Zune

I was out last week when the Zune was officially announced so I assume most of you have read about it by now. If not, head over to the Zune Virtual Pressroom for the facts.

Some of my initial reactions:

  • My fourth gen iPod Photo has been a bit flaky lately with lockups and trouble connecting to iTunes. This might be my replacement.
  • I like the bigger video screen, although I just got a Q and I can watch videos on that. I'm not sure having two video devices will be a big selling point.
  • I want to get one in my hands. One of the key features of the iPod was it's build quality, ease of navigation, and scroll wheel. If the Zune can meet/exceed those expectations then I'm happy.
  • Brown? Did I miss something? I guess I'm too old to understand. I'll take black please. And while we're talking about color, why does the white Zune have a black click wheel?
  • The FM radio is a nice touch, but I don't see myself using it often.
  • We need a compelling PC side to this story. iTunes isn't perfect but it "just works." I want a program that lets me pull down podcasts and easily manage 30GB of music files.
  • Wifi has potential, but I don't think they are using it well yet. I'll never use the existing wireless feature set. Give me internet access so I can stream from my home computer and then you'll be onto something.

I think that last bullet point is the future of this market. Except for planes, subways, and areas of bad reception, most of my future music listening will be streamed from my home computer. Why do I need to have multiple copies of every song on different devices? With my Q I can just connect to my home PC and stream my full collection without having to worry about local storage.