it should'nt be too long until the zune wars begin...

[espanoliPod]

just saw that the zune is supposed to be coming out around october 16th. the zune fanboys will surely be invading the forums proclaiming the supremacy of their beloved player around that time...

 

[sUPERdUCKY]

Yeah, well I'm sure they will however (not knowing anything about the Zune to be honest) I imagine it will be one of the usual PMP's with way too many unnecessary features that have only been half thoughtout and developed...

However, I will have an open mind to any discussions about the Zune or other players for that matter because it's not always about Apple e.g. Surf Monkey Posted a link to the Archos S10 now that is a decent player ! - Remember more competition is only good news for us as the consumers

 

[espanoliPod]

yea i'm not a zune hater or anything, and i'm in agreement with you, competition is good, but i had seen some old threads from around the time of the original release of the zune where anti-apple/zune fanboys came to these forums trolling and flaming. they're aggresively going after the iPods with the new zunes, it seems; they have 4 and 8GB flash players that match the prices of the new nano and an 80GB HD model for the same price as the 80GB classic.

 

[Code Monkey]

I imagine it will be one of the usual PMP's with way too many unnecessary features that have only been half thoughtout and developed...

You do realise this describes every one of the new gen of iPods?

Here's coverflow... Oh yeah, we didn't finish optimising the code for loading the art AND we inexplicably ignored the Album Artist field AND we inexplicably failed to implement the group by compilations in any way just to exacerbate the problems...

Here's playlist folders on the iPod for the first time... Oh yeah, we forgot to actually write the 5 lines of code that would sort the playlists in them so they wind up in some quasi random order that doesn't even make sense to our programmers...

Here's the clock screen saver just like we put on our very well thought out iPhone... By the way, hope you didn't actually want it in 24Hr time because setting the preferences for time display doesn't actually do anytihing, 12Hr only, sorry. We also forgot that the reason it looks good on the iPhone is that it's combined with user selectable wall paper, yeah, we left that off so you get 12Hr time - only guaranteed correct if you live in North America, we forgot to check all of our GMT offsets - only on a blank background...

Here's nifty new games... sorry we didn't actually test them and it turns out that they, along with other as yet undiscovered bugs, wreck syncing play data back to iTunes so all you smartlist users will just have to wait until we figure out what we did. Classic owners should at least be glad they're not touch owners, at least smartlists work sometimes on the Classic...

And so on and so on...

I have no idea if the new Zune iteration will be good, bad, supreme, terrible, or just plain, "eh", but they would have to try to roll out something as sloppily as Apple did with this last generation of iPods.

 

[JMG]

Apple fanboys outnumber zune fanboys a million to one.

 

[espanoliPod]

You do realise this describes every one of the new gen of iPods?

Here's coverflow... Oh yeah, we didn't finish optimising the code for loading the art AND we inexplicably ignored the Album Artist field AND we inexplicably failed to implement the group by compilations in any way just to exacerbate the problems...

Here's playlist folders on the iPod for the first time... Oh yeah, we forgot to actually write the 5 lines of code that would sort the playlists in them so they wind up in some quasi random order that doesn't even make sense to our programmers...

Here's the clock screen saver just like we put on our very well thought out iPhone... By the way, hope you didn't actually want it in 24Hr time because setting the preferences for time display doesn't actually do anytihing, 12Hr only, sorry. We also forgot that the reason it looks good on the iPhone is that it's combined with user selectable wall paper, yeah, we left that off so you get 12Hr time - only guaranteed correct if you live in North America, we forgot to check all of our GMT offsets - only on a blank background...

Here's nifty new games... sorry we didn't actually test them and it turns out that they, along with other as yet undiscovered bugs, wreck syncing play data back to iTunes so all you smartlist users will just have to wait until we figure out what we did. Classic owners should at least be glad they're not touch owners, at least smartlists work sometimes on the Classic...

And so on and so on...

I have no idea if the new Zune iteration will be good, bad, supreme, terrible, or just plain, "eh", but they would have to try to roll out something as sloppily as Apple did with this last generation of iPods.

very good point. hopefully (i have my fingers crossed) apple will fix all these issues with a firmware update. i'm not too irritated by most of the glitches now, but i want them fixed. if they don't fix them soon, then i will deeply regret purchasing my iPod...

 

[Code Monkey]

very good point. hopefully (i have my fingers crossed) apple will fix all these issues with a firmware update. i'm not too irritated by most of the glitches now, but i want them fixed. if they don't fix them soon, then i will deeply regret purchasing my iPod...

I presume that they will get fixed, the question is when. While new to iPod owners probably won't notice them, Apple probably cost themselves many millions of dollars in revenue in the future by taking such a clear "ship now, fix later" approach this year. Not a one of these new gen iPods was actually ready to ship. The people looking to upgrade in coming years aren't going to let the Jobs RDF compel them to reach for their credit cards and surf on over to Apple.com to order a shiny new iPod as soon as the keynote is posted so readily any more. They'll wait for the feedback from the brave early adopters, and if they have to wait long enough if there are unresolved flaws, they might find themselves able to avoid upgrading for longer than Apple would like.

As expensive as iPods are, historically they've still had a large impulse element in their sales, particularly when new models were revealed. I know, at least for me, that is never going to happen again (I thought the non-optimised state the 5G firmware was released in was bad enough HA!). I'm on a tight budget right now, but I immediately cached all my September "fun money" as soon as I saw the keynote knowing that I'd just have to have one of the new nanos as soon as I could save up enough dough... and then the real picture became clear. Now the lustre is gone and I'm figuring maybe I'll buy a set of super.fi pro 5s instead of a new iPod if Apple doesn't fix these things very quickly. I'll not be buying any iPod ever again until the firmware is clearly done.

