RSSThe Buzz: Zune's Colors a Hot Topic
By the Betanews Staff | Published September 14, 2006, 5:50 PM
Microsoft's official unveiling of the Zune Thursday received mixed reviews from the tech faithful. While many seemed to generally give a positive nod to Zune's feature set, the Redmond company's odd choice of brown as a launch color seemed to grab the most attention -- and obviously the snarkiest comments.
While we've left those to be read in the story on Zune's launch, we have selected a handful of comments representing a variety of opinions on the new device. Later, we'll have more in-depth analysis of the product from several high-profile analysts who have studied Microsoft's entrant into the music player space.
"Music sharing is one of the differentiating features. I find the approach surprisingly consistent with some other stuff coming out of Microsoft ... Several people have asked me the same question this afternoon. So, I want to ask the question here to Microsoft. Brown?"
- Joe Wilcox, Microsoft Monitor
"I think if I were buying, I'd buy brown. I like brown ... I have a ton of brown clothes. I think the color is going to matter a lot less than if they had a lot of cool peripherals. What are the default headphones going to look like, for example? The iPod headphones are not good at all. The bigger screen is nice, too."
- Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft Watch
[Regarding Zune's sharing features] "I liked it better when I could dub a tape for a friend, or loan them the CD for a while. This is more like forced marketing, with advanced DRM. How long till spyware starts showing up in the code?"
- BetaNews Reader "The Man"
"Brown? Maybe one of the people making the colors decision was a fashion designer and were stuck on that "brown is the new black." I could see black, white and yellow...or red or neon green...or pink...anything other than brown really."
- BetaNews Reader "Austin814"
"Wow, I like it. I am surprised as I have bought 3 iPods and didn't think anything could compete. I like the FM Tuner, the Wi-Fi and the sharing ability MS has put into it. The screen can also be viewed in portrait or landscape."
- BetaNews Reader "mjtrike97"
"It's a sleek piece of craftsmanship that's simple and functional. It doesn't have the sexiness of the iPod, but it does have a graceful utilitarianism. The brown is an attractive, earthy shade and was my favorite of the three. (It looks much better in person that what is represented by the stock image)."
- Glenn Peoples, blogger who had an early preview of Zune
"I don't get it. Should I be using Napster, URGE, or Zune? Should I be using the Clix or the Zune? Should I be using Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune Marketplace software? There are too many choices, many of which are not interoperable, coming to me from the same company: Microsoft. Instead of simplifying the market, they've made it slightly more complicated with Zune (and likely pissed off countless partners in the process)."
- Technology pundit Chris Pirillo
"Clearly all the data isn't in yet, but this definitely pushes the MP3 player out of the pocket and into the realm of social networking. The question, obviously, is what is Apple going to do about this and, as a corollary, how low Apple and Creative shares are selling as we speak? Perhaps MS could create a "Zune Inside" logo for those guys? Or maybe fund a halfway house for underconnected MP3 players? "
- John Biggs, TechCrunch
What differance does color make? Like anyone heavy into cars...getting the best paint job ends up being a waste of money if what's under the hood is a lawnmower engine.
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|LOL almost all the coments are from betanews form monkeys, lol there's reliable reporting for ya
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|In case you've missed out on the one's previous to this, the 'Buzz' articles all contain comments from industry players and a heavy dose of betanews readers.
It's a mix of Expert and 'Man on the street' commentary on the topic and it usually gives us some insight on the different ways we see things.
If you'd take a moment to actually look at some of the comments instead of letting the knee-jerk, you'd have probably figured that out on your own. ;)
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|Brown, black, purple with yellow polka dots...it ultimately means nothing. Everyone makes such a big deal over the color of the device that they forget about the features and services that actually matter.
This is only v1.0. I'm sure 2.0, 3.0 and subsequent generations will be available in all sorts of additional colors and textures. Maybe even brown.
Zvi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
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|I love the brown. I'll def be getting this.
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|Well the color is amazing consistent with the other crap they have been turning out. ;-)
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|lol
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|Why in the world the designers always select black and white for MP3 players and OS GUI? What is the reason for these funeral colors to attract people that much?
