from iTunes or eMusic or sites that support iPods.

I think thats the biggest killer right there for the Zune, the fact that neither Microsofts OWN DRM sites, nor iTunes supports it. Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot for creating yet another online music site.

my bad BlindsidesDork. didn't mean to lash out at you like that, even if your choice of the iPod is the wrong one ;-)

I like how the one anchor sighed after she found out she couldn't get free music beamed to her.

this does nothing to change my opinion of cnn reporters. they may be the best of the news organizations and i guess that's good enough nowadays.

how depressing.

That review could have been informative if they would have let him talk about the Zune instead of asking stupid questions.

"Why can't they hire some good designers?" Way to be objective there...

"And you can e-mail with it... right?" - Soledad O'Brainfart, 2006.

Troglodites...

JPropaganda...that's cool, I should watch what I type first before sending.

I am happy with my iPod, it was a graduation present...I get it virtually "free" and it does what I need it to do, I can't complain.

If DRM should be a knock on anyone, it should be the stores crippling our music with it. It's not Zune's fault iTunes music can't play, it's apple's fault. Ditto for music bought on Zune or Napster. Actually, it's the public's fault for putting up with this.

Wasnt Soledad a Cnet reporter back in the day?

It's got wifi....no email?

That lady is stupid, how can you email when there is no qwerty keyboard or anything. They make the wifi sound like it's useless, it'll be useful when you need to tranfer a song to your friend just for a few listenings rather than making him buy the song...;I feel that the zune is like the ipod, but better in my opinion, same features just about, but with wifi, radio, and bigger screen...still 4:3 but nicer when yor watching movies.

"I think thats the biggest killer right there for the Zune, the fact that neither Microsofts OWN DRM sites, nor iTunes supports it. Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot for creating yet another online music site."

i second that. also...why can't they hire some good designers, obviously they didn't spend their budget on an original design or good marketing.

Its a good thing no one watches CNN. Remember when they were a respected news organization?

ok, first you have to find a friend that owns a zune, for most people that will not happen. second, the screen is hardly bigger, you make it sound like it is twice the size. who really watches videos on an ipod/zune anyways. that is a weak selling point.

The Zune is destined for failure, simply because the name doesn't lend itself to subproducts. Do any of you want to listen to a Zunecast?

I have a question. Zune works by subscription service? So lets say I send a tune to my friend, he likes it, could he not just download it with his subscription service also? Therefor he doesnt actually have to buy it again (or does the three playback rule not apply when the friend has subscription?). Hope this makes sense!

that thing looked twice as thick as the iPod. Hopefully Microsoft gets it right on version 3! heh

I bought a zune yesterday for the following reasons:
1) I've owned two iPods. Both broke after 1 year.
2) I had a $40 off coupon at Circuit City
3) It's brown with green accents. Earth tones are great.
4) The display and UI are very impressive.
5) Who doesn't own an iPod? They're worse than RAZRs.

My only problem is that I keep trying to spin the scroll wheel.

IMO, they should have marketed it as having technology to share music (limited play count...) with other Zunes. It may use WiFi to do it, but that may be hurting it.

Later on if they decide to "uncripple" it, they could say they've expanded its capabilities to do other stuff.

color_guru, I used to watch full length movie's on my PSP all the time and plan to do so with my zune too =|. And why do you say Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot for creating another online music store? There's been many successfull music sites from companies that many people haven't even heard of, yet EVERYONE knows the Microsoft name, so they've already got that on their side.

Every music player has its shortfalls.
I'd rather have to ask someone to send and recieve a song then to having someone else do all that without my knowledge.

For not being Napster compatable that is a huge loss. Theres nothing I can say about that. What can I say, CDs and MP3s win here.

But for not being iTunes compatible?! Come on you guys, when has iTunes music been compatible with any other DAP other than the iPod??
Where were all these complainers when iTunes music didn't work on a Creative, a Samsung, or whatever?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Apple created iTunes and iTunes music store for the sole purpose of working for the iPod, and the iPod only.
And if Microsoft could support iTunes DRM'd music they would, in a sense, be stealing for Apple, who intended the music to be only played on iTunes or the iPod.

