Squirt in the eye


Ow. Andy Ihnatko lambasted Microsoft and the new Zune in the Chicago Sun-Times last week:

The setup process stands among the very worst experiences I've ever had with digital music players. The installer app failed, and an hour into the ordeal, I found myself asking my office goldfish, "Has it really come to this? Am I really about to manually create and install a .dll file?"
But there it was, right on the Zune's tech support page. Is this really what parents want to be doing at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning?

He goes on to criticize the focus Microsoft apparently put into placating the interests of the music industry at the expense of the potential Zune users. I am thrilled to see this. The one feature of the Zune that looked interesting to me was the WiFi-enabled file sharing features. But in addition to the flaws that Ihnatko points out in the feature's implementation, the last thing I want Microsoft to be in charge of is allowing nearby users wireless access to my device. How long before hacks become apparent and "squirting" takes on an entirely new meaning?

Nobody was really expecting the Zune to unseat iPod in this holiday season. Apple is still on track to sell potentially 14-15 million iPods in calendar Q4'06. My hope is that Microsoft encounters such a devastating beating this quarter that they lose their stomach to compete in the long term. Because instead of introducing competition in terms of user-focused features, the Zune instead risks pushing Apple more in the direction of caving to the music industry's ridiculous demands...

Posted: Sun - November 26, 2006 at 07:55 AM        

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