As for the new Zune (gotta get back on topic), I am hopeful that Microsoft will use what they learned with the first gen (respectable but "eh" overall) and put something out there that will actually do something different. Apple's thrown the gauntlet down on the future of wi-fi support with the touch and iPhone, but they've botched the potential with their tight fisted control freak tendencies. It would be nice to see MS one up them with a large screened DAP and even better wi-fi integration. It would also be nice to MS realise they need to make a management program at least as good as iTunes if they want to capture the typical iPod user - why nobody can seemingly figure out that iTunes is as much responsible for the iPod's success as the iPod itself I can't grasp.

 

[JMG]

very good point. hopefully (i have my fingers crossed) apple will fix all these issues with a firmware update. i'm not too irritated by most of the glitches now, but i want them fixed. if they don't fix them soon, then i will deeply regret purchasing my iPod...

Apple's new slogan? "It's glitchy... but you won't be to irritated."

 

[bdb]

Apple's new slogan? "It's glitchy... but you won't be to irritated."

I thought it was "its glitchy...but its Apple, so its cool?

The initial Zune had the potential, but it was mostly unrealized. It had a processor that blew away the puny things in the iPod, plus wi-fi. They just didn't capitalize on the capabilities of their hardware for anything useful.

The problem with the Zune 2 is that its probably still the same situation. They need to do something spectacular with their one unique feature - wi-fi. They could pipe things through MSN for a nice scaled-down web interface, address searches, maps, etc...all generating useful content for Zune owners and advertising revenue for MS. They should wi-fi have access to their store. If they'd offered a development environment, all sorts of cool software add-ons would be available by now.

There's still a chance, because they still have a unique product - there aren't many wi-fi DAPs with hard drives. MS just doesn't seem to understand that mediocrity is a death wish in the DAP industry.

 

[espanoliPod]

Apple's new slogan? "It's glitchy... but you won't be to irritated."

well, what i kinda meant to say is that i'm not irratated yet. right now, the bugs don't get to me too much, but if I will never be able to view my iPod photos full screen or be able to play a track with out it skipping ahead to the next one, then i will not be happy, because that says to me that apple does not care. i'm a very patient person. although i know i shouldn't, i'm going to give apple a chance to fix their mistakes. and no, i'm not giving it a second chance just because it's from apple. yes, they did have 2 years to perfect this, but the people making these things are still human, they can make mistakes just like we all do sometimes.

 

[kylo4]

They still haven't released the Zune in Canada. If they did I'd probably get one since it plays aac.

 

[espanoliPod]

They still haven't released the Zune in Canada. If they did I'd probably get one since it plays aac.

what??? where did you hear this from? how could the zune have aac support?

 

[Code Monkey]

what??? where did you hear this from? how could the zune have aac support?

Because it's a standard that ANYONE can license. AAC support is hardly uncommon (most PDAs, the PSP, the Zune, some of Sony's recent models, etc., etc.).

You're probably mixing up AAC, a easily licensed audio codec format, with m4p, a proprietary DRM container of said audio.

 

[espanoliPod]

ohh, gotcha, i thought aac was apple's exclusive format, i didn't realize that they had additional drm for it, i thought it was exclusive so that the format itself was the drm. thanks for clearing that up for me, i feel like a bit more like an iPod noob again lol

 

[baggss]

Apple fanboys outnumber zune fanboys a million to one.

For so many reasons it's not even funny....

 

[Code Monkey]

ohh, gotcha, i thought aac was apple's exclusive format, i didn't realize that they had additional drm for it, i thought it was exclusive so that the format itself was the drm. thanks for clearing that up for me, i feel like a bit more like an iPod noob again lol

Accidentally, intentionally, or something in between, your confusion is not uncommon due mainly to the way Apple marketed AAC in the early days of the iPod. Many people seem to be convinced of at least one of these two myths: AAC is all DRM protected and iPods only play AAC

However, in the same way that mp3 is short for the audio implementation of the mpeg layer 3 standard, AAC is the audio implementation of the mpeg layer 4 standard - it's quite literally just the successor to mp3 as far as standards go. In fact, before Apple began to aggressively associate themselves with it, dubbing it .m4a for unprotected files and .m4p for DRM protected files, it was just a .mp4 file extenion in the OS. However, unlike mp3, it doesn't have a bunch of potentially troublesme patents and trademarks associated with the underlying technology that make it both relatively expensive and difficult to license 100% in the clear.

 

[bdb]

A couple of years ago it wasn't unreasonable to equate AAC with Apple, because ("standard" or not) they were the only ones that really supported it much.

Its becoming a lot more common now (probably in hopes of getting iPod customers). Now my car player and phone both play AAC (non-DRM of course, nothing plays Apple DRM except Apple). Seems like there's at least some AAC support in every category except home DVD players.

 

[Prinny]

Apple botched big time with the iPod Touch...Apple's left a very sour taste in my mouth. They're recent anti-consumer/hacker policies lately indicate Apple is really no different than Microsoft, or any other money-over-buyer-driven corporation. Apple has to gain consumer trust for my fanboy-ism, not cripple Touches, lock iPhones and charge restocking fees for defective items.

This time, I'm willing to give Zune a chance rather than quickly turning my nose up to it. Gotta do something with the money returned from the iPod Touch! If it gets a good review, I'll definitely pick one up.

 

[a113524c]

Whats a zune?

Looks like the announcement is tommorow (Wednesday) at midnight.

 

[moe_4eva]

Not sure how I feel personally, but if anyone is interested in seeing how "the social" has evolved, here's the pics:

http://foto.rompres.ro/index.php?i=1910000&q=zune