It would be similar to taking a DRM'd song and converting it to MP3 (FairUse4WM anyone?) just because you didn't want to have it only on 3 computers, only on 1 DAP, etc.

I am very sure that there are legal issues concerning who can use certain company's DRM'd music.

I'm not sure why people think this is a terrible review. This review shows what is likely to be real people's impressions of the Zune's capabilities. For instance, the WiFi support that doesn't actually do any of the things you would expect to come with WiFi abilities.

This review actually brought those issues to light, as well as the fact that the one feature they are really selling this on -- the social networking -- is likely to not even work unless they somehow miraculously gain a huge market share.

So I disagree, I think CNN really hit the nail on the head in a short matter of time. And the pulling out of the shuffle made a good point too that joe-average doesn't care about the specs. They want something they can whip out and have people go "oooooh". If the Zune slimmed down a bit it might be able to do that.

Andrew Ross Sorkin is a Jerk Off. Another one of those idiots that refuses (in practice) to report fairly and without bias. I stopped watching major news organization's tech reporters years ago because of their bias and lack of true testing before reporting. Ziff Davis is headed this way too!

"4) The display and UI are very impressive." I dont get this. Are people that stupid not to realize that the screen is the EXACT SAME RESOLUTION as a iPod. So instead of a true "bigger screen" you have a screen that is slightly bigger but has less pixels per inch than a iPod.

And the UI looks like a candy colors version of Apples from what I played with yesterday.

I kinda skipped to the bottom here to post, so I apologize if I'm repeating. First off, I'm not an Apple fan although I do think that the iPod is a good product. That being said, however, I think the way the Zune was presented here in this segment was accurate. Maybe when Andrew was talking about the WiFi capabilities and the anchor asked "can you pull songs off of a network," maybe he could have said "no, not yet," but "no" is still the truth. Also, when the 3-or-3 was mentioned, that was accurate as well

The problems with having to start over with your music library; technically/legally that's accurate too. My problem with this segment came at the end, but the lady busted out "her" shuffle and was raving about how much better it was than the Zune. I would buy any music player in a heartbeat over the shuffle; I don't care how light or cheap it is, I still don't have control over my playlist. Also, I disagree that the Zune is poorly designed; I actually like how it looks.

I agree with everyone on the lameness of that review. However, I think it showcases the uphill battle that Microsoft is facing with the mainstream public. Regardless of Soledad's cluelessness, those are three fairly intelligent people. So imagine trying to convince one of your smart non-tech friends (I'm thinking of an MBA friend of mine) why the Zune's features make it so much different than the iPod. That's task one.

Let's say you manage to paint the wi-fi sharing and UI features well enough to get your friend interested. Then go ahead and drop the "oh, by the way, any song you bought off iTunes is not going to automatically work" line on them. If they last past that, you can explain how to export their iTunes purchases to a CD and then reimport them to the Zune software and on to their Zune.

I just don't see many non-gadget freaks going for the Zune. If the Zune was the touchscreen video iPod, THEN they might have something, but there's just too much about the Zune that already is done just fine by the iPod for the vast majority of iPod owners.

... because I always turn to CNN for all of my tech reviews. Puh-lease.

And see for me I have a hard time justifying any of these screened devices. I love my Shuffle, and use it every day. Its small, its lightweight and it does what its supposed to.

I had a 1st gen iPod and truthfully I find the shuffle so much more enjoyable. But then I dont care what i listen too.

Oh come on, they're obviously both sleeping with Jobs!!

Don't forget that Soledad got her start on CNN hosting their tech show back in the day - so she's no luddite.

She probably just dropped some pillow talk to SJ about the Zune being on the show next week... and hey presto, she's got a shiny new Shuffle to clip to her Channel suit.

No Ear buds though - so a very silent, but fashionable statement.......

"That lady is stupid, how can you email when there is no qwerty keyboard or anything."

Well, let's see, I have sent a couple of hundred emails from my Axim without a qwerty keyboard. Even without a keyboard, you could still see the email. And the Zune does have a few buttons that could be used for text input, but hey, let's just rank rather then think.

The built in radio is nice, but not working as an external harddrive is a deal breaker.