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|I love brown! Don't knock brown.
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|"I don't get it. Should I be using Napster, URGE, or Zune? Should I be using the Clix or the Zune? Should I be using Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune Marketplace software? There are too many choices, many of which are not interoperable, coming to me from the same company: Microsoft. Instead of simplifying the market, they've made it slightly more complicated with Zune (and likely pissed off countless partners in the process)."
- Technology pundit Chris Pirillo
Sheesh, someone is actually complaining about having choice?
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|Choice is good, but too many choices will make us confuse
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|Happens all the time. Choice requires the intelligence to compare, contrast, and finally make an informed decision. Way too tough for many people.
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|Oh s#!t! We agreed on something. It's getting cold down here. ;)
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|MS should know this ....
Apple knows it ...
the iPODs were a success because Apple doesnt allow customization
Windows had been successful because it came prebundled with MS software
while freedom of choice is good, when it comes down to marketing and sales, this freedom is not a good principle to follow ...
PEOPLE like being told what to wear and how to wear it
Why do you think macs are so appealing ... ??
because all of them look the same
i dont see replacement shells for mac minis ...
Zen, a good product with a great initiative but a bad principle implementation ....
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|Yes, Apple doesn't allow customization, but have you seen the new Nanos? They're the exact same colors as the Mini, do they still come in the traditional black and white?
In the past month, I've had to get 5 iPODS because they were all broken when I bought them. It's about time Microsoft takes over this market.
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|I don't really understand what you mean about Apple not allowing customization. If you mean you can't get a tricked out, lighted, painted, see-through ATX case on your new iMac, well, then no, they don't. But the thing is, Apple's products are beautifully designed. I don't want to mod my Mac.
However, computing isn't about visual appeal. Case mods don't make a better computer. You compare any Windows PC to the capability, functionality, and security (big point there) of a Mac, and there's just no contest. Apple has it beat by far.
But looking at the media market, Apple has been the pioneer. Just look at the new iTunes store: full length movies for sale at $10 a pop now. Look at how they've become the leader in the music market, and how many TV shows are available on iTunes. These guys are bringing the total entertainment experience: music, TV, movies. There's no way anyone is going to be able to match the kind of entertainment choices that Apple offers.
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|You compare any Windows PC to the capability, functionality, and security (big point there) of a Mac, and there's just no contest. Apple has it beat by far.
I can prove this statement false with one word:
Games.
Need another? Software.
No matter how beautiful they look or how many apps are bundled with it, the support is simply not there. It's gotten better, but the same can be said for Linux. Both remain marginal compared to the behemoth that is the Windows PC.
...just sayin'.
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|I don't really understand what you mean about Apple not allowing customization...they don't.
Understand now?
Apple's products are beautifully designed... computing isn't about visual appeal.
I know that is taking things a little out of context, but you see my point.
Case mods can improve performance if they involve improving ventilation.
Anymore, there is not a difference between the "capability, functionality, and security" of a Mac vs a WindowsPC, they are both x86 based platforms. Now, OSX vs Windows? We could argue over the reason for the better security of OSX vs Windows; but lets not go there, too much blood has been shed over that war already. Capability and functionality? Well, those don't have clear meanings to begin with. Now that they are on the same platform, if all of Apple's hype were true the applications on OSX should run circles around the equivalent apps on Windows machine (with the same hardware). Apple's hardware hype was proven false by the simple fact that they switched to x86. Their software hype might be proven right or wrong if they actually had an app worth benchmarking that they couldn't cry "emulation" over.
People might not believe it; but I have no problem with Apple's current hardware or software, even their price-performance ratio is pretty good. It is the condescending, elitist attitude of the marketing and some of the user base that is what bothers me so much.
But looking at the media market, Apple has been the pioneer
Apparently pioneer means first successful in your vocabulary?
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|BetaNews Reader Glenn Peoples, blogger who had an early preview of Zune
The iPod is sexy? You might need counselling.
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|Ahahahahaaa!!!
ZING!
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