It is really something of a rare event when a print journalist unleashes a tirade on a consumer product. Even in the worst case scenario, when the manufacturer has completely missed the mark and brought to market something as atrocious as, say, Fruitopia, it’s always easier to err in the direction of silence and devote the precious print space to something more intriguing.
So we were as surprised as anyone to stumble across Andy Ihnatko’s systematic trashing of the new Zune player in last Thursday’s Chicago Sun Times.
He begins innocently enough by noting the (predictable and expected) setup challenges (you’ll need to be fully versed in creating .DLL files just to get the thing working), before moving on to a full-scale vitriolic rant. Here’s just a few paragraphs of what to expect:
“Yes, Microsoft's new Zune digital music player is just plain dreadful. I've spent a week setting this thing up and using it, and the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face.
"Avoid," is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that's so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity.”
Among the complaints:
• Songs are purchasable only with “credits” (ensuring less credit card fees for Microsoft along with the ability to challenge Apple’s 99 cent pricing structure)
• All around poor user interface.
• Zune is incompatible with Windows Media Player, the familiar hub of the Windows desktop media experience. This puzzles us to no end.
• Zune’s one supposed “feature”—the ability to broadcast wireless content to other players—is so heavily enshrouded in DRM that the feature functions more like an advertisement than a true product benefit. Any content shared wirelessly disappears afte 72 hours, only to be replaced with a link to the file on Microsoft's store.
But most damning of all, Ihnatko takes Microsoft to task for putting the interests of the music industry ahead of the all powerful consumer:
“Companies such as Toshiba and Sandisk (with its wonderful Nano-like Sansa e200 series) compete effectively with the iPod by asking themselves, "What are the things that users want and Apple refuses to provide?"
"Microsoft's colossal blunder was to knock the user out of that question and put the music industry in its place."
Ihnatko’s prediction: “The Zune will be dead and gone within six months. Good riddance.”
via | Boing Boing
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