Jeff Blankenburg gives 10 factors of Zune vs. iPod

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Jeff’s blog looks fantastic these days. He’s using Silverlight. The content is dynamic. The design is eye pleasing. Moreover, he’s got some great posts, on a variety of topics – spam filtering, his 2009 goals, cloud computing, etc.

While he’s busy working at Codemash, I did run across one of Jeff’s post that deserves pointing out, because I dealt with this all through the holidays. It’s amazing that more people don’t take a look at the Zune. I know this is coming from an employee of the manufacturer, but I believe in this product. Yes, Apple got to the market first, but the Zune provides iPod capabilities and more, in my opinion. Maybe we don’t market it well enough, and maybe Apple does a better job of marketing (that’s a no brainer).

Jeff posted in NOV about 10 Reasons the Zune beats the iPod, and it’s a good list. It generated tons of commentary and Tweets. See his post because it has more detail under each point, but I’m going to call these out:

  1. The Zune Pass is a great offer currently. $15 per month to access our full catalog, you keep 10 songs a month, and this covers 3 Zunes (you plus 2 others).
  2. No Generational Gaps – our first Zune (which I own) gets the latest updates of the newest Zune.
  3. Price – you just have to check this one out to believe it, but we are either cheaper or tied.
  4. Wireless Sharing – yes, this is very cool. Very social, but also very handy for music lovers.
  5. Wireless Sync – another feature that sets us apart.
  6. Wireless Shopping – Zune Marketplace is available on the device. Comes in handy when you just gotta have that song.
  7. Customization – not just text engraving…
  8. FM Radio – this is a great feature that I use all the time in my office. Plus, they recently added the ability to purchase the currently playing song. Cool!
  9. XBOX 360 Compatability – interaction with the XBOX world certainly extends the Zune experience in a rich way. Jeff has some points here that I had not considered.
  10. You can create games for it. Using XNA, our tool for developing software for the XBOX and now the Zune, any .NET developer can tap into these economic opportunities.
  11. Free television and movies

Thanks Jeff for the list. But, I’d like to add a few:

  • While Jeff calls out that you can build games for the Zune, I’d also point out that the Zune comes with 5 games on it. Checkers, Hexic, Space Battle, Sudoku, and Texas Hold’em. And there’s more
  • The Zune PC software is nice too. It has a nice interface. And when I’m sitting at my desk, I use it as a player (when I don’t need a radio). A good app!
  • A growing set of peripherals.

With the FM Radio capability, I’m sold. Add in the Zune Pass, and it’s a no brainer. Games is a plus, an opinion from my wife who loves Texas Hold’em and Sudoku, and my 7 yr old who likes Checkers.

That’s why 4 of 5 in my house own a Zune, even the 7 year old (who’s a big fan).